Abstract

Executive Summaries of BEST in 110 academic year

With the support of the Blueprint for Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030, this project expects to use the abundant bilingual-teaching resources of National Tsing Hua University, and integrate the teachers and English teaching energy of our college to build an immersive English learning environment.

By setting up an internationalized learning environment, the college develop students' interdisciplinary ability and further cultivate advanced engineering talents with an international outlook, so that they can be in line with international standards, and contribute to enhancing the international competitiveness of Taiwan's industries.

The college formulates strategies and phased goals from various aspects such as organization, students, teachers, courses, international exchanges, resource sharing and inter-school cooperation. The Executive Summaries during the 110 academic year are as follows:

Institutional Strategy and Management

• Form the EMI Promotion Teams
• Establish the EMI teaching incentives and subsidies

CoE has set up a college-wise and a department-wise EMI promotion team. The college team, composed of the dean (also as the convener) and the heads of each department, is in charge of work planning and reviewing; and the departmental team, composed of the associate dean (also as the convener) and the representative teachers of each department, carries out the quarterly meeting to promote and track the working progress. 

There is also the Curriculum Committee set in each department, which assists in the EMI courses related affairs. Meanwhile, the college establishes the incentives and subsidies system, including offering teachers and TAs incentives for EMI teaching / engaging in class-observation, and providing teachers subsidies for producing EMI online courses.

Teachers and Teaching

• Increase the number of EMI courses 
• Implement the class-observation of EMI course
• Enhance the EMI teaching ability
• Increase the number of EMI teaching assistants (TAs)

For encouraging teachers to offer English-taught courses, CoE has established the incentives and subsidies system. During the 109 academic year, there are merely 148 courses were offered in English (34 at undergraduate level and 114 at graduate level). As to the 110 academic year, the college has had 170 courses offered in English (47 at undergraduate level and 123 at graduate level). It demonstrates a significant boost on the amount.

According to the requirement from the Ministry of Education, CoE carried out the class-observation 4 times on totally 14 EMI courses during the 110-2 semester. In addition to the class-observation records, the college wrote the report on class characteristic and reviewing. 

NTHU also assists in holding EMI trainings and workshops, forming EMI growth community. The college supports teachers to participate and improve the EMI teaching ability. In 110-2 semester, there is one interdisciplinary EMI growth community in CoE, which has applied 5 micro-projects for EMI curriculum and teaching innovation.

Moreover, the college encourages TAs to improve their English ability, and hires the native students with English language proficiency above CEFR B2 or foreign students as TAs. We also promote TAs to participate in the EMI TA training workshops, form the EMI TA growth community and join the TA performance evaluation system.

Students and Learning

• Increase the percentage of students taking EMI courses
• Improve the students' English proficiency
• Formulate the Subsidy Guidelines on English Proficiency Test
• promote an English learning partner system
• Organize and sponsor activities for international students

The college encourages students to take EMI courses and take part in overseas activities such like exchange study, competition, internship, and so on. According to the 110 academic year investigation, around 43% of sophomore students and 77% of 1st year Master have earned at least 20% of their required credits from EMI courses; and about 62% at the beginning of sophomore year have met the English language proficiency level B2 or above. From these data, most of the CoE student had qualified the English proficiency when they obtained admission. For those in need of improving the English ability, both the Center of English Education and the Center of Teaching and Learning Development offer English tutoring.

To encourage CoE students, the college formulated the Subsidy Guidelines on English Proficiency Test. The university assisted to hold on-campus group test and also subsidized the testing fees for students who scored over the level as CEFR B2. And for those EMI courses requiring group work, the college suggests teachers can divide native students into groups according to their English proficiency, and distribute foreign students in each group, which are believed to make students communicate in English. Besides, native Student Association (SA) and foreign SA will get grants from CoE when holding events in cooperation. These initiatives are expected to increase the interaction between natives and foreigners.

Information to the Public, Resources Sharing and Interscholastic Collaboration

• Establish BEST website
• Film EMI online courses (OCW and MOOCs)

CoE established the BEST website providing EMI courses information; filmed 3 open courses and 1 MOOCs course during 110 academic year with the assistance from the Center of Teaching and Learning Development; and made the college EMI courses accept interscholastic-elective.