Achievements and Highlights of the NUK SPROUT Project
The National University of Kaohsiung’s SPROUT Project, in its first phase (2023-2024), was implemented under the theme “NUK Supports NEXT” to align with the initiative’s four major pillars. The project encompasses four key dimensions and twenty-two sub-projects. The following presents our current achievements (2023) and highlights related to various aspects of the SPROUT initiative:
I. Enhancing Teaching Innovation
- Developed a preliminary calculus course in 2023 to improve student performance and establish a university transition mechanism aligned with the 2019 curriculum guidelines.
- Introduced the "NUK I-Course Intelligent Course Selection System" to enhance students' awareness of interdisciplinary academic pathways.
- Launched eight STEAM seed courses during the incubation phase, enrolling 271 students.
- Incorporated an "Interdisciplinary Sustainability" framework into the General Education curriculum.
- Organized the "Humanities and Sustainable Care" series, including the interactive event NUK Heroes: Quest for the Super Earth Stone, which drew 492 participants, with 244 completing all challenges.
- Developed an SDGs-Capstone course with 154 enrolled students.
- Redesigned introductory university courses to improve the transition and adaptation from high school to university.
II. Fulfilling Social Responsibility
- Established a hierarchical mechanism for practice fields, matching internal teaching teams to enhance service-learning and embed the SDGs-Inside concept into curricula.
- Conducted environmental education experiences, promoting sustainability through three initiatives in Oyster Bay and two activities under the "Happy University Town" project.
- Promoted science education through eight educational camps for primary and secondary school students.
- Strengthened campus and community resilience by enhancing disaster preparedness, achieving a 31.58% training completion rate for disaster prevention specialists.
III. Strengthening Academia-Industry Collaboration
- Facilitated workforce skill development by supporting eight micro-courses for industrial upskilling and approving applications from 19 academic units for industry-integrated teaching subsidies. Activities included 22 company visits and 49 industry-led lectures.
- Partnered with 104 Job Bank to offer talent development courses, and signed MOUs with six semiconductor companies to boost talent cultivation, resulting in 265 student internships—a 15.3% increase from the previous year.
- Organized 58 industry-academia collaboration teaching activities across four academic departments.
- Hosted three entrepreneurship workshops, providing consulting and funding support for five competition teams.
IV. Enhancing the Public Value of Higher Education
- Improved dedicated support policies for economically or culturally disadvantaged students, providing financial aid for 163 cases.
- Strengthened employment transition mechanisms for disadvantaged students by organizing lectures on civil service and indigenous-specific exams.
- Fostered international cultural exchanges for indigenous students, including field studies on Austronesian cultures in the Philippines, and promoted indigenous education domestically, with three students obtaining language certification.
Sprout Project Achievements Website: https://wish.nuk.edu.tw/main/index