HONG KONG Polytechnic University has made its first attempt to conduct tutorials on the Internet.
A two-week pilot project, involving business majors, was conducted before this month's official launch.
In the pilot project, the students were required to answer questions on the Internet homepage, which was developed by the Educational Development Unit.
From this semester, 30 undergraduates from the degree programme in shipping technology and management have been required to conduct part of their maritime law module via the homepage titled 'Electronic Education Development Centre'.
Once students gained access to the homepage - either through their on-line home computers or those in the university's Office of Information Technology Services - they could read the tutorials and send in their answers to the tutor.
Lisa Rodrigues, assistant professor in the Department of Business Studies who supervised the pilot project and was also in charge of the maritime module, said half of the required two-hour tutorial would be conducted on the Internet network.
'In a conventional tutorial, often students come in tired or hungry. When one student answers the tutor's question, the other students' minds are somewhere else. This only benefits a small group of people,' she said. 'But with tutorials on the Internet, teachers have private tutorials with individual students. Teachers are able to tell whether each student fully understands the materials.' Douglas McCabe, the unit's senior officer (education development) who developed the Internet homepage, said many Chinese students found normal tutorials put too much pressure on them. Students were often reluctant to give answers in front of classmates.