Higher Education SPROUT Project

National Taiwan University (NTU) focuses on the implementation of student-oriented teaching and learning in terms of (1) evidence-based instructional enhancement; (2) encouraging research and practical learning; (3) teaching innovation and digital learning; and (4) consolidating and deepening the foundation, cross-disciplinary innovation. The University adopts the related strategies accordingly to materialize the foresaid 4 dimensions.

The budget implementation rate of this project exceeds 90% in fiscal year 2020. The highlights of the outcomes are summarized as follows:

In terms of implementing the promotion of teaching innovation:

1. Evidence-based instructional enhancement: NTU has established and improved existing assessment tools, including First-year Student Learning Experience Survey, Final-year Student Learning Experience Survey, First-year Graduate Student Learning Survey. These tools enable the University to keep close track and provide evidence of students' development of inquiry skills and career certainty. The University simultaneously strengthen the NTU aCARE learning tracking and counseling mechanism and build the " NTU Precalculus Diagnostic Tests " to help teachers and students adjust the teaching and learning mode.
2. Encourage research and practical learning: To enhance the quality of practical and experimental courses and international internships, NTU strengthens the innovation in learning-by-doing mode. The University offered 1,084 internships/hands-on courses in 2020 with the participation of 2811 students. Undergraduate students have been encouraged to engage in research-oriented courses, such as Bachelor's dissertation and research seminars. The newly implemented Honors Program is designed for students who have strong research interests. As of December 2020, the Program has been implemented by 5 departments of Mathematics, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, and Medical Biotechnology, Economics, Sociology, and Finance.
3. Teaching Innovation & E-Learning: To promote the efficiency of in-class teaching, the University deploys the next generation of future classrooms (smart classrooms). This type of classroom is activated since the spring semester of 2020, in which there are 11 courses invited for trial operation. The future classroom obtains a favorable view, scoring 4.51 points of overall satisfaction (5 points scale). The University continues to advance our learning management systems for digital education. In the autumn semester of 2020, a total of 2001 courses were added to the NTU COOL, with more than 24,000 students learning on the platform. MOOCs credit transfer and blended learning models further enhance flexibility in learning and autonomous learning.
4. Deepening the Foundation and encouraging cross-disciplinary innovation: The University urges the academic units to review the course map to review and re-structure existing courses into specialization programs to catalyze transdisciplinary learning. Inquiry-based learning mode in which theory and practice are combined is ushered in teaching, especially applied to freshmen, to inspire their potential and ability for solving problems independently. Students with clear aspirations and strong professional ability are emboldened to participate in research projects and enroll in bachelor's degree with honors program. These students will be reared as the future academic talent.

1. Expansion of enrollment methods and counseling students who are economically or culturally disadvantaged.

(1) Subsidies for economically and culturally disadvantaged students to participate in the recruit examination fees for registration, transportation and accommodation. There were 160 candidates subsidized in 2020. In 2019, the principal Kuan led a team to hold recruit student seminars in various places. Due to covide-19, it was changed to live broadcast via internet in 2020. After the pandemic was controlled, NTU co-organized several small recruit briefings with high schools to increase opportunities for touching teachers and students for high schools.

(2) For the “Hope Admissions” students, NTU set up a cultivation group to assist 152 students in adapting to university life and improving their learning ability through a shared learning community.

(3) NTU has built an online application system to provide a comprehensive "one-stop" online service to strengthen willingness for application. NTU Comprehensive Support Program for Economically or Culturally Disadvantaged Students was used for paper and counter applications during 2018-2019. Since 2020, a website had been established to provide students with one-stop online services. Online application is effective during the pandemic, strengthening willingness to apply.

(4) There were 3,109 people were approved and more than NTD$13,800,000 in scholarships were issued by “NTU Comprehensive Support Program for Economically or Culturally Disadvantaged Students” in 2020. As of December 25, 2020, the results of various counseling were as follows: 322 times counseling of “Enhancing Ability”, 2479 times counseling of "Economic Support", 205 times counseling of "Curriculum Learning", 7 times counseling of "International Exchange", 32 times counseling of "Career Exploration", 64 times counseling of "Cultural and Social Service".

2.Resource Sharing and Knowledge Translation in Higher Education

Our school operates several open education resource platforms, including the NTU Speech, NTU OCW, NTU MOOC, etc. The former two have been in operation for many years. The NTU Speech has over 2,700 speeches and the NTU OCW has a total of 230 courses. The NTU MOOC Project was launched in 2013 and has partnered with Coursera, an international MOOC platform, for a total of 58 courses so far.

In 109, NTU MOOC was introduced to two senior high schools in Taipei city for the first time. NTU cooperated with the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University and the Taipei Municipal Chenggong High School to guide their sophomore to study NTU MOOC courses during their flextime. Through the NTU MOOC Promotion Program, senior high school students can experience college courses and online self-learning in advance. The promotion can also activate and revitalize NTU’s online courses, effectively achieve the goal of University Social Responsibility.

1. To establish evidence-based research for all kinds of university affairs to develop emerging and multidisciplinary research topics.

For the long-term development of NTU affairs, the university promotes advanced and emerging research topics. Based on the analysis of database, the university can select superior research strength and key issues for long-term and deep cultivation. When the university calls for proposals, the analysis of field strengths and weaknesses can not only objectively examine the research energy of each project, but also provide the objective results, which is very useful for setting up the research direction and for enhancing the overall research energy of the university.

  2. Strengthen international collaboration in innovative teaching and research

(1) Actively participate in international higher education organizations: NTU is an active member in many renowned international higher education organizations including Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), The Association of East Asian Research Universities (AEARU), Association of Southeast Asian Institutes of Higher Education (ASAIHL), M8 Alliance, Asia-Oceania Top University League (AOTULE), and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). As pragmatic member, NTU strives for pivotal roles on the core team of each organization and collaborates with member universities on vital global issues such as multi-hazard, global health, women in leadership, sustainable cities and landscapes, etc. NTU is also serving as the Chair and Secretariat of AEARU from 2020-2021.

 (2) Strengthen collaboration with strategic partners: based on the mutual collaboration with our partner universities, NTU is actively negotiating with our strategic partners to develop a join seed funding scheme, where both universities will fund international research projects among faculty members. Faculty members as well as graduate students are encouraged to engage in interdisciplinary research and develop action plans for international collaboration. For example, research teams can base their collaboration on the UN SDGs to solve urban issues and continue to include new researchers from our strategic partners. NTU has also made many efforts in the diversification and internationalization of teaching. Additional subsidies were established to encourage invited foreign scholars to teach micro-courses at NTU during their visit to Taiwan, so NTU students can also benefit from English taught courses by internationally renowned experts.

 3 Build up a globalized campus environment with comprehensive education and research facilities and platforms.

NTU attempts to increase the diversity of overseas students by providing sufficient incentives and counseling services. First of all, we have introduced new guidelines for Undergraduate Programs Admission through Recommendation by Overseas Senior High Schools. In addition, NTU scholarships and financial assistance grant regulations for international students have been readjusted recently. Moreover, we have kept developing international short-term programs and Chinese language learning courses to meet the growing needs of overseas students. Lastly, by cooperating with the New Southbound Policy and utilizing the current resources plus additional financial grant support, the number of overseas students from Southeast Asia has increased substantially.

 NTU established “Office of Institutional Research and Social Responsibility” to connect colleges and entities on campus ESG-related activities and data, and to work collaboratively with them to support USR-specific projects and initiatives.

1. NTU has issued its very first USR Report in 2020, following the framework of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) released in 2015 and the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). Through this USR Report we compiled and illustrated NTU’s concrete actions in campus governance, education, research, services, as well as the blueprint for continuously fulfilling its social responsibility. The report has also been assured by the independent third-party agency in accordance with ISAE 3000.
2. In June 2020, NTU pledged towards the Paris Agreement of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5℃, and set its carbon reduction targets according to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). NTU pledges to reach 50% of carbon neutrality by its centennial in 2028 and achieve complete carbon neutrality by 2048. Following SBTi criteria, NTU will propose carbon reduction targets as well as the roadmap and measures to reach these targets within 24 months.