Further support for the development of research postgraduate students' capabilities through the teaching activities they engage in

Principal Supervisor

Professor Carmel McNaught, Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research
Duration

1 year
Approved Budget

HK $200,000
 
  • Project Objectives
  • Evaluation of outcomes
  • Dissemination of results & deliverables

Project Objectives

Provide practical advice to research postgraduates with teaching duties (RPgTAs) to improve their teaching and presentation performance through the use of an online Learning Circle and classroom observations, both strategies leading to an Online Resources Centre (ORC) for RPgTAs.

Evaluation of outcomes

The majority of the project was conducted during the 1st semester of 2009–10. Logistic considerations made the team defer the beginning till this time in order to make use of the opportunity of the extensive set of TA training sessions conducted by CLEAR in August each year. The project is thus ongoing with 16 RPgTAs who are positive about the benefits of the support. RPgs’ workload made recruitment challenging and iterative cycles may be needed to build the strategy.

Dissemination of results & deliverables

  • Evaluation report on using classroom observation as strategy for professional development of RPgTAs is being drafted.
  • The ORC, as a Facebook Group, is already placed online and available to members of the Learning Circle. Useful contents of ORC including the common problems and good practices will be extracted and placed in the resources section of the CLEAR’s website for longer term sharing.
  • A poster presentation was presented during Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo 2009.