Your Success StartingHere─ National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) cultivates students to influence the future in the professional and interdisciplinary fields.
NCKU takes social responsibility and global issues as its main axis, and focuses on innovation in teaching and learning. NCKU is a university with overall excellence in teaching, research, and social responsibility.
Highlight of 2019
Interdisciplinary Integration & Synergy between Research and Teaching
The main axis in Higher Education SPROUT Project of NCKU (From Engaged Academics to Deep Learning) is “Educational Innovation” and “Social Responsibility.” The innovation of higher education not only brings instruction from individual practice to community-based participatory research activity but represents the innovation of teaching and learning is the core of future university education. The vision of NCKU is to” Think, Devote yourself, and Lead the Development of Future Universities”, and become a university with overall excellence in teaching, research, and social responsibility.
Based on the premise, NCKU -proposed the “Undergraduate Research Program” within the spirit of integrating research and teaching. Combining with the professional expertise of our faculty, this program will strengthen our students' academic transdisciplinary and innovative experiences and abilities. Through the platform of virtual” College X,” we assist students to form the interdisciplinary research teams, participate in Undergraduate Student Research Program of Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) , and build Open Research Platform to promote personal interdisciplinary and academic innovation
At the beginning of the 108th academic year, we organized a visit to the research laboratories on campus for freshmen training. Through this visit, hoping to let students realize the importance of research, plant the seeds of research in their minds, cultivate logical thinking, curiosity, innovation, and interaction with other students while in college. Students can become problem solvers by gaining all of the ability in research laboratories, fulfilling the mission of cultivating high-level talents in the university. NCKU not only plans a visit at the beginning of the semester but also provides support to help students explore the truth and have the opportunity to practice it during the university.
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Institutional Innovation& University without Boarders in the Perceived Society
Besides, the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering (CSIE) of NCKU set a precedent in Taiwan that recruits students with a special selection of eight-hour admission test called “On-site Programming” to make up for the deficiency of application document review and short-term interview. NCKU wants to find students with genuine enthusiasm and ability.
Our innovativeskills are not only presented in the school system,but also in the teaching content . The [NCKU BOOKS-ONE CITY] Mobile Library course, an innovative service-learning course, is held in the first semester fromSeptember 2019 to January 2020. Twenty groups of students and teachers drove book-themed vehicles to 20 administrative districts in Tainan. CThe library collection resources of our school are combined with courses such as creativity and narrative, and the mobile library is brought to the local area, designed and curated with specific themes, and the rich knowledge is brought to the people of Tainan, and the class students also learn from the local area. Humanities, exchange and study with local communities, and practice the social responsibility of the university (USR).
In addition to sharing school resources, NCKU also assisted rural schools in Alishan Township, Chiayi County in the procurement of nutritious lunch ingredients to develop a new model of "joint procurement, integration on the ground, and postal transportation", integrating rural primary schools to jointly purchase nutritious lunches through tenders Suppliers, and supply through the postal system, greatly reduce transportation costs and risks, and increase the willingness of manufacturers to supply. The saved funds can also be used to improve the quality of food materials, so that rural children can enjoy a rich lunch.
When the sandbanks of the Qigu Lagoon in Tainan City are gradually shrinking due to dams and climate change, oyster farming is also affected. Associate Professor Yi Chang from the Institute of Ocean Technology and Marine Affairs of NCKU introduced the topic into the course on climate change and marine environmental protection, leading students to explore the challenges faced by the oyster farming industry. The course invites experts and scholars in related fields to have an interviews and intergrates knowledge of the coastal change, coastal management, and oyster farming. During the interviews, Dr. Chang's team proposed the use of single oyster as a strategy to improve traditional oyster farming, which is more efficient and competitive of the oyster farming within industries.
Students of NCKU are also actively involved in solving the problems by using their knowledge learned from campus. Four graduate students from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics saw that the agricultural population is gradually aging and the traditional method of manually spraying pesticides has caused a considerable burden on manpower. After the team went to Tainan and Chiayi farmers’ associations for data collection and field surveys, they combined what they learned to establish Earthgen Technology, they developed agricultural drones to help farmers spray pesticides through precise positioning, and ewduce the amount of pesticides by about 30 to 40%..
In addition, NCKUalso actively promotes “International Service Learning” on issues of health, environmental protection, and public health for sustainable development in the United Nations. Prof. Heng Zhang from the Department of Architecture led a group of 12 students and teachers of the overseas service team to to CHOIR, the capital of Mongolia’s GOBISUMBER province, to build a children’s playground with an environmentally friendly ecological construction method. During the construction period, local people and children automatically came to help every day. The Mongolian enthusiasm impressed the team, and the students who participated in the activities deeply realized the responsibility of being a member of the global village. The vision of NCKU is to” Think, Devote yourself, and Lead the Development of Future Universities”, and become a university with overall excellence in teaching, research, and social responsibility. Peoplefrom NCKU are able to stake out their values within the global community. The culture of knowledge and technological innovation at NCKU shall be used for social development and to provide for the underprivileged on an ethical basis, connecting the cities, countries, and shared future of NCKU’s people.
Outcome of 2019
NCKU upholds the spirit of the school's motto of " Pursuit of truth through exhaustive reasoning ", actively seeking knowledge and truth, and shaping a steady and down-to-earth style of study. Since its establishment, the university has undergone continuous transformation and growth. Nowadays, in response to the needs and trends of the world in the future, we are focusing on "Social Responsibility" and "Global Issues", taking innovation in teaching and learning as the policy, and developing universities with an overall excellence in teaching, research and social responsibility.
Interdisciplinary Platform & Learning Innovation
To meet the demand for more professional and multiplexing human in the future world, NCKU has established the virtual “College X” as the interdisciplinary platform. The core of College X is "In response to future changes in the world, what kind of knowledge and literacy should teachers and students have?" By introducing "interdisciplinary future issues" and "practical courses" through the courses, integrating the literacy courses, and designing interdisciplinary teaching modules, it makes College X become a practical field. Through College X, NCKU wants to cultivate students to become "future talents" with the ability to ask questions, express narratives, think deeply and solve problems.
Under College X, A new academic system “Cross College Elite Program” is established to promote the “Revolving Door System.” Students have the privilege of retardant tracking to explore and to develop their interdisciplinary learning motivation and ability. Besides, students can also choose interdisciplinary learning as their main learning style based on their majors. Raymond C.H Hou and Yun-Shiuan Shih were the first graduates of the program in 2019. They almost dropped out of school from their original department ,Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Life Sciences, respectively. before attending this program. In our multidisciplinary curriculum, they create their own “128 credits” and learning map which makes their journey in school more sound.
The interdisciplinary platform also helps students to “team-up” and to face the problems of the future world from different departments and majors. A cross-disciplinary team that was composed of College of Medicine (Cardiology and Neurology) and Engineering (Biomedical Engineering and Medical Device Innovation Center) participated in the 2019 Arm Design Contest and successfully realized the device Cardiovascular Disease Rapid Screening Device (ASEASAVE). The device is designed as a portable device that especially suitable for primary or rural medical institutions and hopes to help rural areas with insufficient medical resources. It can also accurately diagnose potential heart diseases.
Engaged Academics & Worldwide Learning
The interdisciplinary course, Taiwan Festival in Japan- Psychology X Technology X Culture Innovation uses virtual reality as the medium for international marketing which combines the departments of psychology, information, and history science with cultural and technological innovation. By creating the virtual reality game based on Tainan’s cultural characteristics, users can visually experience the spectacle and excitement of the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival and decipher the unique folklore and religion of Eight Generals. In late June, students were even invited to Fujisaki department store in Sendai, Japan to display the VR game, where Japanese people couldn't stop playing with it and also know more about the culture of Tainan. Moreover, they even attracted the attention of NHK, a Japanese television station, which went to cover the event and produced a 3-minute report.
For the promotion of local culture, there is also the "Board Game Front" prepared by the student team of the Department of Industrial Design after a year of preparation. This game allows more people to experience the richness of Tainan's culture. Students researched and developed the rules of the board game based on the fact that they were investigating the culture of Tainan. Instead of throwing dice, players can throw divining blocks and draw lots which were specially designed for the game to decide the direction of the game. Within a week, the game reached the first level of fundraising 100,000 New Taiwan Dollar (TWD) in Taiwan's largest crowdfunding platform “ZecZec.”
In addition to encouraging students to make an impact on society from their studies in college, NCKU also values the competencies that our students gain during their school life. To promote waste reduction, the Department of Architecture has prohibited students from using Styrofoam to construct models since the first semester of the 108th academic year. Students also established a “Flea Market” for students of all grades that served as an exchange platform for leftover materials which has effectively increased the utilization rate of materials, reduced resource waste, and helped students save material expenses.
Associate professor Shou-Heng Liu from the Department of Environmental Engineering and his research team have developed Vernice, smart multifunctional coatings from inorganic wastes, which were mostly disposed of it by burying in the landfill. Vernice is becoming a new healthy green building material, which is cheaper than diatomaceous earth in the market and more effective in antibacterial effect and humidity control. Moreover, it can also reach the effect of indoor air purification and lower 99% of the volatilization of formaldehyde.
NCKU also cooperates with Nan-Ning High School in Tainan City. Professor Yi-ling Chang from the Department of Mechanical Engineering works with the school's faculty to offer a hacker course that combines 3D technology, laser cutting machine and quadcopter with emerging technologies from a different field. Students are taught to combine the Arduino board with a program to control the LED. Moreover, students will create their works by 3D printed parts which are combined with the buttons, various LED patterns, buzzer, ultrasonic sensor, temperature sensor, servo motor, photo interrupter, and bluetooth module.
The University should cultivate the quality talents for future development of the country and society. In addition to continuing to pursue “Excellent Research,” NCKU has positioned itself as a top university that focuses on the integration of research and teaching. Under the self-positioning of “Integrating Research and Teaching”, NCKU puts special emphasis on the development of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for cultivating talents, which are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly. We focus on the concept of “Meeting the World's Wide-Ranging Needs,” “Depth Combination in Cross-domain Disciplinary ”and “Sustainable Thinking in Social and Environmental Transitions” NCKU is an excellent university in teaching, research, and social responsibility that cultivates students to become “knowledge practitioners who can respond to the future.”