NCUE comprises seven colleges: Arts, Science, Engineering, Education, Management, Technology and Vocational Education, and Social Sciences and Physical Education. All colleges actively participate in government policy research projects to develop key policies or assist government departments in formulating policies and implementing strategies.

According to statistics, in 2022, 146 NSTC projects (excluding industry-academia projects) were carried out with a total fund amount of NT$139,003,674, and 12 industry-academia cooperation projects were carried out with a total fund of NT$16,537,699 (for details, please refer to https://rnd.ncue.edu.tw/files/90-1002-23.php).

In 2021, NCUE recorded 11 faculty members undertaking 12 projects under this category. In 2022, the number of faculty members undertaking in such projects increased to 30, and the total number of projects also increased to 19. In addition, NCUE’s Innovation Incubation Centre of the Research and Development Department implemented the “Science and Technology Care Project to Support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises” and the “Industry Guidance for Innovation in Industrial Parks Project,” which are further described below: (Annex 16.3.3A)

1. Assisting the government in implementing a research programme focused on reducing inequalities (7 projects):

(1)Professor Yi-Han Wang of the Department of Guidance & Counseling undertook the NSTC project “Local Practices of Protective Services for Intimate Partner Violence in Indigenous Tribes: Demonstration of Cultural Translation and Cultural Competences” for the 2021 academic year (2021/08/01-2023/12/31). This research focused on the practical service providers dealing with intimate partner violence protection in indigenous communities. It employed focus groups to examine how these service providers bridge the gap between the domestic violence prevention system and the indigenous communities. It also investigated how local knowledge and cultural translation within the community can be utilized to support services for women who are victims of violence in these indigenous communities.

Annex 16.3.3B: Professor Yi-Han Wang undertook the NSTC project “Local Practices of Protective Services for Intimate Partner Violence in Indigenous Tribes: Demonstration of Cultural Translation and Cultural Competences”.

(2)Professor Wan-Juo Cheng of the Department of Guidance & Counseling undertook the NSTC project “After the Mandated Parenting Education Is Over: a Process Research of Parents’ Perspectives of Parenting Education in Child Protective Services and Their Practices” for the 2022 academic year (2022/08/01-2023/07/31). This study focused on parents receiving parenting education counseling for child and youth protection. By employing an ethnographic research methodological approach, from the time parents participated in the parenting education counseling to 6-9 months after the end of the counseling, the study explored the challenges and difficulties of their perspectives, knowledge, and skills in actual parenting practices, which helped to fill the gap of the lack of parents’ perspectives in the existing research.

(3)Professor Jong-Ching Wu of the Department of Physics undertook the NSTC project “Development and Establishment of Physics Laboratories Curricula for Students with Visual Impairments” for the 2021 academic year (2021/08/01-2023/07/31). The objective of this project was to develop and establish a laboratory course in natural science for visually impaired students. The curriculum covered physics and related interdisciplinary experiments for students from grade one to high school. The aim was to nurture the logical reasoning abilities and scientific knowledge of visually impaired students, expand their career options, reduce the burden on social welfare, and enhance Taiwan’s international visibility in the field of education for disadvantaged groups.

(4)Professor Chung-Hsing Wu and Professor Hsien-Chang Wu of the Department of Physics undertook the NSTC project “Hands-On Science Activities for Students with Visual And/Or Hearing Impairment (Theme 4)” for the 2022 academic year (2022/08/01-2023/07/31). This project focused on assisting students with disabilities, particularly visually impaired and hearing-impaired students, in their science learning. By emphasizing hands-on learning, it aimed to establish a strong foundation in natural sciences and mathematics concepts for these disadvantaged students. The goal was to ensure that students with disabilities can enjoy the same educational rights as their peers and to cultivate more pre-service teachers with expertise in both science and special education, who can contribute to special education at the local level in the future.

(5)Professors Lian-Hui Hung, Chien-Lung Lin, Yi-Mou Ko of the Department of Physics, Yang-Wei Lin of the Department of Chemistry, and Professor Wei-Lung Wang of the Department of Biology undertook the NSTC project “Improvement of Scientific Inquiry Ability for Vulnerable Students and Promotion of Popular Science for All (Theme 4)” for the 2022 academic year (2022/08/01-2023/09/30). This is a two-year project. The executive team of Science HomeRun of Changhua University of Education intensifies Science education in various townships in Changhua County and Yunlin County. The approach of the project will execute seven types of activities: 1. Science in Fest Train, 2. Changhua County Popular Science Day, 3. Science HomeRun Creativity Competition, 4. Science Fun Day, 5. Scientific education of dropout students, 6. Professors partial downtown teaching, 7. HomeRun Scientific Camp. At the same time, it cooperates with Chiayi University and Formosa University to jointly promote popular science activities with the Science Popularization Alliance. This project is to cooperate with Yuan T Lee Science Education Foundation, the Natural Field Team of the Changhua County, Changhua County and city government, and elementary schools. It also cooperates with Chiayi University and Formosa University, we focus on disadvantaged students in rural areas, to promote their interest in science and creativity. Twelve-year National Education on the road, the purpose of this project is to excite the potential and interest of science for students, to make the experimental and thinking abilities by hands-on. According to the Science creativity competition, we will jointly organize the creative competition activities with the inquiry and practical training. It can provide students with opportunities to learn science vividly. Students must learn the ability of scientific inquiry, through real-world problem solving and peer discussion. After that, it will really improve the public’s scientific literacy. This project aims to help vulnerable groups of science education. We invite the professor to teach partial township students. They will design some science lesson that is suitable for vulnerable students. This project pays attention to promoting the dropout students’ science literacy, we will cooperate with Changhua Sunflower School and Shiny School to provide the dropout students studying environment to make Scientific aids and teach them the science in the teaching aids at the same time. We will train them to be the chairs in the breakthrough activities at other neighboring primary schools. To teach the Primary school students will inspire their confidence and achievement and will promote their motivation of active learning.

(6)Professor Chien-Hui Lin from the Department of Special Education undertook the NSTC project “The Enhancement of Competences Regarding Affective Education and Self-Protection for Young Women with Mildly Intellectual Disabilities: Developing a Self-Directed E-Learning Program (L6)” for the 2022 academic year (2022/08/01-2023/09/30). The research team conducted teaching interventions with self-developed digital teaching materials to understand the appropriateness of curriculum development and the effectiveness of teaching, aiming to empower senior high school and vocational high school students with mild intellectual disabilities and young women who have graduated and entered the workforce through self-protection and emotional education.

Annex 16.3.3C: Professor Chien-Hui Lin undertook the NSTC project “The Enhancement of Competences Regarding Affective Education and Self-Protection for Young Women with Mildly Intellectual Disabilities: Developing a Self-Directed E-Learning Program (L6)”.

(7)Professor Chia-Rui Chang from the Department of Special Education undertook the NSTC project “Enhancing Parents of Young Children with Visual Impairment to Implement Embedded Instruction through Coaching: an Action Research” for the 2022 academic year. This study focuses on the challenges faced by young children with visual impairment (VI) due to limited vision and the subsequent delay in receiving adequate care and educational support. The family-centered practice, emphasizing active parental involvement in interventions, has become a core belief in early intervention. Thus, facilitating parental support within the natural home environment has emerged as a critical concern. Using action research, this study employed empirical and effective coaching aligned with adult learning principles to assist two parents in developing embedded instruction skills for their young children with VI. The study revealed the following outcomes: (a)Coaching effectively enhanced parents’ proficiency in employing embedded instruction in natural contexts, resulting in positive improvements in parental self-efficacy; (b)Improved embedded instruction skills in parents corresponded to progress in achieving predefined goals and developmental domains in young children with VI.

Annex 16.3.3D: Professor Chia-Jui Chang undertook the NSTC project “Enhancing Parents of Young Children with Visual Impairment to Implement Embedded Instruction through Coaching: an Action Research”.

2. Research projects focusing on assisting the government in implementing “Health and Well-being” policies: (4 projects):

(1)Professor An-Tai Wu of the Department of Chemistry undertook the NSTC project “Synthesis and Biological Studies of Resveratrol Derivatives as Anti-Alzheimer’s Disease Agents” for the 2022 academic year (2022/08/01-2023/07/31). The aim of this research was to prepare resveratrol derivatives as inhibitors of amyloid beta (Aβ) aggregation and acetylcholinesterase. The goal was to evaluate whether these derivatives are suitable as drugs for Alzheimer’s disease by assessing their ability to inhibit the deposition of Aβ proteins and their inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase.

(2)Professor Yen-Yi Liu of the Department of Biology undertook the NSTC project “Using Pan-Genome-Allelic Databasing Concept Assisted with Machine Learning Approach to Build a Visualized Large-Scale Antimicrobial Resistance Comparison and Epidemiological Analysis Platform”, for the 2022 academic year (2022/08/01-2023/10/31). This project was based on the concept of pan-genome allele databases and aimed to establish an antibiotic-resistant allele gene database, such as by converting bacterial whole-genome sequences into standardized antibiotic resistance profiles. Through these standardized profiles, it will be possible to trace and study the global prevalence and transmission of specific antibiotic resistance profiles, facilitating relevant prevention and control efforts.

Annex 16.3.3E: Professor Yen-Yi Liu undertook the NSTC project “Using Pan-Genome-Allelic Databasing Concept Assisted with Machine Learning Approach to Build a Visualized Large-Scale Antimicrobial Resistance Comparison and Epidemiological Analysis Platform”.

(3)Professor Yong-Ling Lai of the Department of Mechatronics Engineering implemented “An Innovative Intelligent Iot System for Biomedical Examination Applications” for the 2022 academic year. This project aimed to develop an innovative smart biomedical detection Internet of Things (IoT) system. It envisaged enhancing the efficiency of specimen collection while avoiding human contact and operational errors. The project introduced a flexible and probe-type IoT component structure that effectively controlled the radio frequency field, overcoming challenges related to multiple readings and misjudgments in dense tag environments.

(4)Professor Chia-Chi Chang of the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering undertook the NSTC project “Design and Implementation of a Real-Time Monitor Sensor Module With Integrated Pulse Oximeter, Heart Rate, and Far Infrared Thermal Array by Using Piezo Energy Harvesting Source” for the 2021 academic year (2021/11/01-2023/01/31). This project is a one-year project that has three goals. The first goal is to design and implement a low-cost, single-cell battery, low-power, and multi-protocol wireless device. The second goal is to port timer-driven OS to our self-made wireless device. A low-cost and low-power mechanism can periodically turn on/off our device with a nano-power timer. Using a single AAA cell can make a 50% reduction in size. We add a large low-leakage capacitor to provide backup operation for a relatively short time. We implemented a timer-driven OS running on our self-made wireless device. The OS kernel consists of three main parts: a two-level scheduler, an error detector, and a power-saving module. The two-level scheduler consists of a FIFO scheduler and a timer scheduler. The FIFO scheduler is responsible for sporadic tasks and the timer scheduler is responsible for periodic tasks. The nano-power timer is able to generate an external interrupt at regular intervals and the external interrupts can also interrupt our wireless device. Finally, we will deploy a timestamp and task-oriented IoT application and use a battery simulator to evaluate the power consumption and lifetime of our wireless device.

Annex 16.3.3F: Professor Chia-Chi Chang undertook the NSTC project “Design and Implementation of a Real-Time Monitor Sensor Module With Integrated Pulse Oximeter, Heart Rate, and Far Infrared Thermal Array by Using Piezo Energy Harvesting Source”.

3. Research projects focusing on assisting the government in implementing “Education Quality” policies: (6 projects):

(1)Professors Meng-Fei Cheng, Shi-Yin Lin, Chien-Lung Lin, and Chi-Hao Cheng of the Department of Physics undertook the NSTC project “Innovative Stem Curriculum Development and Teacher Training–Exploring the Role of Scientific and Engineering Modeling in Stem Education” for the 2020 academic year (2020/08/01-2023/07/31). STEM education has been advocated internationally, and this interdisciplinary teaching has recently been addressed by the K-12 Taiwan Science Education Curriculum Guideline. Nevertheless, the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in teaching is still challenging for researchers and teachers around the world. Students’ learning processes, progression, and results in these STEM curricula have been studied less. Accordingly, this research project developed a series of innovative STEM curricula that emphasize interdisciplinary teaching, not only to better integrate these different disciplines and cultivate students’ inquiry and problem-solving abilities but also to enhance students’ abilities in science and engineering as well as their learning interest in STEM. This project has also designed instruments to measure students’ learning progress and results to investigate students’ scientific and engineering modeling processes in the STEM curriculum. In the first year of the study, we designed a curriculum on flat speakers and developed the assessment to evaluate students’ progression in engineering design abilities and their attitudes towards STEM and STEM learning. In the second year of the study, we designed a course on smart homes and developed assessments to understand students’ progression in scientific knowledge, engineering knowledge, and affective aspects. We also compared the effects of directly integrating scientific knowledge versus not directly integrating it into student learning. These research findings are documented in the previous two years’ reports. In the third year of the project, we designed a course on wearable devices and explored the impact of teaching STEM courses on students’ motivation to learn science, students’ understanding of scientific concepts, and students’ ability to apply scientific concepts to engineering design. This study involved 49 participants who were 10th-grade students from central Taiwan, with a high interest in learning physics. Data were collected through pre- and post- assessments including a science learning motivation scale, a scientific concept assessment, and a scientific concept application to engineering design assessment. After the data analysis, there were three main research findings. (a)Through this STEM curriculum, students showed a significant improvement in their motivation to learn science. (b)With scaffolding provided by teachers, students demonstrated a significant improvement in their understanding of scientific concepts. (c)By integrating engineering design and scientific inquiry through hands-on practice with real-world circuits, students showed a significant improvement in their ability to apply scientific concepts to engineering design. Therefore, by designing interdisciplinary STEM courses with authentic contextual themes that integrate engineering design and scientific inquiry, students can gain a deep understanding of scientific knowledge and apply it to real-world situations. This approach not only cultivates students’ abilities in scientific inquiry and problem-solving but also enhances their motivation to learn science. In summary, this study’s main contributions are twofold: (a)Providing an example for STEM course design that focuses on real-world circuit themes and guides students in developing scientific inquiry and problem-solving abilities through hands-on practice. (b)Establishing assessment methods to understand the changes in students’ scientific concept construction and their application of scientific concepts to engineering design abilities in the STEM curriculum.

Annex 16.3.3G: Professor Meng-Fei Cheng undertook the NSTC project “Innovative Stem Curriculum Development and Teacher Training - Exploring the Role of Scientific and Engineering Modeling in Stem Education”.

(2)Professor Hsiao-Lin Duan of the Graduate Institute of Science Education undertook the NSTC project “The Exploration of Preservice Teachers with Different Majors, Learning Engagement, and Group Interaction on Their Learning Outcome in Stem Teaching Competence Course” for the 2022 academic year (2022/08/01-2025/07/31). The main purpose of this project was to develop a STEM teaching literacy program and to investigate the effects of teacher-student’s scientific and non-scientific backgrounds, classroom participation, and small group interactions on their learning outcomes in the STEM teaching literacy program.

(3)Professor Shu-Fen Lin of the Graduate Institute of Science Education undertook the NSTC project “Teachers’ Inquiry Conceptions, Curriculum Design, and Enactment Patterns about Inquiry: Move Teachers to Reform-Based Inquiry Practice Through Integrated Professional Development Program” for the 2022 academic year. This project aimed to investigate the inquiry learning patterns, the focus of practical content, and the implementation methods presented by in-service teachers in designing the “Inquiry and Practice” course. It also sought to develop an integrated professional development program and examine its impact on teachers’ inquiry concepts, curriculum planning, and teaching practices.

(4)Professors Meng-Chi Cheng and Zong-Gi Lin of the Department of Biology undertook the NSTC project “Anter: The Development and Dissemination of Game-Based Science Learning Curriculum” in 2021. This project aims to expand the game content of “Anter” game and systematically promote the project’s outcomes to both campuses and the general public. This initiative envisages facilitating learning about ant science through entertainment. In addition to inspiring thoughts on the development of educational games, it also provides an organized system for game-based learning that can benefit the academic community. Reference Website: http://mtcheng.ncue.edu.tw/anter.html.

(5)Professors Kai-Chao Yao and Wei-Tzer Huang of the Department of Industrial Education and Technology undertook the NSTC project “Establishment and Evaluation of Machine Learning Module Topic in Robot Teaching Based on Thematic-Approach Strategy” for the 2020 academic year (2020/08/01-2023/07/31). This project will focus on the machine learning part of AI intelligent robot technology that has not yet been integrated into robotics education, and arrange a themed machine learning-oriented robot teaching module. The concept of machine learning allows students to further learn more advanced AI robot design. In the first year of this project, complete the technical ability indicators and teaching connotation planning required for course teaching, including the construction of machine learning technology for sensory control and mobile control. In the second year, the R&D results and technology development model of the first year will be continued, and the development and testing of robot-themed teaching modules oriented by image recognition and machine learning will be carried out, and the teaching aids and teaching materials required for the implementation of themed teaching will be designed and planned. In addition, the teaching evaluation scale used in the experimental teaching required in the third-year project is drawn up. The formulation of the scale includes two aspects: skills and affection. This year, according to the teaching plan established in the previous two years, the evaluation scale determination, experimental teaching, and teaching evaluation were carried out. The planned courses were implemented in the course of the third grade of the electrical engineering group, Department of Industrial Education and Technology of National Changhua University with the theme-embedded teaching strategy.

Annex 16.3.3H: Professors Kai-Chao Yao and Wei-Tzer Huang undertook the NSTC project “Establishment and Evaluation of Machine Learning Module Topic in Robot Teaching Based on Thematic-Approach Strategy”.

(6)Professor Shu-Hua Lin, Department of Guidance and Counseling undertook the NSTC project “The Construction of School Counselors’ Advocacy Competencies Model and Infused into Pre-Service Teacher Education Courses: An Action Research of Social Justice Ethical Practice” for the 2022 academic year (2022/08/01-2023/07/31). This study explored the experiences of school counseling teachers in advocacy practice and establishes a theoretical model of the advocacy competency model as the basic framework of the curriculum for the training of school counseling teachers, and further developed the teaching program for the integration of advocacy into the specialized curriculum of pre-service teacher education, in order to respond to the concepts and values of school counseling from the perspective of the social justice advocacy.

4. Research projects focusing on assisting the government in implementing “Affordable Clean Energy” policies: (2 projects)

(1)Professor Liang-Rui Chen of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Professor Wei-Tzer Huang of the Department of Industrial Education and Technology undertook the NSTC project “Field Research and Demonstration of Multi-Microgrid in a High Penetration PV Grid-Connected Environment (2/2)” (Figure 1) for the 2022 -2023 academic year (2022/08/01-2023/09/30). This project cooperates with 11 companies to propose innovative approaches to solve the practical problems of microgrids and verify them in the actual field. The site, which is a multi-microgrid that contains three sub-microgrids is located in the Baoshan campus of National Changhua University of Education (NCUE). This NCUE campus microgrid is interconnected with high penetration of 517kW photovoltaics (PV) generation systems, 1.61MWh battery energy storage systems, and a charging station with V2G/G2V function; additionally, a total 175 kW direct load control program is employed as demand response. The network topology of the NCUE campus microgrid can be reconfigured by switching of tie switch, so that this multi-microgrid can be optimally operated in different architectures in the case of grid-connected and island operations. This project consists of six sub-projects, and the development of important key technologies is as follows: 1. Online real-time estimation of battery internal temperature technology. 2. Fault-tolerant active battery balancing technology. 3. Precise forecasting of PV power generation. 4. Distributed autonomous frequency synchronization control of multi-microgrid systems, islanding detection, seamless mode transformation, autonomous frequency synchronization, and voltage restoration, and the resiliency test of multi microgrid systems under contingencies.

(2)Professor Yi-Cheng Lin of the Department of Mechatronics Engineering undertook the NSTC project “High-Efficiency Sputtering Sb2(S,Se)3 Thin Film Solar Cell and Its Defect Analysis” for the 2022 academic year. The objective of this research was to develop Sb2(S,Se)3 thin-film solar cells using Se+SeS2 selenium-sulfur treatment and hydrogen-assisted processing. The study aimed to analyze the mechanisms behind the formation of secondary phases and VSe and how they affect the performance of the solar cells. Through process optimization, the research sought to effectively suppress the formation of secondary phases and VSe. It was expected that the proposed sputtering process could achieve 10% component efficiency gains.

Annex 16.3.3I: Professor Yi-Cheng Lin undertook the NSTC project “High-Efficiency Sputtering Sb2(S,Se)3 Thin Film Solar Cell and Its Defect Analysis”.

4. Director Yang-Wei Lin of the Teaching Excellence Centre implements the “Higher Education Sprout Project” of the Ministry of Education.

(1)Policies and Plans: The second phase (2020–2022) of the University Social Responsibility (USR) Projects: “Shetou Sock Knitting: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Revitalisation”; “In-Depth Cultivation of Fangyuan, Working Hand in Hand with Dacheng: Industrial and Environmental Sustainability Plan of the Two Townships of Changhua County” and “NCUE × Common Good Education: Twelve-Year Compulsory Education project in Rural Areas”.

(2)Empirical evidence and results: NCUE’s USR projects have unique characteristics. The Teaching Excellence Centre continues to strengthen the support system and encourage faculty members and students to study and propose USR-related research plans on teaching practices and participate in project-based practical courses that can solve local problems. The projects integrate the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) to realize the United Nations’ SDGs, effectively driving faculty members and students to solve local issues for the win-win situations in sustainable development and the circular economy.

This achievement report has been made public, please refer to the USR EXPO website:

(a)Shetou Sock Knitting - Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Creativity: https://ppt.cc/f5nBsx.

(b)In-Depth Cultivation of Fangyuan, Working Hand in Hand with Dacheng: Industrial and Environmental Sustainability Plan of the Two Townships of Changhua County:

https://myppt.cc/kxUX73.

(c)NCUE × Common Good Education - Twelve-Year Compulsory Education Project in Rural Areas: https://ppt.cc/f6Auqx.

5. In the 2022 academic year, NCUE’s Innovation Incubation Centre of the Research and Development Department implemented the “Science and Technology Care Project to Support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises” and “Industry Guidance for Innovation in Industrial Parks” projects on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and helped enterprises to obtain subsidies from the government. The results of the guidance are as follows:

(1)Science and Technology Care Project to Support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises:

(a)Participating enterprises/experts and scholars/students: 9/15/15.

(b)New product/Technology development: 3 cases.

(c)Technical and talent training courses: 2 sessions.

(d)Applications for government subsidies: 2 applications, with a total subsidy of NT$1,016,667.

(e)Patent application and utilization: 6 cases.

(f)National competition: 6 cases.

(2)Industry Guidance for Innovation in Industrial Parks Project:

(a)Participating enterprises/experts and scholars: 109/16.

(b)Technical guidance: 15 cases.

(c)Technical and talent training courses: 9 sessions.

(d)Applications for government subsidies: 2 applications, applying for a total subsidy of NT$3,410,000.

(e)Productions based on student projects: 7 cases.

(f)Student internships: 37 people.