CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE LEARNING

2nd Floor, CS Building

900 San Marcelino St., Ermita, 1000 Manila , Philippines

FLEXIBLE LEARNING PROGRAM GUIDELINES

1st Semester SY 2020-2021

INTRODUCTION

Adamson University officially began its Flexible Learning Program (FLP) in the Midyear
Term of SY 2019-2020.

Following our departure from the traditional campus-based instruction, we have promptly
acquired the services of Blackboard Learn Ultra (BB) as the University’s new learning
management system (known as the Adamson Digital University Portal), to support and
make certain the efficacy of the program.

To ensure the readiness of the school for this latest learning innovation, faculty members
were trained, syllabi were redesigned, and course contents were modularized.

As we switch to a new kind of learning delivery, appropriate policies and guidelines were
established to guarantee a seamless transition to FLP without compromising the quality
learning that our students deserve.

This Guidelines is issued to give our stakeholders all the information needed regarding the
implementation of FLP. These new policies and guidelines are applicable for the 1st
semester of SY 2020-2021 only, but may be extended as long as the need for flexible
learning continue to exist.

The FLP is managed and administered by the Center for Innovative Learning and may be
reached at info.cil@adamson.edu.ph for queries and assistance.

A. ADAMSON ONLINE LEARNING PROFILE

A.1 Instructional Approaches

Delivery of flexible online learning for the 1st semester of SY 2020-2021 will be purely
web-based using a modularized course content. A blend of both synchronous and
asynchronous online learning will be utilized, which will allow students to have virtual,
face-to-face meetings with their teachers and, at the same time, the freedom to study at
their own pace and in their own time.

A.1.1 Modular Approach

In order to maximize student learning under the FPL, courses were modularized
following the multi-modal module (3M) design. Delivery strategies under the 3M
model employ both conventional (non-digital) and digital learning.

To sustain the quality of the student learning outcomes, the said modules were
prepared by our expert faculty members, have gone through strict peer review, and
were given final evaluation by the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) evaluator
of each College/Department.

Over one thousand modules will be used for the 1 st semester for all offered courses
containing lectures, activities, learning materials and assessments.

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A.1.2 Synchronous Classes

Synchronous classes, or real-time face-t0-face online classes, will be held once a

week, except for one, following the time allotment given below:

For Lecture Courses

For a 6 unit class - 2.5 hours meeting/week

(45 hours/sem)
For a 5 unit class - 2 hours meeting/week
(36 hours/sem)
For a 4 unit class - 1.5 hours meeting/week
(27 hours/sem)
For a 3 unit class - 1 hour meeting/week
(18 hours/sem)
For a 2 unit class - 45 min meeting/week
(13.5 hours/sem)
For a 1 unit class - 45 min meeting/every other week
(6.75 hours/sem)

For Laboratory Courses

For a 3 unit lab class - 6 hours meeting/week

(108 hours/sem)
For a 2 hour lab class - 4 hours meeting/week
(72 hours/sem)
For a 1 unit lab class - 2 hours/week
(36 hours/sem)

A.1.2.1 Official Video Meet Application

Google Meet, Zoom, and Tencent (only for Graduate School) integrated in
Blackboard Learn are the only official video applications recognized by the school.
Faculty members are discouraged from using other social media platforms for online
meetings.

A permanent meeting day will be provided by the teacher at the beginning of the
semester and may only be altered by the latter upon consultation with the students.

A.1.2.2 Supplementary Live Classes

To the extent necessary, additional synchronous meetings may be called by the

teacher, but not to exceed 50% for lecture course and 80% for laboratory of the total
required hours per week under the old normal setting. Attendance to supplementary
live classes will not be subject to checking and/or monitoring.

A.1.3 Asynchronous Classes

All reading materials, recorded lectures, powerpoint presentations, activities and

assignments for the succeeding week will be uploaded by the faculty at the end of the

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2nd Floor, CS Building
900 San Marcelino St., Ermita, 1000 Manila , Philippines

preceding week. These materials may be accessed, viewed and/or downloaded by the
students at any time. Students are given at least one (1) week to work on activities
and assignments to satisfy weekly requirements as may be tasked by their teachers.

A.1.3.1 Teachers’ Presence Online

Consultation with teachers may be made during asynchronous classes through the
use of the BB Discussion Board. Teachers will be available during official class time
and on their designated consultation hours to provide assistance to the students and
to respond to class online forum.

A.1.3.2 Asynchronous Laboratory Classes

While most of the laboratory classes which require hands-on experiments have been
moved to the 2nd semester (especially in Engineering), those that will be offered for
the 1st semester are software-based and, thus, no hands-on experiments are
required.

In the case of other laboratory classes that are experiment-based, videos of

experiments performed by the course teacher have been pre-recorded during the
Midyear Term and may be downloaded by the students. Apart from this, Adamson
has acquired the services of Labster, a virtual laboratory being used worldwide for
science-related simulation experiments. Also, the College of Pharmacy will be
availing the services of MyDispense, an online pharmacy simulation tool that allows
students to practice their dispensing skills in a virtual setting.

B. BLACKBOARD LEARN ULTRA

Blackboard Learn™ with the Ultra experience (Learn Ultra), is expected to make
flexible learning at Adamson University more effective, compelling, and easy with
its modern and convenient features. Students are advised to visit the following link
for a more comprehensive review of BB features: https://learnultra.blackboard.com

B.1 BB Onboarding

Students may only access BB using their official email account (@adamson.edu.ph).

A “student orientation course” was created by the CIL to acquaint the students on
BB onboarding and on how to make full use of BB’s modern features. Students may
access the course upon logging to their BB accounts.

Alternatively, students may view video tutorials through the following links:

Description YouTube links

Intro to Blackboard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKjBxIe_138

Calendar https://youtu.be/vlI7V2_hsd4

Messages https://youtu.be/m0l3DYRfl5A

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Activity Stream https://youtu.be/_YuXFClGPv0

Participate in https://youtu.be/fsQKNpmHbTc
discussion

Edit your profile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTmK3QdwZro

Notification Settings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPoI8h8O0c

Review Assignments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm5W8Z61_EU

Feedback

Check Attendance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51gOg_IRAGA

Grades

Self-Enroll in a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhfN9FNm8XI
Group

Check Grades https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRRHlsLMAbw

Use Content Editor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxZQelZjekc

Submit an https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVh8wz4RamA
Assignment

Find Groups in Ultra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDtyb_aZqGY

Course View

Add a Journal Entry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ_uJhMfA_U

B.2 BB Offline Functionality

The offline content feature of BB provides continuous access to course contents

regardless of connectivity condition. Students may download available contents for
an entire course or just specific items. Auto sync ensures that the downloads are
updated the next time the students go online. Note, however, that this is only
available in the mobile version of BB Learn obtainable in Google Play Store and
Apple App Store.

B.3 BB Use Technical Support

Anyone who requires help or advice on the use of BB may communicate with CIL at
info.cil@adamson.edu.ph. Letters/requests must be sent through the official email
account of the student. Communications transmitted using other email accounts will
not be acknowledged.

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900 San Marcelino St., Ermita, 1000 Manila , Philippines

B.4 Adamson University Student Information System (SIS)

The Student Information System (SIS) of the University (formerly AdU e-Learning)
accessible through this link https://live.adamson.edu.ph, will be utilized for the
following transactions:

Student

 Enrollment
 Viewing of:
o Grades
o Offered Sections/Subjects
o Dissolved Sections
o Assessment of Fees
o Account Balance
o Payment History
o Announcements
o Curriculum
o Student Manual

Faculty

 Module Library
 Encoding of Grades
 Viewing of Announcements

C. STUDENT ATTENDANCE

Mindful of the challenges of unstable internet connectivity in the country but aware
that participation in lectures and course activities lead to better assessment results,
student attendance will continue to be monitored and recorded under the school’s
flexible learning program.

The policy on excessive absences, however, has been modified by making it far more
lenient than the existing school rule on abseentism.

C.1 Dropping Policy

C.1.1 Any student who accumulates 30% of absences from his Synchronous classes
(Par.A.1.2):

1.1.1 Is disqualified from earning any unit for the course;

1.1.2 Is dropped from the class with a final mark of 6.0 (DROPPED) if he
drops officially;
1.1.3 Is given a grade of 5.0 if he/she is failing at the time of the last allowable
absence and failed to drop officially;
1.1.4 Is given a grade of 6.0 if he/she is passing at the time of the last
allowable absence and failed to drop officially;

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2nd Floor, CS Building
900 San Marcelino St., Ermita, 1000 Manila , Philippines

C.1.2 Dropping Form

To drop officially, the student must download the Notification of Dropping

with Record Form at https://www.adamson.edu.ph/v1/downloads/registrar/F-
REG-310Rev%20(11-05-18)DROPPING-WITHOUT-RECORD.pdf, and
must email the filled-up form to the Chairperson of his department and to the
Registrar’s Office (registrar@adamson.edu.ph).

To be considered officially dropped, endorsement of the Chairperson and

approval of the Registrar are required.

C.1.2 Excused Absence

A student shall be excused from his synchronous classes when the absence is:

1.2.1 Due to illness or injury caused by an accident;

1.2.2 Due to poor internet connectivity;
1.2.3 Due to the death of a member of the family
1.2.4 For other emergencies and reasons determined as valid and meritorious
by the faculty member.

Academic activities, such as quizzes, graded seatwork, presentations and other

tasks missed by the student on account of an excused absence may be
substituted with appropriate make-up work at the discretion of the teacher,
and following the policies and guidelines that may be issued by the Academic
Department under whose administration the course is offered.

D. PERIODIC EXAMINATIONS

The Policies on Examination under the 2018 Student Manual shall continue to be in full
force and effect for the 1st semester. Please check
https://www.adamson.edu.ph/v1/downloads/adamson-university-student-manual-
2018.pdf for a full discussion on examination guidelines.

E. GRADING POLICY

The grading process under FLP will remain to be covered by the Policy on Grading System
in accordance with the 2018 Student Manual.

F. STUDENT NETIQUETTE

Students are required to strictly adhere to the following basic rules of netiquette:

1. Do not type in all caps.

2. Before posing a question to a discussion board, check if it has already been asked or
answered. In addition, if the answer can be found through a search engine, refer to
that instead.
3. Stay on topic. Do not post irrelevant links, comments, or pictures.
4. Be polite and civil at all times.
5. Be brief unless required not to be.

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2nd Floor, CS Building
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6. In referring to something your classmate said earlier in the discussion, quote a few
key lines from their post. This is to both make it easier for the class to see the source
of the statement, as well as to avoid plagiarism.
7. Check the most recent comments before you reply to an older one.
8. Run a spelling and grammar check before posting anything to the discussion board.
9. Always double check if you have submitted your files properly. Be very careful and
read the instructions thoroughly.
10. Avoid language that have double meanings unless needed in class (ex. sarcasm,
jokes). Said language may not translate well virtually.

G. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY

A breach of academic integrity constitutes dishonesty and shall be subject to appropriate

disciplinary actions. Acts of academic dishonesty shall include, but not limited to:

1] Sharing with others access or password to BB account.

Username and passwords must be kept confidential at all times. Students are advised
not to allow anyone to log-in to their account.

2] Cheating

Any form of giving and receiving unauthorized help to perform academic tests, tasks,
and activities is classified as cheating. It includes, but not limited to, the following:

2.1 Allowing someone take the exam instead of taking the exam oneself
2.2 Allowing another student to copy one’s work on an examination or
assignment;
2.3 Using resources expressly prohibited by the teacher;
2.4 Using third party tools or software to disseminate answer keys

3] Plagiarism

Taking and using the words, work or ideas of others and presenting it as one’s work is
strictly prohibited.

All submitted works of students are scrutinized using SafeAssign, a plagiarism

prevention tool that checks the originality of one’s work.

H. STUDENT DISCIPLINE

The Students’ Code of Conduct for Online Learning shall govern student conduct,
disciplinary proceedings and appeals during the period of implementation of the Flexible
Learning Program.

For a full copy of the Code, you may go to www.adamson.edu.ph.

The Policy on Student Conduct and Discipline under the 2018 Student Manual shall
continue to be in effect, whenever applicable.

I. LIBRARY ONLINE RESOURCES

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I.1 Online/Electronic Resources

Students may access at any time the online resources of the Adamson University
Library which has over 10 subscribed databases and 20 open-access electronic
resources available.

To access, go to https://www.adamson.edu.ph/v1/?page=library-resources and select

a specific database to use.

To access electronic resources subscription remotely, a username and password is

required. Inquiries regarding remote access/log-in credentials can be sent to
adulibrary@adamson.edu.ph or https://www.facebook.com/leandromontanana.library/

I.2 Library Assistance

For questions and concerns on any of the Library’s services and resources, they may be
reached through:

Email: adulibrary@adamson.edu.ph
Telephone: 524-2011 loc 131 or 242
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leandromontanana.library/
Instagram @adu.library

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