Teaching Innovation(1) Elevating students’ learning effectiveness
An outcome-oriented curriculum planning program
Utilizing information technology in teaching
NTOU instructors incorporated mobile devices and technical equipment into their teaching, creating new teaching methods and improving students’ concentration and interest. The improvement in students’ learning effectiveness is presented in an outcome-oriented way. The number of participating instructors increased by 1.57 times, growing from 21 in 2019 to 33 in 2020; while the number of participating students increased to 1,770, showing a 1.8-fold growth compared to 2019 (roughly 977 students participated in 2019). NTOU instructors also actively promoted the producing of practical works, with a total of 15 smart teaching modules and 263 student works produced in 2020.
Figure : “Remote-Activated Mini 4WD” produced by students of the Department of Electrical Engineering
Figure: “Smart City—Motion Detection Traffic Light” produced by students of the Department of Electrical Engineering
Exploratory and practice-oriented courses
NTOU focused on developing the narrative competencies of its trainee teachers in teaching and adhered to the principle of learning-by-doing, allowing students to grow naturally through the act of participation. The number of trainee teachers grew from 22 in 2018 to 60 in 2019 and even reached 83 in 2020. The number of trainee teachers who participated in the Exploration and Practice-Oriented Teacher Training Program in the fall semester of the 2020/2021 academic year accounted for 73% of all NTOU trainee teachers. A total of 173 practical works and 95 special topic reports were produced in 2020; an exploration and practice-oriented teaching design and demonstration competition was also organized.
Figure : Trainee teachers using everyday life examples to design lesson plans for seventh-grade courses.
Figure : Trainee teachers visiting Ren Ai Elementary School and conducting a teaching demonstration with lesson plans developed by themselves.
Promoting capstone courses
NTOU instructors guided students to analyze and solve problems, wherein the practical works and products developed by students were used to examine their learning outcomes. In 2020, the university took a college-oriented approach and offered 39 courses participated in by 1,323 students. Most NTOU departments, including the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, the Department of Communications, Navigation and Control Engineering, the Department of Optoelectronics and Materials Technology, the Department of Harbor and River Engineering, the Department of Ocean Engineering Technology, and the Department of Oceanic Cultural Creative Design Industries, offered the required capstone courses “Special Topics Research” and “Project-Based Practical Research”, which helped students develop necessary professional core competencies up to the producing of practical results. Large-scale project-based contests were also held to demonstrate students’ learning outcomes. In 2020, 27 instructors organized five inter-college thematic course groups to assess students through capstone project competitions, which was participated by a total of 1,005 students.
Figure : Students of the Department of Systems Engineering and Naval Architecture participate in the spaghetti bridge building contest held in the course “Experiments in Structural Mechanics.”
Using contests to incentivize professional discipline application
NTOU organized contests to build teamwork, motivate learning, and improve professional growth. In 2020, at least 19 student teams received awards in off-campus competitions. This year, students of the NTOU Department of Communications, Navigation and Control Engineering took part in the 45thInternational Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Asia Taipei-Hsinchu Site Programming Contest and achieved a record-breaking performance in the history of NTOU, ranking fourth in Taiwan based on the top score of each university after National Taiwan University, National Chiao Tung University, and National Tsing Hua University. Furthermore, students of the Department of Electrical Engineering participated in the 2020 National College Competition in Intelligent Innovations and Interdisciplinary Integrated Creations, where their entry “Applications of Underwater Stereo Vision in AI-powered Aquaculture” received first place in the Intelligent Machine Division.
Figure: Students of the Department of Communications, Navigation and Control Engineering take part in the 45th ICPC Asia Taipei-Hsinchu Site Programming Contest, where they ranked fourth by national university ranking.
Figure : Led by an instructor, a student team of the Department of Electrical Engineering participates in the 2020 National College Competition in Intelligent Innovations and Interdisciplinary Integrated Creations, where it won first place in the Intelligent Machine Division.
(2) Improving students’ professional practice
Program for enhancing students’ occupational preparedness
Introductory Industry-Academia Courses and Industry-Academia Bridging Courses
Marine-themed courses for freshmen are offered in all NTOU departments to provide students with a learning roadmap; in 2020, a total of 17 NTOU departments (roughly accounting for 77% of all NTOU departments) offered 35 courses participated by 2,051 students. For students in their sophomore to senior years, industry professionals were invited to give lectures, and students also went on industry visits. A total of 35 industry bridging courses partaken by 1,573 students were offered in 2020, including the Offshore Wind Energy Industry Lectures, the Enterprise Lectures on Communications Industry Bridging, and the Shipping Industry Lectures, Meanwhile, the industry visits held were participated in by 751 students.
Figure: Industry engineers lead students of the Department of Harbor and River Engineering during a printing factory visit to help students gain a better understanding of the site characteristics and manufacturing process.
Alumni lectures and experience sharing
The general education course “Inheritance & Innovation Seminar” organized by the NTOU Alumni Service Center and headlined by Kuang-Hsiang Wang invited distinguished NTOU alumni to return to the university and share their academic and entrepreneurial experiences. The course was attended by 118 students in 2020, which saw top alumni leaders inspire current NTOU students to plan and think about their future development as well as the holding of a face-to-face exchange seminar for the purpose of expanding international perspectives and enriching working life.
Figure : “Inheritance & Innovation Seminar” headlined by Kuang-Hsiang Wang.
NTOU courses jointly designed by the public and private sectors
In 2020, NTOU collaborated with the Keelung Customs Office of the Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance to offer the "Clearance Practice" course centered on practical customs issues, which features lectures by industry practitioners, corporate visits, and licensing examination checks, and encourages students to take licensing exams. For example, for the Dedicated Personnel for the Independent Management of Bonded Warehouses, Duty-Free shops, and Logistics Centers licensing exam, 77 out of 85 attending students qualified and received certification for a passing rate of 90.59%; while all 70 students who took the Dedicated Personnel for the Supply Chain Safety of Quality Businesses licensing exam received certification, for a passing rate of 100%. Acquiring these licenses helps NTOU students enhance their competitiveness in the workplace.
Figure : The licensing exam for the Dedicated Personnel for the Independent Management of Bonded Warehouses, Duty-Free shops, and Logistics Centers licensing exam.
(3) Cultivating students’ key capabilities
Holistic education and literacy program
Elevating ocean and humanities literacy
NTOU continues to elevate ocean and humanities literacy among its students through the organization of marine- and humanities-themed events to inspire students’ interests in the maritime humanities. One example was the holding of marine literary creation activities that were partaken in total by roughly 206 participants, which included the marine-themed love poetry competition “Writing a Love Poem for You,” the Public Speaking and Literature Reading activity in the Cross-Strait Marine Culture Exchange, the Writer-in-Residence Maritime Literature Seminar, and the speech on optimizing linguistic understanding.
Strengthening students’ narrative competence in Chinese and English
NTOU continues to strengthen students’ narrative competence in Chinese and English to help realize the government’s goal of developing Taiwan into a bilingual country by 2030. For example, the university continues to implement an online essay writing peer-review platform to assist in the Chinese and English writing practice of NTOU freshmen, who completed roughly 2,600 Chinese essays and achieved an average English writing practice score of 81. Furthermore, through the marine-themed English Vocabulary Contest, English Sightseeing Tour Short Video Contest, English Idiom and Phrase Contest, and English Literature Reading Competition, students were able to exhibit their talents and increase their motivations for learning English.
Cultivating independence and creativity in student clubs
NTOU encouraged students to join clubs to improve their non-academic skills and help them develop abilities unique to themselves in their careers of the future. Student clubs at NTOU continue to nurture talent and the enhancement of outstanding traits such as leadership and management skills among students. For example, two clubs received a High Distinction Award in the 2020 National Evaluation of College and University Student Societies.
(4) Promoting innovative training
Establishing channels of communication for instructors
Increasing instructors’ channels of communication
Promoting the “Teacher Talks” program
The Office of Academic Affairs’ Center for Teaching and Learning conducted organized visits with NTOU instructors to understand their teaching needs and areas of assistance. New instructors were prioritized and a total of 36 instructor visits were conducted in 2020, developing suitable and innovative teaching methods, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration among instructors, and establishing trust and a channel of communication for instructors.
Figure: The Office of Academic Affairs’ Center for Teaching and Learning conducts visits with NTOU instructors, establishing trust and a channel of communication for instructors.
Establishing an online instructor help service platform
The NTOU Teacher + online help service platform for instructors was established using LINE and provides NTOU instructors with a channel to receive prompt help on teaching issues. The university can also use the online platform to share information on innovative teaching training research and instructors’ rights. The platform effectively established a communication channel between NTOU and its faculty; a total of 271 instructors joined the platform in 2020, accounting for roughly 60% of NTOU faculty.
Figure: The special online instructor help service platform provides NTOU faculty with a channel to receive prompt help on teaching issues.
(5) Increasing instructors’ practical experience
Deepening peer learning systems
Implementing a classroom observation mechanism
Under the framework of NTOU’s Plan for Selecting and Rewarding Excellent Teachers, candidates are required to participate in demonstration classes and classroom observation. A teaching demonstration information system (http://academics.ntou.edu.tw/TDIS/) was established to provide NTOU faculty with classroom observation information. A total of 40 demonstration classes were held in 2020 and were participated by 86 observing instructors, inspiring a variety of teaching thinking and techniques in instructors.
Table : Statistics of classroom observation in past years.
Figure : A demonstrating instructor incorporated Kahoot! into their teaching to effectively stimulate students’ learning motivations and inspire innovative teaching thinking in observing instructors.
The Mentor-Mentee Program
Through the assistance and support of senior instructors, novice instructors are able to accelerate their training in the fields of teaching, research, service, and guidance counseling. In 2020, a total of 25 instructors in 12 groups participated in the program. The second stage of the Mentor-Mentee Program was launched in 2019; instructors who completed the first stage of the program were able to apply for a subsidy for one course during its instructional period. Two novice instructors applied for a subsidy in 2020, providing them with teaching resources for their courses and helping accommodate them to their teaching careers.
Table: Number of instructors participating in the Mentor-Mentee Program in past years.
Features of the University(1)Cultivating marine professionals
Laying a foundation for the development of specialists in the fields of maritime and ocean-related studies
Furthering development in the fields of maritime and ocean-related studies
With 34 marine-related academic departments and with 75% of all departments directly related to marine-related fields, NTOU is the world’s most complete university in the fields of maritime and ocean-related studies. In addition to the establishment of primary university-level centers—Taiwan Marine Education Center, Center of Excellence for the Oceans, and Maritime Development and Training Center—NTOU also followed industrial development trends and founded the AI Research Center to develop intelligent aquaculture management systems and other technologies. The university further combined education and research, and has become an important talent incubator that holds the foremost position in terms of application promotion and talent development for the marine industry.
(2) Becoming a marine education think tank
Promoting the popular science knowledge of marine education
Organizing national events that promote marine education and elevate ocean literacy
Taiwan is a nation borne of the sea; marine education is therefore an important part of Taiwan’s national policy. NTOU takes upon the responsibility of promoting marine education in the country, continuing to improve and establish long-term databases and online platforms for marine education so as to assist in the multi-faceted trend analysis of the development of marine professionals in Taiwan and organizing events related to marine education, such as: the National Marine Education Promotional Tour, which made 36 stops and was attended by approximately 5,300 people; the National Marine Education Week’s holding of 10 promotional seminars attended by roughly 550 people; and the provision of eight itinerant service sessions at schools and government agencies in different counties and cities across Taiwan to help local governments develop marine education.
Marine career exploration
Through the long-term establishment of the online marine education platform and marine education database, NTOU utilized the multi-faceted information provided on marine education to facilitate the planning and design of learning materials and courses for marine education. For example, the Elementary School Marine Career Development Education Lesson Bundle contains lesson plans and fun and lively animated videos that instill learners with a more positive attitude toward marine careers.
(3) International education and research partnerships
Developing smart marine technologies
Improving artificial intelligence in marine technologies
To keep up with the global trends in artificial intelligence, NTOU established the AI Research Center to drive the research of intelligent marine technologies and the development of key technologies in the marine industry. Through the incorporation of artificial intelligence, the university hopes to further improve and optimize research in the fields of maritime and ocean-related studies and the development of the marine industry. For example, the Intelligent Aquaculture System developed by the AI Research Center and the NTOU Department of Aquaculture can reduce costs and increase catch yields for the aquaculture industry. Furthermore, the university collaborated with the Japanese firm Okicom Co., Ltd. and also used AI vision-related technologies to conduct water surface image detection, ensuring increased safety in the overall fishing industry.
Research and development of antibiotic- and chemical-free aquaculture fisheries
The prospect of future aquaculture technologies is currently geared towards the development of antibiotic- and chemical-free technologies, which not only ensures the sufficiency and safety of aquatic food, but marks an important milestone in the aquaculture industry. For example, a team of instructors of the NTOU College of Life Sciences actively conducted studies and developed a platform for the genetic breeding of specific pathogen resistant (SPF) shrimp larvae and healthy fish larvae in the hope of building the top healthy larvae procurement platform in Taiwan and greatly increasing the international competitiveness of Taiwan’s larvae culture.
Universality(1) Perfecting enrollment assistance mechanisms
Enrolling economically and culturally disadvantaged students
Holding university-wide department meetings on disadvantaged student enrollment
Department meetings are held to facilitate the exchange of opinions and views of various departments concerning enrollment opportunities for disadvantaged students and to gain a consensus on the trial work and enrollment promotions involved in the enrollment and admission of disadvantaged students.
Forming alliances with rural high schools; university students guide disadvantaged high school students in completing their school work
The university formed close ties with rural high schools such as New Taipei Municipal Jin-Shan High School and New Taipei Municipal Shuang-Xi High School and regularly held forums and school principal seminars, establishing a collaborative model among local high schools. In addition, the university collaborated with Keelung Municipal Badou Senior High School. The Badou region faces the problems of severe population outflow and a sharp decline in its local fishing industry. As a result, students who remain in Badou to attend high school are mostly disadvantaged students who suffer from poor socioeconomic conditions or dysfunctional families. With this plan, outstanding NTOU students visited Badou Senior High School and helped the disadvantaged high school with after-school learning, thereby providing support and assistance and providing disadvantaged local children with better learning opportunities.
Holding seminars to promote disadvantaged student enrollment
NTOU continues to commit itself to helping disadvantaged students and has organized the following promotional activities: 21 disadvantaged student recruitment events were held at partnering or disadvantaged high schools in the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area as the key sites of promotion for obtaining relevant information regarding disadvantaged student enrollment; five university visits and disadvantaged student recruitment events in which high schools visited the university in person to learn more about NTOU and obtained detailed explanations on NTOU’s disadvantaged student enrollment measures —including promotional brochures and materials on disadvantaged student enrollment for the reference of students and teachers. In 2020, a total of 12 disadvantaged student recruitment events were held at university fairs in the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, helping the public learn more about NTOU’s enrollment measures, affirmative action policy, and admission channels for disadvantaged students. NTOU faculty also actively visit high schools across Taiwan to hold disadvantaged student recruitment events and promote the university’s Raw Jade Subsidy Plan and living expense grants, relaying to students that by studying at NTOU they are able to enjoy campus life without the burden of financial anxiety.
Earmarking funds for financial aid and establishing a foundation to raise funds for sustainable financial aid
Establishing a mechanism for earmarking funds for financial aid and fundraising
The university appropriates from its school funds an amount of over 20% of its income from the tuition and miscellaneous fees received that year into the Student Public Expenditures and Incentives fund, which is used to process tuition waivers, scholarships and subsidies, and tuition and dormitory fee discounts or exemptions. Living expense grants and part-time administrative assistant subsidies are also used to provide opportunities for students to learn while working. The university also organizes various fundraisers to establish scholarships for disadvantaged students so as to ease their financial burden. Fundraisers are organized in accordance with the Regulations on Raising School Funds and the National Taiwan Ocean University Guidelines for Accepting Corporate or Private Scholarship Donations. Types of scholarships include endowments (the interest accrued each year is used for awarding scholarships and subsidies), dedicated scholarships (dedicated funds designated for specific scholarships), and scholarships raised through small donations (e.g., Set Sail and Wish Fulfillment Scholarship, which is funded by alumni, faculty and staff, and personal contributors).
Increasing the scale of scholarships for disadvantaged students
Around 60% of the Student Public Expenditure and Incentives fund is appropriated annually for the subsidies of disadvantaged students, including subsidies to cover emergencies, cost of living, accommodation, special education, financial hardship, and financial hardship for indigenous students. To assist indigenous students while helping them gain work experience and incentivizing service learning, the university introduced the Service Learning Scholarship for Indigenous Students in 2017 and established a counseling department specifically for indigenous students, thereby enhancing cultural diversity at NTOU.
A mechanism for the sustainable earmarking of funds for financial aid
Between 2018 and 2020, the Caring for Disadvantaged Students Scholarship Fund raised NT$10.16 million in funds earmarked for subsidizing disadvantaged student care programs, during which The NTOU Alumni Service Center regularly held fundraisers to solicit donations from foundations and alumni.
(2) Transparency in university management
University Affairs Research and Development Project
NTOU continued to refine its overall project management capabilities in university affairs, regularly holding seminars for big data analytics talent development so as to strengthen the university’s big data competencies, and consolidating multi-faceted data in academic affairs, student affairs, research and development, and university affairs and administration for the comprehensive completion of the university’s robust data warehouse and to complete the establishment of the overall university information platform module. Through the use of the multi-faceted data mentioned, NTOU is able to implement its programs in academic affairs, student affairs, research and development, and university affairs and administration, ensuring smooth and comprehensive university management and further enhancing the self-assessment ability of the university. Additionally, with access to the academic profiles of general and vocational high school students, NTOU can take a more specialized and focused approach to student recruitment and adapt its teaching to individual differences among students. Furthermore, the university also combined teaching quality assurance with institutional research, allowing its quality assurance information to be stocked with more complete supporting data.
