Ming Chuan University 2021 Higher Education Sprout Project Highlights
Ming Chuan University Higher Education Sprout Project effectively combines the University information system and UCAN platform to keep tabs on student ability development status. The effectiveness of this has also been affirmed by the Youth Development Administration of the MOE, with MCU serving as the North District Convener of “Colleges and Universities Career Development Promotion Subsidy Project.” In order to enhance students’ media literacy skills, MCU strengthened media literacy education; performance in this area was affirmed by the MOE as MCU became the lead institution of the “Higher Education Media Literacy Teaching Development Program” and was tapped as the North District Resource Center host institution. In line with the 2019 syllabus, cultivation of core competencies was proposed as the theme of curriculum development. MCU was awarded by the Taiwan Ministry of Education (MOE) for Professionalized Student Recruitment Development Project, which is the top among all universities nationwide.
- For the Teaching Innovation Sub-Project, a Teaching Practice Research Program was promoted; 39 projects were granted MOE subsidy in 2021, which is the top 4 among universities nationwide. Teaching innovation has been integrated with adaptive guidance, and students' learning progress enriched through multi-faceted practical teaching such as deep bowl courses and micro-credits. Meanwhile, in 2021, 100% of the total student body at MCU took relevant courses to enhance their abilities in logical and computational thinking and program design. In 2021, 115 student projects were awarded MOST Undergraduate Student Research Grants (top 4 nationwide) to advancing self-learning ability and research energy. In 2021, MCU was ranked No. 3 of all universities in Taiwan by Global Views Monthly for current students participating in off-campus competitions and papers published. Concurrently, MCU also completed the implementation of off-campus and industrial internships for current students, resulting in 42% of students participating in off-campus internships and 230 participating in long-term internships in their 8th semester. Moreover, Ming Chuan established an Occupational Competency Standard and Student Learning Outcome Review System to direct student career planning and track the flow of graduates and employers' feedback to improve teaching methods and course design to more robustly execute the teaching quality PDCA loop.
- For the Enhancing Global Mobility Sub-Project, despite the impact of the pandemic, Ming Chuan persisted in the internationalization of education. The number of overseas students who are matriculating toward a degree at MCU was expanded to 1,866 students (top 1 among private institutions nationwide). Among them, foreign students account for 1023, an increase of 8.8% compared with 2020-21. MCU continues to require four years of English courses and promote online learning. In 2021-22, MCU International College was granted the Focused Cultivation Academy (Accredited Type) Subsidy and established the EMI Resource Center to promote English-taught courses. Meanwhile, second foreign language learning is encouraged by offering Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Korean, and Southeast Asian language courses, with enrollment of 3513 students in 2021. 53 online cross-disciplinary academic, research and teaching exchange sessions were conducted. The enrollment in English-instructed programs was 1215 students for the same year. In addition, MCU’s Hospitality & Tourism Management ranked 44th globally in the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2021, which is the top among all universities in Taiwan; being included in the QS Asia University Rankings for 5 consecutive years. These achievements indicate MCU’s success in expanding international education.
In the Improving Public Nature of Higher Education Sub-Project, MCU completed aid and fundraising mechanisms for financially disadvantaged students, and has raised 5 million NTD for these designated accounts. Based on their academic performance, 3801 grants to disadvantaged students have been awarded. In recognition of faculty members’ outstanding achievements, 10.26 million NTD has been issued as flexible salary. The establishment of university affairs and financial information platforms allows students to participate in the important meetings of the University. In 2021, student representatives participated in 35 university meetings and Meet-the-faculty meetings. The establishment of Indigenous Students’ Resource Center enhances guidance for indigenous students.
In the Completing Social Responsibility Sub-Project, the Ming Chuan University Social Responsibility Promotion Center was established and completed the Ming Chuan University Social Responsibility Report. MCU developed five external field projects in Taipei Tamsui River Area, Taoyuan Guishan District, Kinmen Area, and Datong Township in Yilan County and established partnerships with 4 institutions. Five USR experience sharing seminars, 2 project workshops and 1 achievement fair were organized. A total of 754 students took Service-Learning courses. MCU cares for local disadvantaged groups, fosters local creativity and adds value to industry-university cooperation, assists faculty members to link mutually beneficial relationships between university, places and communities, as well as to activate local growth momentum, and to promote regional innovation.
In the University Affairs Research Linkage Sub-Project, MCU focuses on Student Learning Outcomes and on conducting correlation analysis by analyzing student data from enrollment to graduation. The time point of student data analysis was extended to include students’ high school performance, connecting their high school learning history data with learning performance after university admission. In addition, 10 studies have also been completed in terms of learning effectiveness, such as: analysis of distance teaching and online learning due to the epidemic, enrollment analysis under the trend of low birthrate, effectiveness analysis of flipped teaching of English, analysis of key subjects failed for students who have taken study leave or withdrawn from University, and analysis of remedial course effectiveness, etc. Twelve educational training activities have been held. Analysis results have been used to draw up relevant strategies to help optimize and improve university affairs decision-making.
