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

Dear students

I’m writing to brief you on decisions taken about S2 teaching arrangements for UG and TPG courses.

Teaching

Teaching arrangements in S2 will be similar to our current arrangements in S1, except that more courses will be delivered purely in online mode. This reflects limited student demand for the f2f component of hybrid courses in S1, and the better learning experience that is generally available when a course is delivered through a single mode.

Communication

By 11 December 2020, course coordinators will provide all students with clear information about delivery mode:
– Lectures: In SIS, under ‘Enrollment Information’ there is a ‘Course/Class Attribute’ section. Alongside ‘Delivery of lectures’, course coordinators will insert one of three options: online, hybrid, f2f. (Only in very special circumstances will the f2f option be available.)
– Small-group interactive sessions such as tutorials, labs, studios, clinical practicums: One of the same three options (online, hybrid, f2f) will be chosen and communicated to students through the regular channels used by each Faculty.

Exams

In S2, final exams will take place online. As in S1, the only exceptions to this general rule will be 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.

Assessment

In S2, we will no longer offer students three assessment options. Those options were devised in response to the uncertain situation we all faced when getting to grips with the rapid switch to online and hybrid T&L over the past 12 months. They are not appropriate as a long-term measure. In S2, we will therefore remove the pass/fail option. Students will still have the option of late drop should they experience unforeseen difficulties with their courses. The deadline for students to late drop a course will be 23:59 on 9 April 2021.
Please do contact me with queries: ian.holliday@hku.hk.

Best wishes, Ian
Professor Ian Holliday
Vice-President (Teaching and Learning)
The University of Hong Kong