Design Your Own Course

What DYOC is about, and the two available options

The idea of Design-Your-Own-Course (DYOC) was mooted in NUS to encourage our students to explore learning beyond their disciplines, via edX Massive Open Online Courses (better known as MOOCs), or by engaging the subject matter experts in NUS. DYOC provides an option for students to pursue interests outside their disciplines, broadening their knowledge, and encouraging them to see “learning” as a lifetime endeavour.

The DYOC scheme gives a student* opportunities to pursue self-directed learning, with up to 8 units allowed within the UE space during his or her Undergraduate candidature and will be graded on a ‘CS/CU’ (Completed Satisfactorily/Completed Unsatisfactorily) basis. The DYOC scheme is not applicable to students in the following student careers: Continuing Professional Education (CPE), Graduating (GD) & Non-graduating (NG) careers.

The maximum number of units that students can gain from DYOC scheme throughout candidature is subject to the condition that the sum of units for DYOC and IaaS (Internship-as-a-Service) courses is less than or equal to 8 units.

The options available:

  1. DYOC via MOOCs – Fully online learning where students can access edX courses via NUS Canvas or AI For Industry (AI4I)® via AI Singapore’s “AI Student Outreach Programme”
  2. DYOC via group work with supervision – a group of 10 or more students coming together to learn from a thesis advisor.

*Exclusion: Medicine, Dentistry, LAW, Yale-NUS, SCALE

Click here for NUS news on DYOC: “NUS News about DYOC”


How to embark on the DYOC journey


Objective: To empower students in their learning journey, giving them more flexibility in planning their studies without disruption to their structured disciplinary studies, since MOOCs are mostly self-paced and fully online.

Important information:

  • For a completed edX MOOC (i.e., having a Verified Certificate to earn units) to be captured in the student record, students will have to use Canvas to access the MOOC via single-sign-on, and to enroll in edX MOOC.

  • Students also have the option to pursue, AI For Industry (AI4I)®, an online course by AISG, via AISG’s “AI Student Outreach Programme” with effect from 21 November 2022. AISG, better known as AI Singapore, is a national AI programme supported by the National Research Foundation and hosted by the National University of Singapore. Students who have completed CS3244 Machine Learning, or IT3011 Introduction to Machine Learning and Applications Computer Science are precluded from doing AI For Industry (AI4I)® as DYOC. For course and registration details on AI For Industry (AI4I)®, please go to Canvas > DYOM > AI SG courses.

  • A student who wants to count units upon completion of a credit-bearing MOOC, will have to make payment upfront to edX (or AISG for AI for Industry (AI4I)® course).  Upon successful completion, the student may then produce his or her obtained Verified Certificate to request for reimbursement of course fees paid to edX (or AI For Industry (AI4I)®).

  • This will be capped at USD600 per student, and up to 8 units worth of Unrestricted Elective space. Only a maximum of 8 units, made up of DYOC and IAAS courses, will be considered for graduation.

  • Please note reimbursement is only for credit-bearing edX MOOCs completed under the DYOC scheme (i.e., reimbursement does not apply when there is no transfer of credits). Reimbursement application for AI For Industry (AI4I)® (for enrolment via AISG’s AI Student Outreach Programme from 21 November 2022 onwards) should be submitted directly to AISG while the application of credit transfer for AI4I® is done through EduRec. Students who have enrolled in AI4I via LumiNUS will continue to apply for reimbursement via EduRec.

  • Please note that full semestral tuition fees are payable in the final graduating semester, (i) even if DYOC edX MOOCs are the only remaining courses left in the graduating semester, or (ii) in the event that the credit transfers for MOOCs enrolled, taken and completed in the preceding vacation/term break or special term before the final semester are delayed and cannot be processed in time due to late submission of DYOC application by student.

Timelines:

To count the DYOC credits to current semester, submit your DYOC application from the start of the semester and latest by the last day of the examination period. (E.g., To count the DYOC credits towards Semester 1, submit the DYOC application latest by the last day of Semester 1's examination period). The NUS Academic Calendar can be found here.

Important timelines for Option A - DYOC via MOOCs:

Date/Period Item Remarks
Prior to start of semester Explore and decide which MOOC (edX or AISG) to study. Please make payment upfront for the course with verified certificate.

Start of semester till last day of exam period of the semester*(if you wish to count the DYOC credits to the current semester)

*Note: Please refer to NUS Academic Calendar for actual date.		 Upon successful completion, to submit DYOC (edX) or DYOC (AISG) application via EduRec. Need to upload (verified) certificate and a copy of receipt to request for reimbursement.

Note: 
- For students who enrolled in AI4I® via AISG’s AI Student Outreach Programme from 21 November 2022 onwards, please apply for reimbursement directly with AISG.
- Students who have previously enrolled in AI4I® via LumiNUS will continue to apply for reimbursement via EduRec.

You may choose to count the DYOC credits towards Special Term if you submit the completed application by the last day of Special Term (Part 2)

.
2 weeks after submission of DYOC application

Outcome of DYOC application

*Note: Those application submitted after last day of exam period will be processed later and DYOC credits will be counted towards the subsequent active semester/term.

 DYOC course with relevant unit will be enrolled into student’s record accordingly.
• Semester 1: After exam period till 31 January of following year (inclusive)
 
• Semester 2: After exam period till 30 June (inclusive)
 
• Special Term: After Special Term Part 2 till 31 August (inclusive)		 Black-out periods for processing of DYOC applications The processing of credit transfer and reimbursement for all DYOC applications will be put on hold during the stated black-out periods.

Note: 
- For students who enrolled in AI4I® via AISG’s AI Student Outreach Programme from 21 November 2022 onwards, reimbursement is handled directly by AISG.
1 month after approval of DYOC application Reimbursement of payment.
(for edX MOOCs and AI4I® enrolled via LumiNUS only).
 For AI4I® course enrolled via AISG’s AI Student Outreach Programme, please check with AISG on the time required for reimbursement of AI4I course fees.

Link to User Guides: 

  • How to use Canvas to search and register for credit-bearing MOOCs: https://wiki.nus.edu.sg/x/6wAvGg
  • If you encounter any issues with edX in Canvas, please go to Canvas Student Help Desk and log in using your NUSNET ID and password.
  • Please click here for the DYOC (MOOC) Video and User Guides.
  • Please submit your DYOC (edX) or AI For Industry (AI4I)® application (after completion of edX MOOC with a Verified Certificate) via EduRec (Navigation: EduRec > My Homepage > Academics > Design Your Own Course).
Others:
  • Under this Option A, a student is required to meet the minimum semestral workload requirement regardless whether the student may be doing DYOC via MOOCs.
  • Please refer to information below on the equivalent unit(s) that can be obtained based on the MOOC’s workload hours. Do check the MOOC’s workload hours against the table before registering for an edX MOOC via Canvas (for DYOC Option A).
Illustrative only:

    Effort

    Total effort

    Unit equivalents

    4-6 hours for 4-6 weeks

    16-36 hours

    1 unit

    4-6 hours for 10-11 weeks

    40-66 hours

    2 units

    6-7 hours for 12-13 weeks

    72-91 hours

    3 units

    8-10 hours for 13-14 weeks

    104-140 hours

    4 units

    10-12 hours for 14-15 weeks

    140-180 hours

    5 units

    12-13 hours for 15-16 weeks

    180-208 hours

    6 units

    13-14 hours for 16-17 weeks

    208-238 hours

    7 units

    Up to a maximum of 8 units for efforts of 240 hours or more


Group formation and submission of an application:

  • Students can form their groups through many ways and means (e.g., own social network through residential living and learning);

  • Some students may wish to find like-minded folks (by a specific topic), can consider using Yammer – an online platform for students to connect, discuss, explore together. Click here to join Design-Your-Own-Course network.

  • Once a group is formed (including the group thesis advisor), please appoint a student representative to log into myEduRec to submit an application [Navigation: Student Academics > Design Your Own Course].  A copy of the User Guide can be found here.

  • Upon approval of application, the relevant DYOC would be pre-allocated.

Timelines (to register for DYOC group in Semester 2, AY2022/2023):

Date Item
Now – 22 December 2022 Form a group and get a thesis advisor
23 December 2022 – 2 January 2023 Application Period for DYOC (Group)
3 January 2023 – 8 January 2023 Processing of DYOC (Group) applications
9 January 2023 onwards Outcome of DYOC (Group) applications*

*Note: Pre-allocation of DYOC course codes could take place after Round 3 on the published schedule for Course Registration for Semester Two of AY2022/2023.

Link to User Guides:

  • Option B: DYOC via group work with supervision:
    User guide on Yammer (i.e., if you need help on group formation/ a platform for discussion):
    Option B: https://wiki.nus.edu.sg/x/XQTqGg
    Click here to join Design-Your-Own-Course network.
    Click here to find out more about DYOC Learning Community.
  • Please click here for the DYOC (Group) Video and User Guide.


Questions about DYOC Scheme?

Please refer to this link for the Frequently Asked Questions on the DYOC Scheme (Answers by Service >> Student Matters >> DYOC).