Course Instructor

• Each course shall have only one instructional lead / teacher assigned regardless of student numbers. That person will be called the Course Instructor.

• The term Course Coordinator will not be used.

• Due to the innovative use of multimedia and other technologies, the support of e-tutors will not be required. 

• The CI may engage students asynchronously (weekly or every two weeks), through the use of short pre-recorded interactive videos (e.g. no more than 30 minutes duration) explaining unit content, responding to questions or other course related matters.

• Similarly, every two weeks, CIs may post “Test Your Understanding” automated quizzes or games to gauge students’ progress and implement intervention strategies (based on feedback) if needed. Through Moodle analytics, students’ activity can be monitored.

• Synchronous interaction may be in the form of tutorials/office hours. A schedule for these tutorials / office hours can be scheduled between the CI and students at the start of teaching using an appropriate application for students to book their available times. This will give the students a certain level of flexibility to attend synchronous sessions based on their needs and availability. It is being recommended that office hours need not be scheduled for the entire 12-week Semester teaching period, but rather as needed, perhaps between 4 to 6 weeks in the Semester. The number of synchronous sessions / tutorials a CI may host during these 4 to 6 weeks should be at least one per week.

• For courses with 44 students or less (as is the current practice), CIs will mark all assignments.

• Markers will be recruited for courses with 45 students or more.

• For the CI role, payment packages would be commensurate with the total numbers of students enrolled in the course. This is the current practice and the fee rates will remain unchanged.

At present, synchronous sessions are conducted by both the Course Coordinator / Course Instructor and e-tutors. The Course Coordinator conducts sessions at the start of the semester to orient students to the course as well as midway in the semester and at the end of teaching delivery. Additionally, e-tutors conduct at least three synchronous sessions with their student groups. Through observation and reports, attendance at these live sessions are usually very poor, with many facilitators resorting to lecture style PowerPoint presentations, with little student engagement and interaction. To mitigate this, it is being proposed that CIs have the option of pre-recording presentations on unit topics so that these recordings can be made available to students in the Learning Exchange to view at their leisure. 

See more on Tutorials

• To prepare facilitators for this revised teaching model, a facilitator meeting will be held prior to the start of teaching to explain the changes being proposed to our teaching model.

• Training will also be conducted in the use of specific technology tools such as Zoom, Turnitin, and the Moodle Quiz tool as well as in pedagogy such as strategies to promote greater student engagement in synchronous sessions.

• As is the custom, facilitators will be supported in their course guide preparation and assessment redesign where necessary.

• Course Quality Assistants, Learning Support Specialists and Programme Managers within the Online Programmes Delivery Department will monitor course facilitator activities within the Learning Exchange and will assist in providing support where necessary.