The Ministry of Education, Taiwan, announced on July 10 the names of awardees for the 2022 Teaching Practice Research Program, and 36 projects by Asia University (AU) faculty members were approved by the organizing committee, making AU No. 4 among 160 universities in Taiwan. Professor Huei-Chen Ko, Vice President of Asia University and Director of Teaching Resources and Faculty Development Center, said that in the past five years a total of 138 projects were awarded and funded by MOE. “The university encourages its faculty members to apply for this MOE program and so far the results are satisfactory,” she observed.

Professor Jeffrey J. P. Tsai, President of Asia University, was delighted with the outcome, stating that the way to bridge the gap between teaching and research is one of the important elements to promote AU to become an internationally renowned university. The university will further develop a feasible mechanism to encourage professors to integrate teaching with their research. Some incentives, including certain seed money allocated for the intended projects and rank promotions, will be designed to help make this teaching research program a common interest for all the faculty members on campus.

Professor Huei-Chen Ko, Vice President, pointed out that the Teaching Resources and Faculty Development Center will organize some teachers’ communities for this purpose and hold workshops and lectures by inviting scholars and experts from other universities to share their experiences and insights.

As Professor Huei-Chen Ko observed, the Teaching Practice Research Program can improve the teachers’ teaching quality and student’s learning efficacy. The university will continue to promote this program and while considering it an index of the teaching excellence of the university.