【Article by EMI Center】

To enhance faculty members’ understanding of Curriculum Quality Assurance for English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) courses and to provide instructors with the support and resources, the NCCU EMI Center held an information session on September 29. The session featured a presentation by EMI Center faculty member Dr. Wu Cheng-Han, who introduced the principles of Curriculum Quality Assurance and shared his experience of participating in the process. Shen Pu-Sheng, a full-time assistant at the EMI Center, also explained the administrative procedures and implementation process.

Dr. Wu explained that the primary purpose of Curriculum Quality Assurance is to understand whether instructors need additional resources or support when designing and teaching EMI courses. The ultimate goal is to facilitate smoother course delivery and enhance student learning, thereby helping ensure the quality of EMI courses.

To give participating faculty members a more concrete understanding of the observation process, Dr. Wu shared a video of an EMI class he teaches in the Department of English during an observation session. He emphasized that the process is intended to be relaxing and natural, with instructors teaching in the same way they normally would. The observation focuses on aspects such as teacher-student interaction and the overall flow of the class, and instructors should not feel pressured or nervous about being observed.

Before the session, the EMI Center collected questions from participating faculty members online and invited Dr. Wu to address them during the session. One frequently raised issue concerned how to teach effectively when students have significantly different levels of English proficiency. Dr. Wu noted that this is one of the most common challenges faced in university EMI courses in Taiwan. He recommended that instructors maintain clear explanations of course content while teaching in English, and emphasized the importance of actively encouraging and facilitating student participation. Appropriate classroom interaction can help instructors strike a balance between language use and course content, preventing students’ learning from being overly affected by a focus on language.

Shen Pu-Sheng explained that the Curriculum Quality Assurance process consists of three stages: pre-observation discussion, classroom observation, and post-observation discussion. Each class is observed by one expert. In the first stage, instructors prepare a Lesson Plan and explain their course plans to the observation expert before the class. During the observation stage, the observation expert attends? the class and observes the actual teaching and learning process. Finally, in the post-observation discussion, instructors and experts? exchange views and discuss the class together.

The information session also provided an opportunity for faculty members to share their experiences with EMI teaching. Deasy Rumondang Priscilla, Adjunct Associate Professor in the International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies (IMAS) and the International College of Innovation (ICI), shared her extensive experience teaching EMI courses and demonstrated examples of teacher-student interaction in the classroom.

Wei Mei-Chuan, Director of the EMI Center and moderator of the session, further explained that the purpose of classroom observation is to understand instructors’ needs for support and resources based on their regular teaching practices. Therefore, instructors participating in the peer observation and review process do not need to make special adjustments to their teaching methods or course content for the observation.

Faculty members also raised questions regarding the design of the Lesson Plan and the professional backgrounds of observation experts. Director Wei explained that the current Lesson Plan is based on a standardized format and that the Center will consider faculty feedback and make necessary adjustments after further discussion. Regarding concerns about whether committee members’ academic backgrounds need to match the subject areas of the observed courses, she noted that the Center will consider the relevance or similarity between the course content and observation experts’ expertise when inviting observation experts. However, she emphasized that the purpose of Curriculum Quality Assurance and review is not to evaluate the academic content of a course, but to focus on EMI teaching practices. Therefore, differences in disciplinary backgrounds should not affect the observation process.

Second Information Session to Be Held on October 12

To provide more faculty members who are currently teaching or planning to teach EMI courses with an opportunity to learn about the Curriculum Quality Assurance process, the EMI Center will hold a second information session on October 12 (Monday), from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. The session will be offered in a hybrid format, with light refreshments and small gifts available for on-site participants. Faculty members are welcome to register and participate.

Event Information

Date: October 12, 2026 (Monday), 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Venue: Medium Conference Room, AI Center, 8F, Administration Building
Registration Deadline: October 11, 2026 (Sunday)
Registration: https://forms.gle/fvHGRpogjTXh3JYX6