Dr. Sam Chung, Dean of School of Technology and Computing (STC)

It is time to wrap up the winter quarter. I hope this quarter was productive and provided a meaningful learning experience.   

As everyone is aware, this quarter, CityU changed from Blackboard to the Brightspace learning management system. Migrating to a new system is a major undertaking. On behalf of the STC team, I apologize for the course shell issues early in the quarter. Two essential links broke in the migration: Faculty/TA information and the link to specific virtual labs. The first broken link interrupted communication to our faculty and TAs, which delayed resolving the broken links to virtual labs. What usually takes a day to fix took two weeks. These issues inconvenienced student learning. In the process of fixing the broken links, we had deep conversations with students who shared their feelings and thoughts about other topics. As a result of these conversations, we have improved our courses to enhance the student learning experience.   

Let me introduce these changes. First, we reduced the course workload for undergraduate and graduate preparatory courses. GitHub deployment in preparatory courses is gone. Students can find helpful tech information here: CityU STC TA Center. Everyone can access information for Git, HOP/HOS/TT, database, and the tools used in STC courses before starting their courses. Second, we streamlined communication among students, Teaching Assistants, instructors, and Program Managers by replacing 1:1 email communication with private Microsoft Private Teams for each course. Whether you are taking an online course or the in-class section, this structure creates a cyber gathering place for all students, TAs, and instructors. Office hours will be held in this space, too. Everyone can now communicate freely, ask questions, and build a learning community. Third, we will improve the team project process for all STC courses. More detailed descriptions of the projects will include outcomes and deliverables clearly defined for each course. We are also increasing the peer evaluation in the team project. Everyone’s work level will be acknowledged accurately; no student gets a free ride during the team project. Fourth, we will continue to improve course quality by enhancing the alignment of the Muddiest Point to the Team Project through lecture materials and assignments. Finally, we will continue internal training and professional development to strengthen our TA support and Program Manager’s administration.   

We thank you for your persistence and for voicing your concerns. Your input helped us to make improvements to our courses.  

Have a good break, and see you in the Spring quarter.