Student-initiated courses

A student-run experiential activity to design, develop and teach a course on a technology-related topic under the supervision of a Faculty Advisor.

Courses offering

Objectives

Supported by the Innovation Academy, a student-initiated course is a student-run experiential activity to design, develop and teach a course on a technology-related topic under the supervision of a Faculty Advisor. By creating a peer-learning community, students can share their knowledge and skills with fellow students. Besides, “learning
by teaching” helps to train up students’ confidence, organizational, communication and leadership skills.

Student or student teams may propose courses of special interest not covered in the formal engineering curriculum. The courses will be on Instructor-Attendee mode where students can claim credits either by serving as instructors of the courses or attending the courses (“attendees”), subject to the approval by Horizons Office.

Check the following page for the Credit Award Scheme for Out-of-Classroom Learning Experiences.

Requirements

The courses should consist of 10 to 20 learning hours (excluding hours spent on coursework).
Student instructor who teaches a course:
- with 15 learning hours or less: Student instructor can claim 1 credit.
- with more than 15 learning hours: Student instructor can claim 2 credits.
Attendees who attend not less than 80% of the course and complete the coursework as required by the course: can claim 1 credit.

Roles and responsibilities

Student Instructor

To teach the course as an individual or a team.
To submit a course proposal of not less than 20 hours of learning activities with a budget proposal to the Innovation Academy at least two months before the course commencement.
To help the attendees in completing the coursework as required.
To keep an attendance record of each learning session and provide the records to the Innovation Academy for issuing attendance certificate/letter of completion.
To submit Course Report and Attendee Reports to the Innovation Academy within one month upon the completion of the course.

Attendee

To actively participate in the course and fulfill the attendance requirement of the course.
To complete not less than 80% of required learning hours.
To complete the required coursework.
To submit Attendee Report to the Student Instructor within one month upon the completion of the course.

Faculty Advisor

Must be an academic staff of the Faculty of Engineering.
To accept overall responsibility of instruction and evaluation.
To ensure the quality of the course.

Innovation Academy and Innovation Wing

To review the course proposals submitted by Student Instructors.
To issue attendance certificate/letter of completion, based on the attendance record provided by the Student Instructor.
To assist in the logistic arrangement, such as promotion and registration, of the course.

Procedures for claiming the credits

Student instructors

Seek Faculty Advisor’s endorsement on course proposal at least 2 months before the commencement of the course. The course proposal should include all details such as title and nature of the course, learning objectives and expected number of learning hours, etc.) and submit to the Innovation Academy for review and approval.

Apply for credit(s) for Out-of-classroom Learning Experience to the Horizons Office directly with the endorsed course proposal at least one month before the commencement of the course.

Collect all Attendee Reports and seek the endorsement of the Faculty Advisor on the Course Report within one month after the completion of the course. The original copy of the reports should be sent to the Horizons Office and a copy should be sent to Innovation Academy Office for the record.
Complete the application for credit(s) for Out-of-classroom Learning Experience with the Course Report and attendance certificate issued by the Innovation Academy.

Attendees

Register the course through the Innovation Academy.
Apply for credit(s) for Out-of-classroom Learning Experience to the Horizons Office directly after receiving confirmation from Innovation Academy.
Submit Attendee Report to the Student Instructor within two weeks after the completion of the course.
Complete the application for credit(s) for Out-of-classroom Learning Experience with the Attendee Report and attendance certificate issued by the Innovation Academy.

Model for student-initiated course (for reference only)

Total number of sessions: 6

Suggested to be 3.5 hours per session
Activities in a session may include lectures, workshop, discussion/presentation by Attendees, etc.

Student Instructor

Preparation of the course materials: 21 hours
Delivery of course / contact hours: 3.5 hours x 6 sessions: 21 hours
Total hours: 42 hours
Can claim 2 credits

Attendees

Attend the course: 3.5 hours x 6 sessions: 21 hours
Can claim 1 credit

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