Department of Applied Mathematics


3 AIMS

3.1	General Aim

	The general aim of this programme is to provide students with a sound education and training at the tertiary level in the application of mathematical principles and techniques to industry and commerce. Mathematical principles and techniques are to be interpreted in the broadest sense and include areas like numerical methods, statistics, computing and operations research. The programme also provides a good foundation for the graduates to pursue further studies.

3.2	Specific Aims

	After completing the programme, students should

	(a)	possess a good knowledge of computing, mathematical, and statistical principles and techniques, which include data analysis, numerical analysis and operations research;

	(b)	have the intellectual abilities required to understand and analyze relevant problems in commerce and industry, and to formulate and design solutions using the knowledge mentioned in (a);

	(c)	possess the skills required to actually solve relevant problems competently using the techniques in (a);

	(d)	be aware of, and be able to adapt to, changes and development in the basic knowledge they have acquired in the programme;


4 ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS The minimum entrance qualification is given in 4.1. The applicant may also have to satisfy the Selection Panel in other respects (e.g. interview, aptitude test).

4.1	Normal Qualification

	Entrance requirements:

	(a)	Grade E or above in Pure Mathematics at HKALE; OR Grade E or above in Applied Mathematics at HKALE; OR Grade E or above in 2 subjects at AS-level including Mathematics and Statistics;

		AND Grade E or above in 6 subjects at HKCEE including:

		(i) Mathematics or Additional Mathematics,
		(ii) English Language (Syllabus B), AND
		(iii) Either Chinese Language or Chinese Literature or a Language other than Chinese and English;

		OR

	(b)	A Higher Certificate in Mathematical Studies; OR

	(c)	The equivalent


5 CURRICULUM AND PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATIONS

5.1	Areas of Study For convenience of description, the subjects in the curriculum may be classified into several areas. They are mathematics, statistics, computing, operations research and related studies. In real practice, however, these areas are integrated to form a single coherent course of study for the applications of mathematical principles and techniques in various sectors.

5.2	Breadth and Depth At the higher diploma (sub-degree) level, over specialisation is not desirable. In statistics, for example, the curriculum is not intended to give a specialised study in any particular branch of statistics. Rather, it covers broadly the usual background knowledge of statistical theory and methodology with economic, social, industrial and possibly other applications. The same principle is followed in mathematics, computing and operations research.

5.3	Coverage of Professional Examination Syllabuses The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) The statistics syllabuses of the HD in MSC are designed to cover the following examination papers of the Royal Statistical Society of UK: Ordinary Certificate Higher Certificate Graduate Diploma (two papers: Statistical Theory and Methods I and II)

5.4	Credit transfer

	(a)	A student may be allowed to transfer credits into the HD Programme based on qualifications or achievement accepted by the Programme Committee as of equivalent status.

	(b)	A student may not be allowed to transfer more than 67% of the total number of credits in the study programme.

5.5	Programme Details The Annex shows the details of the Programme, including the subjects, their duration, modes of tuition, prerequisites, methods of assessment and assessment weightings.

5.6	Detailed Syllabuses Each syllabus gives the aim of the subject, prerequisites, mode of tuition, subject content, method of assessment and bibliography.


6 ENROLMENT, SUBJECT REGISTRATION & ADD-DROP

6.1	A student, unless otherwise approved by the Programme Committee, should normally follow the specified progression pattern.

6.2	A student is permitted to enrol in a subject if he has fulfilled the prerequisites for that subject. In exceptional cases, a student not having fulfilled the prerequisites of a subject may enrol in that subject if the Department offering the subject and the Programme Committee so approve.

6.3	A student may, subject to (6.4) below, enrol in subjects at different levels.

6.4	Where a student has not successfully completed some compulsory subjects at Stage 1, he must enrol in these failed subjects in preference to subjects at Stage 2.

6.5	All applications for subject registration will be carried out prior to the commencement of a semester. Subject registration and add/drop will be handled centrally.


7 ASSESSMENT

7.1	The University's General Assessment Regulations govern the conditions for a student's assessment and progression and for the recommendation of an award. The Programme Regulations below are more detailed regulations applied to this particular Programme and should be read in conjunction with and interpreted in the light of those general regulations.

7.2	A student's performance in a subject is assessed either by continuous assessment, an examination, or a combination of both. The weighting of each in the overall subject grade are clearly stated in the definitive programme document. Students will be informed of the form of the continuous assessments in each subject at the start of each semester.

7.3	For subjects offered by the Department of Applied Mathematics, a student obtains an overall grade D or above in a subject if he obtains a grade D or above in each of the assessment components of that subject. A grade F will be awarded if a student obtains a grade below D in any of the assessment components. (See Section 11.1 for elaboration on subject grading.)


8 PROGRESSION/ACADEMIC PROBATION/DEREGISTRATION

8.1	The Board of Examiners shall, at the end of each semester (except for Summer Term unless there are students who are eligible to graduate after completion of Summer Term subjects), determine whether each student is

	(a)	eligible for progression towards an award; or
	(b)	eligible for an award; or
	(c)	required to be deregistered from the programme.

8.2	When a student has a Grade Point Average (GPA) (see Section 11.3 below) lower than 2.0, he will be put on academic probation in the following semester. Once when a student is able to pull his GPA up to 2.0 or above at the end of the probation semester, the status of "academic probation" will be lifted. The status of "academic probation" will be reflected in the examination result notification but not in transcript of studies.

8.3	A students will have 'progressing' status unless he falls within the following categories, either of which may be regarded as grounds for deregistration from the programme:
	(i)	the student has exceeded the maximum period of registration for that programme as specified in the definitive programme document; or
	(ii)	the student's GPA is lower than 2.0 for two consecutive semesters and his Semester GPA in the second semester is lower than 2.0; or
	(iii)	the student's GPA is lower than 2.0 for three consecutive semesters.

8.4	The progression of students to the following academic year will not be affected by the GPA obtained in Summer Term.

8.5	Notwithstanding Sections 8.3(ii) and 8.3(iii) above, a student may be deregistered from the programme enrolled before the time specified in Sections 8.3(ii) or 8.3(iii) above if his academic performance is poor to the extent that the Board of Examiners deems that his chance of attaining a GPA of 2.0 at the end of the programme is slim or impossible.

8.6	In the event that there are good reasons, the Board of Examiners has the discretion to allow the students who fall into categories as stated in Sections 8.3(ii) or 8.3(iii) above to stay on the programme, and these cases should be reported to Faculty Board for information.


9 RE-TAKING OF SUBJECTS

9.1	Normally, students may retake only those subjects for which they have failed, i.e. obtained an F grade.

9.2	Students are not allowed to retake subjects for which they have passed with grade C or above. Retaking of a subject which has been passed at grade D or D+ will require the approval of the host department of the programme on which the student enrols.

9.3	The number of retakes of a failed subject is not restricted. Only the grade obtained in the final attempt of retaking will be included in the calculation of the Grade Point Average (GPA). (The grades obtained in previous attempts will only be reflected in transcript of studies.)


10 EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES

10.1	Absence from an assessment component If a student is unable to complete all the assessment components of a subject due to illness or other circumstances beyond his control, and considered by the Subject Assessment Review Panel as legitimate, the Panel will determine whether the student will have to complete the assessment and, if so, by what means. This late assessment shall take place at the earliest opportunity, and before the commencement of the following academic year (except that for Summer Term, which may take place within 3 weeks after the finalisation of Summer Term results). If the late assessment cannot be completed before the commencement of the following academic year, the Faculty/School Board Chairman shall decide on an appropriate time for completion of the late assessment.

10.2	Aegrotat award

	(a)	If a student is unable to complete the requirements of the programme in question for the award due to very serious illness, or other very special circumstances which are beyond his control, and considered by the Board of Examiners as legitimate, the Faculty/School Board will determine whether the student will be granted an aegrotat award. Aegrotat award will be granted under very exceptional circumstances.

	(b)	A student who has been offered an aegrotat award shall have the right to opt either to accept such an award, or request to be assessed on another occasion to be stipulated by the Board of Examiners; the student’s exercise of this option shall be irrevocable.

	(c)	The acceptance of an aegrotat award by a student shall disqualify him from any subsequent assessment for the same award.

	(d)	An aegrotat award shall normally not be classified, and the award parchment shall not state that it is an aegrotat award. However, the Board of Examiners may determine whether the award should be classified provided that they have adequate information on the students’ academic performance.

10.3	Other particular circumstances A student's particular circumstances may influence the procedures for assessment but not the standard of performance expected in assessment.


11 GRADING

11.1	Assessment grades shall be awarded on a criterion-referenced basis. A student’s overall performance in a subject shall be graded as follows:

*Subject grade*	Short description	*Elaboration on subject grading description*
A+	Excellent	The student’s work is outstanding. It exceeds the subject learning outcomes in all regards.
A	Excellent	The student’s work is excellent. It exceeds the subject learning outcomes in nearly all regards.
B+	Good	The student’s work is very good. It exceeds the subject learning outcomes in the majority of regards.
B	Good	The student’s work is good. It exceeds the subject learning outcomes in some regards.
C+	Satisfactory	The student’s work is wholly satisfactory. It fully meets all the subject learning outcomes.
C	Satisfactory	The student’s work is satisfactory. It largely meets all the subject learning outcomes.
D+	Marginal	The student’s work is barely adequate. It fails marginally to meet all the subject learning outcomes.
D	Marginal	The student’s work is weak. It fails to meet the subject learning outcomes in some regards.
F	Failure	The student’s work is inadequate. It fails to meet most of the subject learning outcomes.

‘F’ is a subject failure grade, whilst all others (‘D’ to ‘A+’) are subject passing grades. No credit will be earned if a subject is failed.

11.2	At the end of each semester, a Grade Point Average (GPA) will be computed as follows:

		*Grade*	*Grade Point*
		A+	4.5
		A	4
		B+	3.5
		B	3
		C+	2.5
		C	2
		D+	1.5
		D	1
		F	0


11.3	At the end of each semester/term, a Grade Point Average (GPA) will be computed based on the grade point of the subject overall grade as follows:

GPA =

Σ Subject Grade Point x Subject Credit Value
n

Σ Subject Credit Value
n

where n =

number of all subjects (inclusive of failed subjects) taken by the student up to and including the latest semester/term, but for subjects which have been retaken, only the grade obtained in the final attempt will be included in the GPA calculation


	In addition, the following subjects will be excluded from the GPA calculation:

	(i)	Exempted subjects
	(ii)	Ungraded subjects
	(iii)	Incomplete subjects
	(iv)	Subjects for which credit transfer has been approved without any grade assigned
	(v)	Subjects from which a student has been allowed to withdraw (i.e. those with the grade ‘W’)

	Subject which has been given an “S” subject code, i.e. absent from examination, will be included in the GPA calculation and will be counted as “zero” grade point. GPA is thus the unweighted cumulative average calculated for a student for all relevant subjects taken from the start of the programme to a particular point of time. GPA is an indicator of overall performance and is capped at 4.0.

11.4	The grades and codes for the subject and final assessments are included in Appendices I and II.

11.5	In the event that grade is awarded to subject components, a grade point with the decimal value may be generated for the overall result of the subject. This grade point with decimal value will be converted to grade for deriving the subject overall grades. The corresponding grade point for the subject overall grade, instead of the actual grade points obtained by students, will be used for GPA calculation. This methodology for deriving subject overall grades only serves as an aid to subject assessors. As assessment should be a matter of judgement, not merely a result of computation, the subject lecturer will have the discretion to assign a grade which is considered to reflect more appropriately the overall performance of the student in a subject to override the grade derived by the computer.


12 ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARD & GUIDELINES FOR CLASSIFICATION

12.1	A student would be eligible for award if he satisfies all the conditions listed below:

	(a)	Accumulation of the requisite number of credits for the particular award, as defined in the definitive programme document; and
	(b)	Satisfying the residential requirement for at least 1/3 of the credits to be completed for the award he is currently enrolled; and
	(c)	Satisfying all the ‘compulsory’ and ‘elective’ requirements as defined in the definitive programme document; and

	(d)	Having a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.0 or above at the end of the programme; and

	(e)	Satisfying other requirements as stipulated in the definitive programme document e.g. Work-integrated experience, co-curricular activities, GSLPA and other language requirements.

12.2	A student is required to graduate as soon as he satisfies all the conditions for award (see Section 12.1 above). Subject to the maximum study load of 21 credits per semester, a student may take more credits than he needs to graduate up to a maximum of 9 credits on top of the prescribed credit requirements for his award in or before the semester within which he becomes eligible for award.

12.3	In award classification, there will be no level weightings. The Board of Examiners for the programme will determine the class of Higher Diploma to be awarded according to the following guidelines :

		Class	Guidelines

		Distinction	The student's performance / attainment is outstanding, and identifies him as exceptionally able in the field covered by the programme in question.

		Credit	The student has reached a standard of performance / attainment which is more than satisfactory but less than excellent.

		Pass	The student has reached a standard of performance / attainment ranging from just adequate to satisfactory.

12.4	Any subjects passed after the graduation requirement has been met or subjects taken on top of the prescribed credit requirements for award shall not be taken into account in the grade point calculation for award classification (see Section 11.3 above). However, if a student attempts more elective subjects (or optional subjects) than the requirement for graduation in or before the semester within which he becomes eligible for award, the elective subjects (or optional subjects) with higher contribution (with the exception of the additional subjects taken out of interest and not for satisfying the award requirements) shall be counted in the grade point calculation for award classification (i.e. the subjects attempted with lower contribution will be excluded from the grade point calculation for award classification), irrespective of when the excessive elective subjects (or optional subjects) are enrolled.


13 MAXIMUM PERIOD OF STUDY The maximum period of registration in the programme is four years.


14 STUDENT/ STAFF COMMUNICATION To maintain close communication between students and staff, a Year Tutor is assigned at each stage. Students are also encouraged to approach their subject lecturers or Programme Leader at any time.