As the spring semester of 2023-2024 commences, UIC warmly welcomed to a cohort of new teachers and teaching staff, marking the start of their exciting journey to enhance their educational and pedagogical skills. In the first two weeks, the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) launched a fresh cycle of the Induction Program (IP) to integrate our new colleagues into this new teaching and work setting more effectively, which saw enthusiastic participation. Orchestrated by CTL, this year's IP continued its legacy of excellence, smoothly progressing through its agenda as it concluded with five unique and impactful workshops:

The first workshop, titled “Brief Introduction and Tutorial on iSpace”, was conducted by Ms. Suri Suyi LI (Senior IT Technician, ITSC) on 23 February 2024. With the assistance of ITSC, our new colleagues learned the basic skills of using iSpace not only as an E-learning platform but also as an optimal tool that connects students with their teaching practice.

Following the iSpace introduction, CTL organized two workshops addressing specific functional purposes. In the Getting Started with Advance HE Fellowship workshop, our new colleagues gained hands-on application experiences and the benefits of the FHEA fellowship from Mr. Ian HALL (Advance HE Associate Fellow). This session enabled participants to understand the fellowship's value in professional development and recognition in higher education teaching.

Given the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, CTL also held an open discussion on AI Principles and Guidelines. This workshop was presented by Dr Benjamin MOORHOUSE, from the Generative AI Tools Taskforce of HKBU, at which teaching staff responded to the comprehensive set of policies and guidelines issued by HKBU and had a heated discussion on the ethical issue and premium principles of using AI.

            The subsequent workshop on How to Master Teaching Skills and Enhance Teaching Effectiveness (掌握教学技能，提升教学水平) presented by Prof. Yanan LIN (林亚南教授), Special Advisor of CTL, also attracted a lot of attention. In his sharing, Prof. LIN summarized his rich teaching experience, introduced various teaching models, and emphasized the importance of using teaching competitions to improve teaching skills.

In the workshop held on March 5, Dr. Yi-Lung KUO (Director of CTL/Associate Professor of APSY) addressed “Fairness in Grading: Development and Use of Rubrics in Assessing Student Performance”. This session provided a comprehensive explanation of the importance of rubrics in fairly assessing students' performance in a variety of assignments and activities.

This IP is poised to be a catalyst for our new educators, propelling the initiation or advancement of their professional development journey. It aims to  It aims to equip them with a solid understanding of outcome-based teaching and learning, digital education strategies, pedagogical knowledge, and how to make the most of the teaching support available at UIC.

CTL continues to be committed to promoting excellence in learning and teaching throughout the campus. By offering unwavering support to all teaching staff on their path to teaching excellence.