In-service Teaching Assistant Training (InsTAT) for engineering and computer science graduate students in Hong Kong: A blended-learning approach

In-service teaching assistant (TA) training often receives relatively limited attention from university decision makers when compared to the plethora of courses designed for junior faculty (i.e., peer-to-peer mentoring or ´buddy´ system) in tertiary institutions around the world. In Hong Kong, as in many other parts of the world, TAs serve in different capacities to provide front-line teaching and learning support in the university, despite their insufficient experience in using active learning strategies or grading students´ assignments. Major challenges faced by new TAs, especially non-local graduates (as many of City University of Hong Kong´s (CityU) graduate research students are originally from the Chinese Mainland), include the relative absence of teaching experience, the difficulty to switch from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach, the adoption of English as the medium of instruction (EMI), and role transformation. This paper presents an innovative approach in providing a compulsory In-service Teaching Assistant Training (InsTAT) course for all graduate research students at CityU before undertaking any teaching-related duties: it includes an unconventional but effective multi-directional engagement team teaching approach with the extensive support of e-learning technologies throughout the course. Comments and feedback data show that students found the course very engaging, useful, and innovative.