The course “Course Design and Teaching Methods” organized by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in collaboration with the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) in 2012 included 4 sessions with the participation of 39 young lecturers of the University. On March 15, 2012, the University organized a meeting with lecturers attending the course to summarize and share the results achieved in the first session and prepare for the next sessions in late May, August and December 2012. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Kim - Vice Principal of the University attended and listened to the lecturers' sharing about the course on course design and teaching methods.
Lecturer's School Days
Sharing about the teaching method before participating in the course, lecturer Truong Bich Hanh - Faculty of History said: A paradox is that lecturers have to give presentations every day or participate in large and small seminars but have never been trained in presentation skills. The problem is that I do it quite instinctively, not knowing the names or techniques to perform those skills systematically and effectively. Participating in the course, learning and sharing knowledge and skills with experts, young lecturers said that the results obtained are very useful and can be creatively applied to their teaching methods. Lecturer Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang - Faculty of International Studies said: This is the first time I have approached the TetraMap diagram of Yoshimi and Jon Brett. This model helps me better understand the outstanding aspects, interests, styles of myself and those around me. From there, I became more aware of how to prepare and impart knowledge to many students with different styles, interests and habits…” Lecturer Dieu Thi Lan Phuong – Faculty of Literature shared: "Who am I? – Who am I? is a new knowledge that I learned for the first time. Realizing that I and others can belong to one of the 4 personality tendencies (Earth, Air, Water, Fire) helps me understand others better and accept and adapt to differences more easily. That makes us get along with hundreds of students better…" Although the knowledge in this course is not completely new to the lecturers, most of them were surprised by the results they obtained: "I have attended some classes on presentation methods, teaching methods... Therefore, before participating, I was mentally prepared to listen to what I already knew, but I was very surprised. Learning is more fun, more interesting, and more effective... I am greatly influenced by the teachers' style, and when I go to class now, I feel much more energetic. My energy is also transmitted to the students" - Lecturer Do Hong Duong (Faculty of Linguistics).
Result
Lecturer Pham Thuy Chi - Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language said: There are some methods that I have applied more or less, however, this application is not often and I often consider it as teaching experience only, but after the last course, I have thought about it and upgraded it to a real teaching method and will apply it regularly...
Up to now, I have mainly focused on imparting knowledge and skills to students, often ignoring improving their ability to concentrate and absorb knowledge. It is the opening and energizing skills that will help students become more excited about class, increase their ability to concentrate and think during long lessons...
— Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang – Faculty of International Studies“Up to now, I have mainly focused on imparting knowledge and skills to students, often ignoring improving their ability to concentrate and absorb knowledge. It is the opening and energizing skills that will help students become more excited about class, increase their ability to concentrate and think during long lessons...” – Lecturer Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang (Faculty of International Studies). Lecturer Tran Ha Thu – Faculty of Psychology shared: The important thing after this course is that I realized that I should not be a “lecturer” but a “facilitator” in the classroom. I should constantly change and believe that I can do it. That is the great spiritual meaning that the course has brought to me…
Suggestions
Not only stopping at those results, the young lecturers also hope that after this course, they will continue to share knowledge, skills, and experiences more and more effectively. "I hope that the network of lecturers who have participated in this course will be built, from there, developed, maintained and shared with other colleagues in the school." - Lecturer Phan Hong Giang (Faculty of Management Science). Lecturer Nguyen Thi Anh Thu (Faculty of Psychology) shared her concerns with the idea: Should we train students to be more dynamic, and work with lecturers to make changes? Because in the classroom, a few core members (like a core group) are needed to stir things up. Then this core group will stir things up and share with other students. Students are always the center of the training process, so according to lecturer Do Thuy Lan Khoa - Faculty of History, because students are the center, we must further strengthen self-study, self-research, self-transmission and acquisition of knowledge by students; in which lecturers are the ones who "design", "supervise, implement" orientation and answer questions (this is many times more difficult than simply teaching knowledge). Lecturer Dinh Thi Thuy Hien - Faculty of History, put forward a very practical and specific proposal: We should introduce knowledge and skills The project aims to provide all lecturers in the school with the ability to apply innovative methods in parallel with adjusting the management and supervision mechanisms... to synchronously and comprehensively innovate teaching methods in the school in order to effectively carry out the mission of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Some other opinions of lecturers mentioned that the application of innovations in current conditions still faces certain difficulties such as: the fixed arrangement of tables and chairs makes it difficult to organize classes, the classroom is equipped with white glass so the effectiveness of the screen when using media and slides is not achieved, the speakers in the lecture hall cannot be connected to the computer... In the concluding speech, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Kim emphasized: In the next semester, the school will create conditions for lecturers to be able to apply innovative methods in teaching. Lecturers need to apply what they have learned in the course effectively and appropriately to the Vietnamese context. The Vice President expressed his hope that the school's young lecturers will soon reach international standards and confidently participate in teaching at international universities. The course on designing subjects and teaching young lecturers of the School has ended, what has been gained has been and is being applied creatively and appropriately by some lecturers: Nguyen Thu Giang, Hoang Thu Ha (Faculty of Journalism and Communication), Hua Ngoc Tan, Do Hong Duong (Faculty of Linguistics)... in the current conditions of the School. And there will be many young lecturers applying these innovations in the near future.
