Cambridge University Press Vietnam Expert Shares Strategies for Designing Differentiated Teaching and Learning Activities with Faculty of English

On November 11, 2024, lecturers from the Faculty of English at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) participated in a workshop led by an expert from Cambridge University Press Vietnam. The session focused on developing skills to design differentiated teaching and learning activities within the “Four Corners” teaching framework, offering valuable insights into modern instructional program design.

Many teachers participated in the training session on teaching design skills at Saigon Campus recently.

The keynote speaker was Ms. Phạm Hoàng Uyên, Head of the Assessment Services Department for the Northeast Asia–Pacific region at Cambridge University Press Vietnam. Through engaging practical exercises, she helped participants identify common classroom challenges and choose appropriate solutions.

Leaders of the English Department sent gifts to representatives of Cambridge University Publishing House Vietnam.

Held at HUTECH's Saigon Campus, the workshop attracted a large number of faculty members. It addressed the difficulties of managing large classes—sometimes over a hundred students. Ms. Uyên provided methods for better classroom control and highlighted that a teacher’s ability to adapt dynamically is essential for guiding lessons effectively. She underscored that teaching diverse classrooms isn’t only challenging but beneficial; students bring a wide range of ideas, creating a dynamic, multidimensional learning atmosphere.

Speaker Pham Hoang Uyen brought many interesting tips on how to design teaching skills.

Ms. Uyên offered practical tips for using exclusively English in class to encourage student participation in speaking, debating, and peer and teacher communication. She also emphasized setting time limits, defining minimum English-use requirements, and utilizing visual aids like images and videos to maintain engagement and prevent monotony.

Lecturers actively participate in activities, seeking new teaching methods for students.

To accommodate varying student proficiency, she recommended forming mixed-ability groups and focusing error correction on weaker students to boost their confidence. Assignments should also be tailored to individual levels to gradually build understanding.

The workshop additionally introduced new teaching methods for the four fundamental English skills—reading, writing, listening, and speaking—encouraging lecturers to adapt curriculum to match student development, promote autonomy, and prepare them for future challenges.

Questions about how to design appropriate curriculum were also specifically answered by the speaker at the program.

Responding to participants' questions, Ms. Uyên advised, “In classrooms with mixed abilities, what matters most is recognizing every effort. Don’t compare strong students to weaker ones; instead, compare each student’s progress to their own past performance”.

Overall, this workshop equipped HUTECH English lecturers with enhanced teaching and lesson design skills aligned with student needs, thereby improving instructional and learning quality at the university.