Supporting the needs for better teaching quality and learning experience, the teaching staff of the Computing Programme actively participated in the 9th Higher Education International Conference on the New Developments of Teaching and Learning Quality Assurance (http://www.ipm.edu.mo/heconf2017/), jointly organized by Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) and the Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN). Well-known experts and scholars from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Ireland, Japan, Mauritius, the Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and other countries and regions gathered in MPI to discuss various factors affecting the quality of teaching and learning in higher education and to share the development of quality assurance.

Carrying out our mission to focus on student needs to improve teaching quality and their learning experience, three research papers had been presented by the teaching staff of the Computing Program to share the good practice adopted in the teaching process to enhance the learning experience. In the paper “Investigating Perceived Difficult Topics and Factors Affecting Underachievement in Introductory Level Mathematics: A Case Study of Macao Polytechnic Institute”, this study aimed at identifying the difficult concepts in introductory level mathematics as perceived by students, and ascertaining the causes of the identified difficult mathematics topics at the university level.

Knowing the importance of student engagement as related to performance and persistence, retention and graduation rates, in the paper “Enhancing Student Engagement Through Extracurricular Activities: A 4-Year Cohort Study of Computing Students at the Macao Polytechnic Institute”, it shared the experience of Computing Programme implementing a wealth of extracurricular activities throughout the academic years in an effort to raise the engagement levels of its undergraduates, especially for the first year students. Findings showed that there were significant gains on four of the five engagement areas for the graduating cohort, specifically: Level of Academic Challenge, Active and Collaborative Learning, Enriching Educational Experiences, and Supportive Campus Environment.

In “An Integrated Outcome-based Curriculum for Developing Research and Project Skills in Computing”, it presented the three-phase curriculum to equip the students with the skills and experience in taking up the Final Year Project challenge. The effectiveness of this curriculum was evidenced by the improvement in report quality, successful application of patents and research paper publications in recent years.

These paper presentations stimulated feedbacks and discussions among the participants. The Computing Programme, devoted to strive for excellence in teaching and learning, will continue to seek opportunities to improve the various aspects of our students' learning experience. The Computing Programme has successfully achieved higher education academic accreditation granted by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) from 2009 to 2020. It will continue its commitment to quality teaching, academic development and research as well as creating better learning opportunities and teaching environment for our students.

A photo with the authors of two of the papers: Dr. Rita Tse (third from the right),
Mr. Philip Lei (second from the right) and Dr. Ines Lau (third from the left).

A photo with the authors of the paper “Investigating Perceived Difficult Topics and
Factors Affecting Underachievement in Introductory Level Mathematics:
A Case Study of Macao Polytechnic Institute”,
Dr. Yip Lee Wah (in the middle) and Dr. Edmund Yung (third from the left).

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