CHEN, CHENG-TING
Department of Applied Linguistics and Language Studies
For many years, I have had the pleasure of leading students from the Applied Foreign Languages department, who took elective courses in Picture Books and Songs, to different organizations for service-learning. It’s always a joy to see how most of these students dedicate themselves to the process; creating lesson plans, preparing teaching materials, discussing all kinds of issues with me, and ultimately shining in the actual teaching activities. Their efforts bring delightful English learning experiences to all participants.
As a result, some organizations have expressed their hopes for us to increase our frequency, and others have suggested establishing long-term collaborations. Even more gratifying, I have heard that some of our graduates have committed to careers in charity work, while others have voluntarily become picture book volunteers in libraries in their hometowns.
I would like to extend my gratitude to the institutions that provided us with service-learning opportunities, such as the Zhen Shan Mei social welfare organization, the Zhongli, Longgang, and other branches of the Taoyuan City Library, the Ai Lin She, the New Immigrants Association, and nearby elementary schools, junior high schools, and kindergartens. I am also profoundly thankful for the warm support and encouragement from the Service Learning Center at Chung Yuan Christian University.
I am passionate about service learning and moved by the changes it brings to students. This award not only affirms my teaching direction but also serves as the greatest encouragement for students who have been running around with me over the years. It energizes us to continue service-learning and learn from serving in the future!
CHEN, LI YU
Department of Interior Design
Serving at Chung Yuan Christian University has been both a fortunate and joyful experience for me. The university’s philosophy of holistic education and its strong emphasis on service-learning has given me, as a teacher, a whole new realm of possibilities, and has offered a unique learning experience for our students. Unlike typical courses where lecturing, imparting knowledge, and solving doubts in a classroom setting is sufficient, service-learning requires us to take students into different fields every year for hands-on learning and problem-solving.
The course “Teaching Mandarin to Children of New Immigrants” has partnered and served different organizations every year. In the first year, we collaborated with the Taoyuan City Education Bureau and dozens of primary and secondary schools in the Zhongli area, then with the New Immigrant Sprouts Association and Chung Yuan Elementary School, and most recently with Little Desk’s Co-Learning Classes. Each year, our service targets change, and the challenges we face vary. This year, due to the pandemic, we even had to transition our service to online, encountering many new difficulties in planning and execution. Over the course of three years, we have served over fifty school-age children from new immigrant families and children in need of enhanced reading comprehension.
While each year brings new challenges, the students and I continue to embrace the attitude of “where there’s a will, there’s a way” to overcome obstacles. Seeing the transformation and learning of students after their internships particularly fuels my resolve to persist.
CHIU, TIEN- TING
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Since the 2012 academic year, I have been offering service-learning courses such as “Economics, Systematic Innovation” and “Problem Analysis and Resolution” in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Electrical Engineering. Moreover, I have been working with students from Fu-Dan High School in Taoyuan City for over a decade now. I am glad that I participated in the USR Hub’s “New Agricultural Experience Economy” sub-project in the 2019 academic year. Centered on “local care, community development, and rural regeneration”, we launched the “Little Farmer Experience Camp”. This program enables high school, middle school, and elementary school students to “learn by doing”. Through farming activities, we deepen children’s emotional connection with the land and local culture, and inspire a love for natural cultural resources from a local and humanistic perspective. We aim for the participating children to appreciate the labor of agricultural workers and treasure the rice and vegetables on their tables.
I would like to share a touching, yet unpublished story. Two years ago, a high school student with a prosthetic leg, who couldn’t get it wet or dirty, personally called me. She said, “I read about your program and have a strong desire to participate. I hope you’ll let me sign up.” I faced an unprecedented challenge on the other end of the phone. The program required staying overnight at an elementary school, bathing at a farmer’s house, working in the fields, cleaning up the mountains, etc. There were too many “musts”, but in the end, I welcomed her participation. My reason was, “She knows that the service-learning process presents many challenges and she has mobility restrictions. But she has expressed a strong motivation to learn and overcome difficulties. She has moved me. As a teacher, how could I find a reason to say ‘no’?”
Even though the process of implementing service-learning always presents certain difficulties and challenges, I firmly believe that “love” can be spread and contagious. Therefore, I will continue to promote…
