In order to achieve the objectives of High Education Sprout Project, NCNU proposes five subprojects. Our university comes up with twenty-three plans to implement. There are fifteen common performance indicators and ten custom performance indicators as main executive concepts. NCNU dedicates to improve the quality of teaching and raise the efficiency of learning. The accomplishments and highlights of our university’s 109 academic year High Education Sprout Project are as follows:
【Subproject A】Strengthening Instructional Innovation
Ⅰ. Improving first-year students’ Chinese reading and writing abilities
Our professors in the department of Chinese language and literature are aware that students’ impressions of Chinese course are still trapped in high school standardized learning system and examinational answering method. Students have lesser interests in learning Chinese. Besides, their critical thinking skills, affection, expression, and narrative skills in language and literature still need to be improved. Therefore, NCNU starts to carry out schoolwide language ability pre-test and post-test for first-year students, “水煙紗漣” literature award of graphic and literature competition; our university publishes 暨情．好讀 and 暨情．享讀 as teaching texts and holds lectures of authors and specialists. Also, our professors would prepare collaborative courses. According to the result of 109 academic year of first-year students’ Chinese guided writing test, the average grades of post-test are 2.69 scores higher than pre-test. It raises up from 77.97 scores to 80.66 scores. Evidently, our students’ integration ability and narrative skill have been progressing. There are 402 students submit their works during the 109 academic year “水煙紗漣”literature award, which include 210 works of graphic and literature. Our university have held 12 lectures in 109 academic year, and there are 1393 participants in total. Later, our university finishes publishing the revised edition and e-book version of 暨情．享讀. Based on the data and observation, it proves that this strategy efficiently improves NCNU first-year students’ Chinese reading and writing skills. Our university will keep implementing and expanding this subproject in order to deepen students’ reading and writing skills.
▲暨情．享讀 published by the department of Chinese language and literature.
Ⅱ. Cultivating students’ skills and participating in different competitions to learn entrepreneurship
For the past few years, the Ministry of Education has aimed to promote students’ abilities to connect with workplace. Our nation looks forward to see students can strengthen multiple abilities in schools in order to cope with the needs in future careers. With the aim to promoting this idea, the facility of Learning and Empowerment Center for Small-business Startup of NCNU (LESSON+) dedicates to fulfill field constructing and industrial chain linking. During the 109 academic year, our university has completed multiple startup business incubator. The facility provides complete entrepreneurship cultivation, and two students have already started up their own company. They have earned 1.6 million dollars of venture fund. Moreover, LESSON+ carries out the first phase of the course讀創萌芽 in October. There are 42 students who apply for this course though the facility originally requires only 20 students. Our university establishes interdisciplinary professional instructor community for “startup developing course and practical learning design”, which aims to enhance the efficiency of entrepreneurship teaching. Furthermore, NCNU will do a survey on students’ entrepreneurial propensity so that LESSON+ can design courses to precisely fulfill the idea of industry collaboration.
▲The completion of multifunctional practical training room (讀創邊境)
▲LESSON+ provides industry counseling and connects with local industry in Nantou.
【Subproject B】Cultivating NCNU’s Distinguishing Features
Ⅰ. Dedicating to progressing the college of 水沙連 and cultivating rural regional development in Taiwan
The purpose of founding the college of 水沙連 is to broaden NCNU’s students’ horizon and to cultivate their liberal education, knowledge, and skills. Currently, the college has started the Returning Young Innovation and Practical Training Credits and Micro-learning (Rcube) and Sports Coaching Professional Knowledge Credits and Micro-learning (sports coach program). The college actively launches 認識水沙連．社會創新camp, expands more than 70 off-campus learning bases, holds intercollegiate learning seminars, and forms professors for Rcube programs…etc. Rcube had provided 33 curriculums during the 108-2 academic year, and there were 879 students applied for the courses; in the 109 academic year, Rcube offers 34 curriculums, and there are 901 students. There have been 5 students earned the certificate of program completion and 29 students got the certificate of Micro-learning. The program Sports Coaching Professional Knowledge Credits and Micro-learning aims to educate NCNU’s top students in sport field to become professional full-time sports coaches. This program provides these top students employment counseling, and there are more than 300 students in the 109 academic year. Now, the college plans on launching the Master Program of Rural Regional Development and Social Practice. The program will focus on constructing an education system of rural region development concerning and cross-boundary governance in order to accomplish educational features of local practice and regional revitalization.
▲水沙連camp (Students were cycling around Puli town.)
Ⅱ. The CPR program, Credits, Part-time, and Reassurance to students, parents, and teachers, creates the three wins.
The CPR program is designed to reduce overseas Chinese and foreign students’ financial stress due to the pandemic and give them assistance in learning, in the hope of encouraging overseas Chinese and foreign students to participate in summer course. Our university will also offer participants part-time opportunities. NCNU’s Office of International and Cross-Strait Affairs (OICSA) and the Center for Institutional Research (IR center) analyze and understand overseas Chinese and foreign students’ courses attempt status over the years, and collaborate with the Office of Academic Affairs to launch summer courses and connect with part-time working units. One of the summer courses is multicultural communication class, which has 12 students applied, and the result of this program is remarkable.
▲The information for the orientation of CPR program summer courses
Ⅲ. NCNU Cultural Team visits local communities and rural schools.
NCNU’s Office of International and Cross-Strait Affairs (OICSA) sets up the Buddy Program for foreign students and expands to the fellow students’ family. The facility continues the NCNU Cultural Team, which is a group formed by foreign students and Taiwanese students in order to do rural service in local region. In the 109 academic year, the team collaborates with the CPR program and visits Wunde Elementary School in Fenyuan Township, Changhua County, Mingtan Elementary School in Yuchi Township, Nantou County, and Toda Elementary School in Ren'ai Township, Nantou County. The elementary school students respond enthusiastically to the camp event, and they look forward to every event from the Cultural Team.
▲The Cultural Team in the Mingtan Elementary School in Yuchi Township, Nantou County
【Subproject C】Advancing The Publicity of Higher Education
Ⅰ. Strengthening the enrollment system and employment system for finance and culture deprived students and the system’s continuity
In the aspect of students, our university keeps providing disadvantaged students education aid and helping students find suitable careers through career counseling system. Next, in the aspect of teachers, NCNU integrates school’s institutional research analysis to comprehend the disadvantaged students’ learning status, which can help the university to provide one-on-one learning guidance. Then, in the aspect of institution, our university devotes to increase the disadvantaged students’ enrollment rate to fulfill the social responsibility. By implementing the Dream Realization Project, the disadvantaged students are encouraged to join communities and broaden their international perspectives. In the 109 academic year, the Dream Realization Project holds a Dream Realization Audition, and there are 67 participants. The project also holds 2 Dream Realization Lectures, which has 380 students attended. There are 20 participants in a Dream Training Workshop and 48 participants in 2 Dream Practitioner Meetings. Additionally, the project launches a series of Resilience Scholarship events, such as NCNU Grow Up!-Resilience Scholarship for Outstanding Students Explanatory Meeting, Professional EXCEL Certificate Training Class, and Oral Expression Training Workshop…etc. This project devotes to provide disadvantaged students more educational resources and scholarship application.
▲ 逐鹿Photography Exhibition from the Seventeam—training disadvantaged students to participate the Dream Realization Group Project.
Ⅱ. Building up the brand image of NCNU
In order to improve the deficiency of public promotion and enhance the participation of all the students and faculty, NCNU will dedicate to fulfilling the goal of sustaining University Social Responsibility. Our university will do our best to advance the integration of public relations and marketing, and strengthen globalization and promotion. Besides holding schoolwide film-making competition of international marketing, which invites all foreign students to participate in the cross-cultural communication event during the award ceremony. This year, NCNU builds up its brand image from the recognition of our university’s public figure. Our school establishes the High Education Sprout Project VI visual system to implement CSI application, exhibition, and NCNU’s official websites. Using the visual recognition system can combine visual styles and distinguish NCNU’s brand image. In the future, our university will keep integrating the characteristic of our university with the features of local regions. Our university would like to collaborate with different faculties and make good use of different activities to increase publicity.
▲Presenting the remarkable result of NCNU’s High Education Sprout Project on the official websites.
【Subproject D】Accomplishing Social Responsibility
Ⅰ. Imputing the energy of university into Nantou County to promote programing course
After the launching of 108 academic year curriculum guidelines, 12-year compulsory education includes computational thinking training and programing course. Programing has become popular in Taiwan. However, due to the lack of training in information technology among teachers, our university hopes to use schools as promotion center, and the faculties see themselves as a companion and information connector of programing learning in Nantou County. NCNU the department of Computer Science & Information Engineering (CSIE) has formed an interdisciplinary山立坊 Education Team in the 107 academic year. For the past two years, the team has launched camp events, which has more than 170 students participated. It helps 9 elementary schools in Nantou and 3 local communities. In 109 academic year, the team plans on providing Children Scholarship of Cathay for outstanding students to apply. Moreover, the team carries out a Lego training course in the mountain city with Taiping Elementary School, Taoyuan Elementary School, and Puli Elementary School. This course lasts for half years and Puli Elementary School students have done an excellent work in WRO(World Robot Olympiad). Furthermore, the team has trained 13 high school students and 7 undergraduate students to contribute in the programing education camps and visual programing education resources development.
▲The Lego training course in the mountain city
▲Visual programing education resources development
Ⅱ. Guiding social practice education in high schools
Due to the geographical location, many schools suffer from limited education resources. Our university helps and supports the students and faculties of affiliated high school enhance skills to adapt the new 108 Curriculum Guideline. NCNU launches collaboration courses of developing food and agricultural education model, promotion, and re-elaborated strategies. Besides, our university participates in National 4-H Club Association of R.O.C. work competition. NCNU is honorably awarded by the Council of Agriculture for first prize. Our university carries out seminar project through university laboratory resources and faculty. Students attend National Robot Competition, National Science Exhibition for elementary and junior high school students, and International Video Conference Science and Technology exchange. Moreover, our university provides university professors’ lesson observation in order to gather senior and vocational high school students’ learning performance and academic portfolio preparation.
▲The first school that provides high school lesson observation in Nantou County
【Subproject E】Sustainable System Operation
Establishing local governance cooperation platform
Since 2015, NCNU has built up水沙連 Social Innovation and Practice Research Center, and it keeps cultivating new faculties and students group to contribute to social practicing work as a communicator between school and local communities. Our university makes a great effort to strive for school evaluations. NCNU has won second prize in the USR university citizen survey of CommonWealth Magazine (for public universities under 6,000 students), outstanding award in university USR project of Global Views Monthly, and gold and silver awards in TSCA Sustainable Enterprise Award. The research center has trained 11 social practicing teams, 4 USR HUB teams, 5 Nantou children and youth service teams, and 2 departmental teams in the aim of forming green cities, local industries, elderly care, rural regional education, and Zhongxing New Village revitalization, and total 16 collaboration networks. The facility signs up the strategic alliance with Puli Town, Guoxing Township, and Ren'ai Township, which helps NCNU increase local governance development networks and energies to enrich Taiwanese local innovation and practice theory and knowledge.
▲The 2nd水沙連 Seminar in 2020
【USR HUB】Sustainable System Operation
Building up水沙連“無老。長照” collaborated governance network: holistic care strategy
This project is formed by the faculties from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, the Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Resource Development, and the Department of Information Management. It uses厚熊咖啡館 as the main practicing area and collaborates with Puli Christian Hospital, Quixotic Implement Foundation, and Jianan Recovery Home to establish regional atmosphere of education promotion strategy. The project connects with students and faculties and launches community volunteer training course, Active Aging Learning Center in Puli, long-term care professional training, community course lecturer training, and elementary school course revision…etc. The participants coverage rate for promoting education is 12.66%, the participating communities is 45.83%, and the project carries out 4 innovational elder lesson plans. The facility constructs professional accreditation mechanism in order to facilitate symbiotic community administrators and elderly life planner accreditation courses. The project also develops community industries’ social enterprise links, and there are 27 kinds of charity goods developed and produced by community industries. Furthermore, the project develops information system for supporting community care, which focuses on the needs of community volunteer services and courses and lectures design. It launches an application to help communities reduce administrative costs for providing services. The project aims to progress regional elder-friendly activities, communal elder care information system, the co-brands with community industries, and elderly long-term care innovational education plans.
▲Through discussing second-handed toys recycling issue, to connect social welfare issues of long-term care(Quixotic Implement Foundation厚熊), mental disturbance(Jianan spirits, Jiamei), service-learning of the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, and NCNU Scouts Club. This event expands the recognition and awareness of social welfare issues into university and elementary schools by making the second-handed toy Christmas tree.