SUSTech has remained resolute in its commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy campus for the entire community. As part of SUSTech’s ongoing obligation to ensure the normal teaching and scientific research progress of SUSTech, many teams are working hard to maintain the health and safety across campus while planning for the future.

On February 17, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) launched its full curriculum of undergraduate classes for the spring semester while the world battles the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic. More than 600 theoretical courses for all students are now online, along with many experimental and practical classes.

The teachers of SUSTech have moved to the Blackboard teaching platform to present their classes while working with the Teaching Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office and Graduate School to support the platforms and ensure the traditionally high standards of teaching and research for which SUSTech is known.

Undergraduate educators are generally choosing to pre-record or live-stream their classes. Other teachers have chosen alternative teaching methodologies that they believe better suit their styles, including massively open online classes (MOOCs) or open discussion classes.

Postgraduate course materials have been uploaded to the Blackboard teaching platform so that educators can select their teaching style.

Both teachers and students have enjoyed the experience of online learning, taking advantage of the unique methods of interactivity to enhance the learning experience, and take part in the class.

Teacher’s view

National Model Teacher and Department of Ocean Science and Engineering Professor Liu Qingsong live-streamed his class on marine geology. While starting with a story to entertain the students, he weaved a joke throughout the entire lecture. Students did not realize that the joke was integral to determining the attendance of the class until nearly thirty seconds after the punchline.

He pointed out that there is no front or back row in an online class. “When everyone is all around the world, I feel like the Information Age is here. Educators need to interact with students more frequently and adjust their content in real-time to ensure students can truly understand the knowledge.”

Department of Biology Associate Professor Yu Cong also live-streamed her first undergraduate biochemistry class of the semester. She tested several online teaching platforms in advance before settling on live-streaming and uploaded all the relevant courseware.

She has found that when teaching online, she interacts more frequently with her students. The increased interaction has come from adjusting content from observing student’s emotional reactions. “Student’s mastery of the content can now be determined by their oral feedback and the answers they submit. It allows educators to interact with students more often based on their reception to the knowledge, and adjust accordingly. It has created a unique opportunity to consider new teaching methodologies from a different perspective.”

Department of Earth and Space Science Associate Professor Jing Zhicheng taught “Introduction of Earth and Space Science” to the Classes of 2022 and 2023. He hoped to communicate face-to-face with his students in the first class, so he opted for a live-stream of his first class. “The live broadcast was very smooth, and every student was on time.”

He said that the live-stream filled him with the enthusiasm of the students. He found that his first online class was very successful, and flipping the class could be an interesting way to approach future classes. He may pre-record his classes going forward, with the view to discuss the content later. “I got a lot of questions from students during the break, which is exactly what I wanted. I have to work out how to further mobilize student enthusiasm and encourage more participation. This online teaching environment creates a unique opportunity for us to improve in different ways and expand our educational influence.”

Student’s view

Students are separated from campus by significant distances, some studying from thousands of kilometers away. Yuan Haochen lives in Shaanxi Province and is studying classes from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Department of Physics, and the Department of Mathematics. He noted that it’s a very different learning environment, but it’s also an opportunity. Haochen could feel the warmth of the teachers from far away and the commitment of his classmates, so he remains dedicated to his academic pursuit.

Class of 2023 student Li Weixuan said that her Physics and English classes were very positive, even if the atmosphere was different from what she was used to. Both teachers were highly dedicated as they had prepared well and organized their classes to ensure that students understood the key points of the classes. She is taking 22 credits this semester and hopes to complete the IELTS/TOEFL test later this year.

Class of 2023 student Ji Peicong took the basic computer program course, and despite their concerns, he was able to keep up with others that understood more of the content. “The teachers had recorded high-quality videos with high-impact content that helped me understand the material. I was even able to write my first piece of code with the help of the teachers. The videos let me pause or go back to check the materials, so I can better absorb the knowledge of the class.”

Class of 2022 student Ouyang Bol reflected on this new experience. While he was able to enjoy the freedom and autonomy behind learning at home through video classes, he knew that he was liable to take life a little too easily. He has forced himself to get up at 7:30 every morning to start his classes. Ouyang knows that all his mandatory classes for his major will be finished this semester, so he can enjoy additional courses from a wider range of disciplines. The broader skill set that he will learn online will be supplemented through the ease of understanding by taking in the content in a video format.

Class of 2022 Student Hu Haoyu believed that the online courses allowed him to review his classes more frequently, as well as discuss questions with his classmates. The group questions also expanded the amount of time spent learning, as he found that many students were facing the same problems he was.

Class of 2021 student Wang Dongqing enjoyed the two different styles of online classes she took on Monday. The live-streamed class was more integrated, with students asking many questions in the chat room, and others humming songs in the break in class – much like they would if we were on campus. She also found amusement in the vicissitudes of learning at home, with her mother rushing in to check to see if she had had breakfast before her morning class.

Postgraduate student Lin Shangao noted that this was a new experience for him, but appreciated the seriousness with which the teaching community at SUSTech had taken to the task. He hoped that the battle against Covid-19 would end soon so he could reunite with his friends.

Mathematics postgraduate Zheng Zhi believed that the preparations for online teaching were perfect, with every teacher preparing early and professional. There are both live and pre-recorded lectures for him to use, which suit different learning styles.