Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) is committed to further preventing the spread of Covid-19 while uniting the entire SUSTech community. It has prioritized the well-being of everyone at SUSTech while minimizing disruption to the teaching and research that takes place on campus.
As a result, SUSTech has undertaken a variety of measures to ensure students can take their classes online during this challenging period. Several departments have worked tirelessly to ensure that every student can receive the same high-quality education for which SUSTech is known. With that said, we should work together to ensure that our academic and research pursuits do not stop as we stand together in the battle against Covid-19.
1. Guiding principles
All teachers should be completely prepared, and follow national, provincial, and municipal regulations as they prepare to move the online classes to classroom teaching models at the appropriate time. It will ensure that the undergraduate teaching plan flows smoothly throughout the spring semester.
2. Teaching arrangements
Online courses shall be published in batches, with the first batch of undergraduate general education courses already available online. More than 600 other undergraduate courses will be launched on February 17, along with nearly two hundred postgraduate courses.
3. Online teaching platform
a) Blackboard is SUSTech’s online teaching platform (https://bb.sustech.edu.cn). Teachers should publish their course information and teaching materials through this platform. Students will be able to use the Blackboard teaching platform to view course information and partake in online classes.
b) Recording and Broadcasting – SUSTech has prepared equipment and space for teachers to pre-record their classes. Teachers can contact the Teaching Affairs Office for technical support. Alternatively, teachers can choose suitable equipment and software to record their own videos before uploading them to the Blackboard teaching platform.
c) Live-streaming – Teachers can use platforms such as Yuketang (Rain Classroom – https://www.yuketang.cn) to conduct live-streamed classes at the originally scheduled times. Please note that this requires significant network resources for both teachers and students, so teachers should be prepared with emergency plans before the start of their scheduled class.
d) Online courses – Teachers can select high-quality online materials to supplement their teaching activities, according to their needs.
e) Online discussion class – Educators can provide a detailed pre-class plan that guides students through the relevant course materials. At the scheduled class time, a mixed teaching mode can include an interactive Q&A session, so students learn autonomously, and the desired teaching effect is achieved.
All online teaching activities shall be published on the Blackboard teaching platform, including text versions of course PowerPoint presentations (PPTs) and relating teaching materials.
4. Teaching management
All teaching units shall organize their online teaching with the academic secretaries operating as the contact person for each unit. The contact person is responsible for liaising with the teachers in their unit and shall provide consulting services to the student community.
All teaching units shall ensure that their teachers are prepared for online classes, shall track the outcomes of the classes, and confirm the quality of the teaching. Reports shall be submitted to the Teaching Affairs Office and the Graduate School as required.
The Graduate School, Student Affairs Office, and Residential Colleges will work together in conjunction with the teaching units to develop effective communication channels with students. All course materials and teaching information shall be sent to students as part of an open dialogue. Online teaching methods and alternatives shall be arranged, as well as the optimal method for moving towards traditional classroom teaching at the appropriate time.
The Teaching Affairs Office shall guide, organize, and support the use of the Blackboard teaching platform, Yuketang(Rain Classroom), and other platforms by the teaching staff. It will be responsible for arranging space and equipment for recording classes on video while ensuring the optimal management and use of recording and broadcasting equipment for online teaching.
The University Library shall cooperate with all departments to purchase and distribute teaching materials required for online classes.
All teaching units shall assist the Student Affairs Office, the Teaching Affairs Office, and the Graduate School in collecting student and teacher feedback regarding online teaching. They should use multiple channels to complete this task and actively coordinate with colleague departments to solve problems. Effective online teaching will take place through working together hand in hand through this challenging period.
During this time, all teaching units are required to manage their online teaching, guide and organize themselves, and improve the quality of their teaching online. Each unit shall ensure that the preparation, operation, and supervision of online teaching discipline. The Teaching Affairs Office and the Graduate School will be conducting regular random spot checks of online classes.
5. Arrangements for students
Students are advised to see the specific notices from the Teaching Affairs Office (undergraduate students) and Graduate School (postgraduate school).
From February 9, students have been able to log onto the Blackboard teaching platform to view their selected courses, online teaching arrangements, and assessments for the semester.
From February 10, students could commence some of their general education courses, according to the arrangements of the teachers. Students could log into the Blackboard teaching platform, take part in discussions, and complete assignments promptly. The remaining courses will start on February 17.
If students have any questions about a specific course, they should contact the instructor and the academic secretary for the teaching unit.
