** extracted from department email to student (20 Nov 2019) ** Teaching and Syllabus (1) The scope of the final examinations will only cover topics and materials up to and including the lectures of Saturday, November 9, 2019, as classes on Monday November 11 onward had been cancelled by the University. A few MSc courses might be exceptional cases. This drastic step is to ensure uniformity across the Department. (2) For your education and professional development, we would still make the lecture materials originally scheduled for November 11 to November 29 available on Moodle.

Yes. Students should carry their valid student cards at all times while on University premises. There will be UID checks at entrance/exit points to the campus and at individual buildings. This is applicable to all HKU premises, including the Main Campus, Centennial Campus, Sassoon Road Campus, all halls and residential colleges etc.

The University will only maintain emergency and essential services on the Main and Centennial campuses as the situation allows. Please check HKU portal for the latest news.

In view of the uncertain and unsafe traffic conditions for travelling to HKU, we are suspending classes on the Main Campus for the rest of the semester and making teaching and learning accessible online. This will enable students to stay away from campus, and even leave Hong Kong should they wish, while at the same time completing their courses and assessments. Individual instructors will upload to Moodle detailed arrangements for course delivery and assessment. Examinations will be moved online or replaced by alternative forms of assessment. Please check email and Moodle for details.

For help with travel arrangements out of Hong Kong, non-local students are advised to contact either the China Affairs Office or the International Affairs Office.

** extracted from department email to student (20 Nov 2019) ** Examinations (3) The final examinations themselves probably have to be ‘online’. Tentatively they will be held at the same date and time as the written ones scheduled previously, no matter which time zone you are in. If you anticipate difficulties in this matter, please talk with your teacher. (4) The information technology aspect will remain a challenge for both teachers and students. We need to work out the details in the next two weeks. (5) Instead of the usual quantitative calculations, essay or multiple choice types questions might also be employed. This feature would naturally vary from course to course. (6) The examination probably has to be an ‘open book’ format. (7) You will be asked to sign a ‘Honour Code’ type agreement.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** No. Some courses will not change because they do not have exams at the end of this semester. Others will not switch to online assessment because of professional registration requirements.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes, unless specified by the course examiner(s), courses using online assessment will have open-book exams.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** We have created the Online Exam (OLEX) system, which we will use solely for holding online exams. OLEX enables teachers to upload an exam paper and make it accessible to students enrolled in their course at a scheduled exam timeslot. It provides a platform for students to upload their answer papers and teachers to receive them in a WORD file (unless the course examiner gives special permission to use a PDF or ZIP file). Students are reminded to watch out for the exam end time as the system will not remind them. Please note that some teachers will continue to use Moodle for assessment and online examination purposes and will not use OLEX.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** After registration, students will be able to log into an online examination at https://olex.hku.hk/exam/take-exam.html. Online access will open ten minutes before the scheduled exam timeslot.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes. For students currently resident in Mainland China, we have secured a leased line that will connect directly to an HKU server for online exams.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** We have adopted an academic integrity statement that students will have to agree to before being able to access an online exam. This is the statement (if you do not fully understand the concept of plagiarism, please visit this webpage – https://tl.hku.hk/plagiarism): I acknowledge that University examinations require all students to respect the highest standards of academic integrity. For the examination I am about to take, I make the following pledge: All the work will be my own, and I will not plagiarize from any source; I will not obtain or seek to obtain an unfair advantage by communicating or attempting to communicate with any other person during the examination; neither will I give or attempt to give assistance to another student taking the examination; For an examination which permits the use of calculators, I will use only an approved model as announced by the Examinations Secretary, unless otherwise prescribed by the examiner(s); I will stop writing immediately at the designated end time of the examination, and will make no modification to my script thereafter. I understand that students who are suspected of violating this pledge are liable to be referred to the Disciplinary Committee, and may be subject to disciplinary action such as suspension of studies or expulsion from the University.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes, it’s standard practice throughout academia for instructors to know in full the parameters within which they’re grading. Teachers know whether they’re grading a letter-grade or pass/fail course, so the same practice will apply to students within a course.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** It’s HKU policy not to grade to a curve. We use standards-based assessment, not norm-referenced.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes. However, the Common Core Special Proviso (https://commoncore.hku.hk/special-proviso/) only comes into play with six graded courses.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** None. It’s already the case that students bring pass/fail courses onto their transcripts, for instance through academic exchange. Because of the special assessment arrangements adopted this semester, some students may have a few more pass/fail courses than usual. We will still do what we always do – calculate GPA on the basis of all graded courses.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** One impact is worth highlighting. If a student opts for pass/fail for all courses this semester, there will be no SGPA. It’s worth mentioning that such a student may be placed at a disadvantage for, say, student exchange. SGPA is a key factor in allocating exchange places.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes, the original decision taken by the student will stand for the retaken course.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes, the same conditions will apply to a supplementary exam as to the original exam.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes. If your course requires you to use OLEX for online examination, you will receive an email on Wednesday 4 December 2019 asking you to register. Please register on the OLEX system by 14:00 on Thursday 5 December 2019.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes. We have created a drill student website for OLEX: https://drill-olex.hku.hk/exam/register.html. Students may use this website to familiarize themselves with OLEX before the date of their online examination.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** For most courses, students will be required to answer the exam questions in a single Microsoft Word file. However, for some courses students will be able to answer the exam questions by hand with the permission of the course examiner. At the end of the exam, these students will be given time to consolidate all their work into a single PDF or zip file. All students will be asked to upload a single file to OLEX.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** The academic integrity statement makes it clear that when the end of the exam timeslot comes, they must stop – exactly as in a proctored exam. After the end of the exam, students must make no substantive changes to their file. In cases of doubt, we will check the file history.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** We will allow students a 30-minute grace period to upload their exam answers in a single file to OLEX. A receipt will be sent to each student’s registered email address. This time cannot be used to continue taking the exam. Again, in cases of doubt we will check the file history.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** All exam papers and scripts will be within OLEX, a system hosted at HKU. We are confident that this will generate the level of security we require.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** If you worry about your Internet connection, you can voluntarily capture (for instance by video or screen capture) everything you do from the start of the exam to the finish. Then you will have a full record of any problems encountered. In cases of real difficulty, we may invite you to submit to us the record you have made.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** Yes, later this week we will roll out an FAQs website. There is also a drill student website for OLEX: https://drill-olex.hku.hk/exam/register.html.

Must register OLEX (click hereif you are accessing from Mainland China). Only need to register once even if more than one course having online exam in OLEX After registration, student can visit the drill exam website (click here if you are accessing from Mainland China) to get familiar with the online exam process. Email link will be provided in email received after registration. Login OLEX (click here if you are accessing from Mainland China) at least 10 minutes before the start of the scheduled exam Students can download the exam paper (password protected) 10-minutes before the start of the exam Students can download the exam paper (no password protected) after the exam has started

At the scheduled start time, the password of the exam paper will be shown Students open the file of the exam paper with the password and start the exam They should type their University Number in the first line of the answer, and the brand and model of the calculator used (if use of calculator is permitted) in the second line Unless with the permission of the examiner, they should submit their answers in a single Word file Examiners may permit the use of pdf or zip file (e.g. answers involving graphics); students should be informed in advance the requirement of using Word or otherwise

If students are using electronics means to write the answers, students should save their answer regularly to avoid any loss of data due to unexpected circumstances Students can voluntarily capture (for instance by video or screen capture) everything they do from the start of the exam to the finish, so they have a full record of any problems they encounter. They may be invited to submit the record in cases of real difficulty.

There is no time-is-up announcement There is a 30-minute grace period after the scheduled end time for students to upload their answers Submit ONE answer file (file type will be specified in the exam instruction), maximum size 10MB Uploading of answer file can be made a maximum of three times An acknowledgement webpage will be displayed upon a successful upload An acknowledgement email will be sent to the students' official HKU email and non-HKU email addresses provided in the registration process

Non-technical issues during OLEX exams: olex@hku.hk Exam office during examination period: Judy Cheung 2219-4499, cysjudy@hku.hk Ralph Tse 2859-2573, ralphtse@hku.hk Amy Cheng 2219-4340, acht@hku.hk Elaine Ng (for exam matters related to students with SEN) 2219-4542, yleng@hku.hk

** extracted from department email to student (20 Nov 2019) ** Project/Laboratory Courses (8) Only a small percentage of students (roughly 10%) still have not finished their assigned laboratory session. We plan to videotape some demonstrations of laboratory equipment and ask students to write a report with provided data. In the worst case that the campus is closed (or unsafe) for a few more weeks, we shall just extrapolate the examination marks as the laboratory marks. (9) For students engaged in Capstone Projects, the oral presentation portion will be merged with the one to be done in March (Semester 2 reading week). The written report must still be submitted according to the original deadline (on or before 5:00 pm, November 29, 2019 Friday), and the submission channel will be changed to submission online via Moodle.

Students who decide to come back to HKU to work in HWG14 (or any laboratories) should well-inform their family members and the capstone project supervisor, when and what they are going to do in HWG14 (or the laboratories). In this difficult time period, students should not work in HWG14 (or any laboratories) in non-office hours.

Only a small percentage of students (roughly 10%) still have not finished their assigned laboratory session. We plan to videotape some demonstrations of laboratory equipment and ask students to write a report with provided data. In the worst case that the campus is closed (or unsafe) for a few more weeks, we shall just extrapolate the examination marks as the laboratory marks.

** extracted from VP email to student (2 Dec 2019) ** No, this will not be possible.