Important message from Professor Ian Holliday, Vice-President & Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning)

Dear colleagues and students

I’m writing with good wishes for the New Year and updates about S2 T&L arrangements.

Teaching Arrangements

Delivery modes for individual courses were chosen by teachers and programme teams at the end of S1. We released the information to students through SIS on December 11. At a meeting of the Task Force on Infectious Diseases yesterday afternoon, we reviewed the S2 T&L arrangements in light of the improving public health situation in Hong Kong. We noted that the pattern of choices made by teachers for S2 courses points to a low-density campus environment, since most courses will be delivered in hybrid or online mode. We further noted that our robust campus infection control measures remain in place. We therefore feel that the delivery modes selected by teachers can remain as they are. If any difficult cases arise, please do contact me.

Add/Drop Period

In recent semesters our practice has been to provide UG students with a ‘self-enrol’ function on HKU Moodle to enable them to audit courses during the add/drop period (http://moodle-support.hku.hk/sites/Moodle_enrol_me.pdf). In S2, this function will be available from 09:00, January 18 to 16:00, February 1.Thereafter, all self-enrolments will be deleted unless the student has formally enrolled in the course through the course registration system.

Assessment Options

In S2, we are removing the pass/fail assessment option that has been made available to students for the past year or so. As a failsafe, we’re keeping the late drop option. In S2, students will be able to exercise the late drop option through from 09:00, March 8 to 23:59, April 9 through the course registration system.

Exams and Assessment

As in S1, all final exams will take place online. The exceptions remain as before: exams that need to be held in-person either because there are special requirements (eg professional programmes), or because all the students taking a course are in Hong Kong and it is safe for them to attend an in-person exam. Faculties will issue separate guidance to their students about this.

Study Rooms and Online Resources

Apart from the Library and Learning Commons, small classrooms not used for teaching are made available to students for self-study (https://www.les.hku.hk/teaching-learning/about-classroom). Additional resources are available on these websites, which are regularly updated:

– Online resources for students: https://tl.hku.hk/teachonline/online-resources-for-students/
– E-learning resource hub for students: https://elearning-resource.hku.hk/users/students/
– Student troubleshooting for online learning videos: https://hku.to/onlinelearn_studentguide

Webcams

As before, our policy is that students taking online classes are required to turn on their webcams when the teacher asks them to do so. (Virtual backgrounds are of course permissible.) Students with special needs or circumstances may apply to their teachers for exemption on a case-by-case basis. If it is not possible for a teacher and student to reach agreement, the case may be referred to the relevant Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) or, in the case of Common Core courses, to the Director.

Coming to Campus

As you know, everyone coming to campus needs to be aware of and respect our infection control protocols (https://covid19.hku.hk/). We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and make any necessary adjustments. Please always stay vigilant and make personal and group health your top priority.

Best wishes for S2 – Ian

Professor Ian Holliday
Vice-President (Teaching and Learning)
HKU