Abstract
1. Institutional Strategy and Management
- Academy of English Empowerment
The Academy of English Empowerment (AEE) was established in order to implement "The Program on Bilingual Education for Students in College (Best Program)." The AEE consists of three divisions: the Curriculum Division, the Professional Development Division, and the Research Division.
- College of Science and Engineering
The College of Science and Engineering (CSE) has shown a strong commitment to bilingual education during the first year of the program's strategic management, actively participating in and promoting bilingual learning:
(1) There are international classes: Department of Materials and Engineering (Studies, Masters), Physics (Masters, PhD), Chemistry (Masters, PhD), Materials (Masters, PhDs).
(2) The establishment of the "Bilingual Learning and International Affairs Center" was approved on 29 October in the 110 academic year, and since May 110, full-time assistants were hired to assist in the promotion of the Scheme.
(3) The master's program of the Department of Electrical Engineering, the master's program and the Ph.D. program of the Department of Life Sciences for the first semester of the 111th academic year have been approved by the University's Curriculum Committee on May 13 of the 110th academic year and divided into two divisions - General Division and International Division.
2. Teachers and Teaching
- Academy of English Empowerment
AEE has cooperated with the University of Cambridge and the Queensland Institute to offer online EMI certificate courses for EMI teachers. A total of 34 teachers have earned the Cambridge EMI certificate and 12 teachers have received the Queensland Institute EMI certificate. AEE has also provided "Future Learn" online courses with 100 accounts for EMI teachers and teaching assistants to help sharpen their enhance their English proficiency skills. In addition, AEE has organized 5 EMI workshops and 6 English mentor activities for both teachers and students.
- College of Science and Engineering
In the 110 academic year, 37 (7.3%) EMI courses were offered in the Bachelor of Science program, and 37 (34.3%) teachers offered EMI-related courses. To support the development of EMI courses, incentives and financial subsidies were provided to EMI teachers. The university and college held various EMI activities and teacher experience exchange lectures to raise awareness and encourage participation among teachers. In the 110 academic year, 21 teachers from the CSE enrolled in the University of Cambridge EMI certificate training, and 17 teachers have successfully completed the training and earned the certificate. By August 1, the college had hired two EMI teachers.
3. Students and Learning
- Academy of English Empowerment
AEE has made a concerted effort to support student professional development through various initiatives. These include 4 online "International Couch Surfers" events and 34 "Let's Talk About" sessions that give students the opportunity to boost their spoken English skills and connect with international students. Additionally, AEE has partnered with the Language Center to offer 7 ESP Listening and Reading online courses and 9 ESP Speaking and Writing online courses to help students enhance their English proficiency. There are also scholarships and application fee subsidies available for students who successfully pass CEFR B2 English proficiency tests.
- College of Science and Engineering
A total of 21 CSE students received English Empowerment Scholarships and Grants in the 110 academic year by actively promoting the information of ESP language classes, encouraging student participation, and creating posters to promote scholarship and financial aid. Additionally, 4.6% of sophomores had B2 level English proficiency or higher, and 7.28% (66 students) scored over 20% in EMI courses.
4. Information to Students and the Public
- Academy of English Empowerment
The AEE website posts information about English language courses, events, and scholarships, and informational meetings were held to promote scholarships and class observation opportunities. The "EMI Laurel Seed Teacher Community" and "Cambridge EMI Certificate Community" were established to give EMI teachers a space to share their teaching and learning experiences.
- College of Science and Engineering
The College's website now features a "Bilingual Education" webpage, which disseminates news related to the BEST Program. Additionally, an NDHU-CSAE EMI Facebook page has been established to share information about language online courses and bilingual education in the science and engineering fields of both domestic and foreign universities. To introduce new students to the BEST Program, online orientation meetings were arranged for the 111 academic year and informational flyers were distributed to departmental newcomers.
5. Quality Assurance
- Academy of English Empowerment
"Midterm Course Feedback Investigation" and "Self-Assessment" have been conducted for EMI students and teachers respectively, and will be repeated every semester. The results are analyzed in order to improve EMI teaching and learning.
- College of Science and Engineering
In the 109 academic year, the Foundation for Higher Education fully approved all 8 departments of the CSE after conducting evaluations (valid for 6 years). Furthermore, the Curriculum Committee included 3 EMI teachers, representing over a third of the committee, to support EMI teaching planning.
6. Sharing and Collaboration
- Academy of English Empowerment
AEE has organized 2 online EMI forums focused on "English, Bilingual and EMI Education" and invited EMI teachers from different universities to give plenary speeches and engage in discussions. Teachers from the Pan-Pacific University League were included in the invitations. The purpose of these forums to facilitate sharing and collaboration between NDHU and the Pan-Pacific University League, provide opportunities for teachers to learn from a diverse group of participants from different universities and professional backgrounds was thus achieved.
- College of Science and Engineering
The CSE teachers participated in the "2021 Forum on the Meaning and Practice of English, Bilingual, and All-English Education," as well as the "2022 EMI Summit Forum: The Distance between English and Bilingual Education and EMI," both organized by AEE. These events provided an opportunity for teachers to exchange practical experiences in bilingual instruction with colleagues from other institutions. The forums facilitated the establishment of cross-national, cross-institutional, and cross-professional discussion platforms, which served to enhance collaboration and information sharing. Furthermore, the formation of an on-campus community of EMI teachers was established to promote resource sharing and to facilitate synergistic teaching efforts.
7. Other Initiatives for Enhancement
- Academy of English Empowerment
AEE has established policies for scholarships, incentives, meetings, as well as guidelines for sending teachers and students abroad for EMI training, with the aim of boosting their English proficiency, teaching and learning motivation, and expanding their perspectives.
- College of Science and Engineering
The Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, along with other departments, has engaged in negotiations with industries to establish industry-university collaboration agreements. Departments are also encouraged to integrate these collaboration agreements into their EMI teaching plans, in order to enrich and diversify course content.
