Half-day Salon where new TAs got together, online, and interacted and exchanged teaching practices with faculty members and experienced TAs

As part of an online TA Training Workshop Series, CTLE successfully held a TA Salon that consolidated key points and issues from past workshops for over 450 new teaching assistants. This innovative event on 7 October was also an opportunity for participants in the online TA training to interact with distinguished professors and experienced teaching assistants.

For this TA Salon, there were three faculty panels in which faculty members and experienced teaching assistants led conversations and responded to questions posted on an online platform, Slido.

In the first panel on “Preparation and Interactions”, Prof. Katrine Wong, Prof. Rose Lai, Mr. Yang Shen and Mr. Zongyuan Li talked about issues relating to how to interact with students. The panelists shared a few ideas on how to maintain effective working relationships with students. The online participants were actively engaged and answered polls and open-ended questions. A few of the polls used to facilitate discussion at the online event are above.

In the second panel, which reviewed ways to lecture and facilitate discussions, Prof. Garry Wong, Ms. Miranda Ma, Ms. Xinyu Kong and Ms. Wen Li reviewed key points made in the online TA training workshops. One talking point was that new teaching assistants may benefit from planning their lectures or presentations and having strategies to facilitate face-to-face discussions.

In the third panel, which looked back at assessment and teaching tools, Dr. Alice Lee, Dr. Chris Fulton, Ms. Runrun He and Ms. Yinyan Ruan talked about tools that teaching assistants might find helpful in their work. A poll indicated that many new teaching assistants thought that online quizzes would be a tool that they could use to make their job easier.

This concluding event for the 2020 CTLE TA Training Workshop Series wrapped up with the participation of over 450 participants. The organizers would like to commend postgraduate students who have learnt core skills needed by those who are involved in teaching or may go on to work in academic institutions in a teaching or an instructional capacity. 

 

助教工作坊沙龍活動重點回顧

 

10月7日，教與學優化中心舉行了一場半天沙龍活動，為本年度大學助教在線工作坊的最後一個環節，整合了過去多場在線培訓環節的要點及問題，也為助教們提供了與導師和具經驗的助教們互動的機會；共有為450多位新助教透過在線形式參與了活動。

沙龍活動包括三個小組討論，由教學人員和具經驗的助教進行討論，並回答經由在線平台〝Slido〞上同學的問題。

在首個討論環節“準備與互動”上，導師王嘉祺教授、黎寧教授、助教YangShen先生和Zongyuan Li先生討論了與學生互動的問題；他們分享了如何與學生保持有效工作關係的想法；同學們積極參與了投票活動並回答問題。

接著第二個小組討論了演講和促進討論的方式，導師黃值富教授、馬倩兒小姐、助教Xinyu Kong小姐和Wen Li小姐分別回顧了在線工作坊中提出的各個重點；此外，他們認為新助教應好好計劃他們的教學演講，並制定促進與學生面對面討論的計劃。

在最後的討論中，由導師Alice Lee博士、Chris Fulton博士和助教Runrun He小姐及Yinyan Ruan小姐的小組回顧了評估和教學工具，他們分享了能幫助助教工作的工具；而許多新的助教都認為，在線測驗等有效幫助教學評估。

本中心對完成在線助教工作坊的同學表示認可，並希望他們日後能以教學方式繼續在學術機構工作。