|Short-term courses / workshops

University of British Columbia (UBC) Summer School Program

  • Courses offered:
    • Comparative Curriculum Studies
    • Conducting Qualitative Research in Education
  • Course period: Late June / early July to late July (for updates on exchange programs due to the pandemic, please refer to the announcements each semester)
  •  Contact information:
  • Student Feedbacks:

The 2019 UBC summer program included two courses: Qualitative Research and Comparative Curriculum Studies. The former is a research methodology course, where the professor arranged for groups to read philosophical perspectives and practical research strategies in qualitative research within two weeks. Each group was required to produce a research plan for presentation and sharing. The course was intensive and enriching, allowing students to experience the processes of research conception, design, and later presentation and sharing, like a conference poster presentation and panel discussion. This was a very suitable and rewarding course for master’s students at the entry-level researcher stage.

The latter course focused on museum education, exploring how museums provide services for visitors of all ages, especially in collaboration with schools. It discussed the strategies museums adopt to design curricula and provide various teaching tools and resources for teachers, enabling museums’ external resources to serve on-campus needs and help students achieve their course objectives. During the course, students visited eight museums and each group reported on the curriculum design and strategies of the visited museum, attempting to integrate their experiences with those in Taiwan. Compared to qualitative research, this course was more practical. Through interactions with museum staff, differences in core philosophical views among museum personnel and their modes of collaboration with teachers were observed. The lessons learned from the course can serve as a reference for cooperation between museums and schools in Taiwan, and how to achieve mutual benefit is worth considering.

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Summer School Program

  • Courses offered:
    • Special Topics on Emerging Issues in Sociology of Education: Politics of Education
    • Special Topic in Comparative Education
    • English Writing Workshop
    • Community Visits
  • Course period:
  • Late June/early July to late July (subject to adjustments per semester)
  • Contact information: Ms. Chia-Hui Kao (3886 / chiahui.k@ntnu.edu.tw
  • Student Feedbacks:

In the courses, it became clear that there are many diverse topics within the field of education, and many people are concerned and engaged in research about these different subjects. Some valuable concepts were learned, such as the thoughts of Paulo Fierre, Global Citizenship, Peace Education, Global Warming, Religion, and Neo-liberalism in economics. Understanding comparative education research and the politics of education from an American perspective was unique and interesting because seeing different viewpoints through the eyes of others reveals blind spots that we may not have considered ourselves. Unfortunately, due to shyness or limited English proficiency, students didn’t speak up often during the courses. Perhaps professors could try incorporating more group discussions and presentations as a teaching method to encourage participation.

University of North Texas Bilateral Multicultural Counseling Academic Exchange and Overseas Teaching Experience

  •  Organizer: Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling
  • Visit itinerary:
    • Collaborative off-campus teaching with UNT’s Department of Psychology
    • Visiting UNT’s Career Center, Counseling and Testing Center, and International 
    • Affairs
      Office, as well as the Play Therapy Center 
  • Travel period: Late March to early April (subject to adjustments per semester)

Student Feedbacks:

We visited the university’s counseling units, such as the Play Therapy Center, Student Counseling, and Career Center, and observed the state of counseling practice in the United States. We saw how the university places great importance on counseling work, with abundant resources, and a people-oriented, diverse approach that left us impressed. We also noticed their efforts to integrate and communicate between different institutions, such as the collaboration between the Counseling Center and the Testing Center, and the Career Center’s assistance in helping students identify their needs and referring them to the Counseling Center when appropriate, maximizing the benefits for students.

This was a rare and valuable opportunity to visit the United States, providing both groups of students with a profound cultural exchange experience. The visit allowed us to interact with different institutions, scholars, and students, discussing the nuances of different cultures and sharing our experiences in the local context. We gained insight into how we appear in each other’s eyes. These feelings and insights cannot be obtained solely through classroom learning but require personal experience to truly understand. This exchange will be an unforgettable memory for us and has encouraged us to think more seriously about how to pursue our interests in the future.

Hong Kong Education University International Postgraduate Roundtable and Research Forum cum Summer School

  • Organizer: Hong Kong Education University
  • Itinerary:
    • Keynote Speeches
    • International Graduate Student Paper Presentations
    • International Graduate Student Roundtable Discussions
  • Travel period: Early July (suspended due to pandemic, please refer to the announcement each semester)
  • Contact: Mr. Chi-Kung Ma (5465/danielmack@ntnu.edu.tw)

Student Feedbacks:

The main theme of the conference papers was the development of digital writing and language skills in graduate education, focusing on “education,” “social sciences,” “liberal arts,” and “humanities.” My academic paper presentation was in the “education” field, focusing on educational research. The study mainly explored integrating escape room creative teaching into elementary school natural science courses and examined the effects of experimental teaching on students’ natural science learning performance and problem-solving abilities. This research topic belongs to innovative educational teaching design methods, so after my presentation, researchers and fellow presenters in the audience raised related questions and perspectives, exchanged contact information, and discussed academic research through email communication. Having such an opportunity to discuss research with others was a rare and valuable learning experience.

Participating in this conference, lectures, and paper discussions allowed me to listen to and understand research content and viewpoints from different fields. Furthermore, this conference invited students from well-known domestic and foreign institutions, making it an international research forum worth participating in.

 

赴外心得

I was excited to be selected to represent NTNU at the International Symposium hosted by the Hong Kong Education University. When I first found out I was accepted, I was very nervous because the paper I planned to present was only in the preparation stage and had not yet passed the oral examination. However, with the help of students who participated in the symposium last year, I successfully completed the presentation. I found the all-English oral presentation to be a challenging test for me, but after this experience, I believe more in my language and presentation skills. Fellow students from other schools who presented during the same session gave me positive encouragement, and I am delighted that my efforts were recognized.

I hope that my juniors can continue to have opportunities to participate in international conferences like this, broaden their horizons by going abroad, and meet peers with similar research interests during the conference. Discussing research topics together can spark many different ideas and inspirations.