Search

The STEAM interdisciplinary integrated-thematic curriculum with engineering design is the main concept of the 12-year basic education curricula of Technology. This research is based on the engineering design orientation as a teaching strategy, developing project for paper mechanism, and implementing Living Technology courses for gifted high school students in Taiwan to test the teaching effectiveness. In the project, students need to integrate the theory, using engineering design process methods, performing work prediction and evaluation, prototyping experiments and trial work, and finally optimizing the work and improving the design. The results of the present study facilitate us get deeper understanding of the practical implementation and engineering thinking skills of gifted students. Suggestions based on the results were generated to improve the future Living Technology curriculum. The findings in this study serve as a reference for the future design, development, and implementation of STEAM curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the research is analyzed and help provide a prediction model for similar diseases by using MERS and SARS data. There are examples of companies like BlueDot which used AI analysis of data points from multiple resources and predicted the outbreak in December 2019 mid. Using big data will have its advantages because we can use data from multiple sources and merge them to understand the next COVID19 or similar disease outbreak and predict the possible occurrences in different regions. Contact tracing is essential to predict the outbreak of a disease with data that is collected from different sources, for examples-post with metadata, tags on social media passenger lists, smart cards used in metros, where vehicles were parked, what all places credit and debit cards were used and the travel history. The methodology used is gathering secondary data of contact of what all locations the affected person visited. Data from social media and social networks can be worked upon and reconstructed to predict the outbreak of communicable diseases. A pandemic can be mitigated depending on the ability to identify the affected areas, individuals, and potential hotspots on a global level. Analyzing data using big data analytics from the hotspots, where data is easily available with countries and cities. If this data is modeled mathematically and used with AI, important predictions could be made. Information about the movement of people like done in Taiwan where travel history of a woman suffering from cough and diarrhea was correctly used to diagnose that she had covid19. AI and Big Data will help in preparing us for emergencies. The research will help in tackling the disease in real-time and help governments and organizations to plan and respond to sudden emergencies, lift public health, identify vaccine candidates. The research paper will help researchers to uncover relationships within massive datasets and help them in decision-making. This paper will help them in integrating information from multiple resources and predicting disease outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature-salinity relationship is one of the most important characteristics for identifying water masses in marine research. Temperature-salinity characteristic changes dynamically with the geographic location and is sensitive to the depth at the same location. When depth is considered, however, it is not easy to compare the characteristics of the water masses efficiently for a wide range of areas of the ocean. In this paper, the Gaussian mixture model was proposed to analyze the temperature-salinity-depth characteristics of water masses, based on which the comparison between water masses may be conducted. First, the temperature-salinity-depth data for various locations are used to train a set of Gaussian mixture models individually. The distance between two Gaussian mixture models is then defined as the weighting sum of the pairwise Bhattacharyya distances among the Gaussian distributions. Accordingly, the distance between two water masses is fast measured, which makes possible the automatic and efficient comparison of the water masses for a large area. This approach not only approximates the temperature-salinity-depth distribution directly without prior knowledge of their relationship but controls the complexity by adjusting the number of mixtures when the samples are not evenly distributed. In addition, this approach facilitates the knowledge discovery in marine research, since it helps to represent, manage and share the characteristics of water masses flexibly. The proposed approach has been successfully applied to a real-time visualization system of ocean data, which allows the user to explore and compare water masses responsively through aggregating the data without degrading the resolution. The system provides an interface for querying the geographic locations with similar temperature-salinity-depth characteristics to track specific patterns of water masses, such as those in the Kuroshio near Taiwan or the South China Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientifically sound water quality management measures on water supply reservoirs rely on extensive information of pollution sources, water quality status and pollution control/water quality improvement techniques for specific problems associated with drinking water treatment and eutrophication process. From 2017 to 2020, we participated a series of strategic management projects funded by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration for decision support of the National Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program on Water Environment. This paper briefly introduces the scientific approaches used and novel tools developed in these projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1999, the Working Group for Women in Physics (WGWIP) in Taiwan was registered within the Physical Society of Republic of China (renamed the Physical Society of Taiwan in 2017) and became a formal committee in 2003. Since then, the committee has worked on promoting women physicists and monitoring statistics on the status of progress. According to data collected by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan, the percentage of women graduated from physics and astronomy departments is around 14% in bachelor’s, 17% in master’s, and 13% in PhD programs. The inclination of young female students to choose a physics major has not changed much in the past few years. The numbers of female faculty members have improved slightly. About 77% female faculty are now in tenured positions, but the overall percentage of women in physics and astronomy departments has varied little in the last 10 years. The approved science projects granted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in Taiwan for female physicists demonstrate the tendency of increasing budgets. In this paper, we present the results of our survey and discuss the required directions for our future steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plan for beamlines in Phase II at Taiwan Photon Source is to construct two new BioSAXS and nano- ARPES beamlines. A highly brilliant light source can be produced with a cryogenic undulator, and many synchrotron facilities have been developed and operated with these in their storage rings. The development of a cryogenic undulator became a target for a light source in TPS phase II. A cryogenic undulator with period of length 15 mm will be made in a hybrid magnetic structure, and use PrFeB permanent-magnet materials. A maximum magnetic field 1.31 T is estimated at gap 4 mm and temperature about 100 K. The spectral performance of a TPS cryogenic undulator is presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through innovative technology education, this research seeks to integrate Taiwan's local culture and history and explores the aboriginal swords and weapons that have declined with the change of the times. Researchers restore their traditional value and revitalize it again through digital and vocational technology and craft design techniques. Taiwan recognizes as the birthplace of Austronesian culture. In recent years, the aboriginal culture there has gradually received international attention and has an opportunity for recovery; however, the design and reproduction of weapons, especially knives, are limited. The law defines it as an offensive weapon, so it is difficult to promote. Because of this, this research is looking forward to real-life role-playing. Starting from the local history and legends of the Kaxabu tribe, we will use soft foam as the material to make non-lethal model weapons. We hope that through cultural education, the purpose of promoting the New Reality Movement. Therefore, the team used lightweight, innovative foam and glass fiber materials to produce weapons with full visual design effects. Allow young people in the vocational and technical education field to absorb and understand knowledge in a newer way while being exposed to traditional culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since ancient times, human beings in different countries and even different regions have different beliefs and cultures. Because of the different beliefs, there are different objects of worship and objects to avoid evil things, which are called amulets here. Amulets are considered to be worn on the body to have the psychological feeling of protection and blessing. Among the regions where Buddhism is the dominant religion, Thailand, where Theravada Buddhism is practiced, is famous for its amulets, which are called Buddha amulets, holy relics, or in Thai, just like Taiwan's peace amulets and talismans. However, due to the manipulation of some unscrupulous businessmen and people in recent years, Buddha amulets are often regarded as a scary object, which also makes people associate with some negative feelings. This study describes the art of handcrafting and the materials of Thai Buddha amulets, and summarizes the information of amulets from Thailand and Taiwan to understand their meanings and uses. By comparing the culture of faith in Taiwan, it will be argued that amulets are an essential product of faith, and not that Thai Buddha amulets have terrible power. The focus group method is used to interview the respondents who wear an amulet and who sell Buddha amulets, and the control group is those who do not know about amulets and do not wear an amulet. We hope that the results of this study will convey that the cultural meaning of Thai Buddha amulets has the same significance as other talismans and make Thai Buddha amulets return to the original and simple meaning of faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to utilize the space of kindergartens to hold a "one-day intergenerational experience camp" for examining the feasibility of senior daycare class affiliate of the kindergarten in Taiwan. Through 14 camps we have held, we surveyed the participating elderly, children, parents, elderly's family members, and teachers after the camps. The preliminary result suggested that transforming kindergarten into an "intergenerational kindergarten" with the senior daycare class is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world has been affected badly by Covid-19 in 2020. Taiwan, fortunately, has not been that badly affected by the virus. However, there are questions surrounding how the pandemic has impacted Taiwanese food banks so far and whether Taiwanese food banks have experienced any crisis caused by the pandemic or gained momentum owing to the relatively safer circumstances. Based on practices, interviews, and questionnaires, this research aims to answer them. The results show most food banks were more or less impacted by the coronavirus between February and early May. The majority of food banks reported an increase in the recipients of their help and did not report a shortage of volunteers. In 2020, more food banks have been established and many existing food banks have expanded their services. Food Banking is gaining popularity and recognition in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employed Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for verifying adequate key indicators as compared pairwise from Taiwan's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports with a view to enhancing an enterprise's value and sustainable development. In the process of analyzing value drivers, seeking to prioritize resources in hand so that sustainability can be enhanced, a high-tech corporate in Taiwan was taken as a case study, in which questionnaires were delivered among six experts. Findings indicated that "Supplier Sustainability ", "Information System Safety" and "Energy Efficiency" came as the prioritized CSR value drivers, while "Labor Right", "Innovation" and "Customers Relations" left room for further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the competitive situation of the global economy, small towns in Taiwan are facing the issue of being unable to balance the industrial economy and sustainable community development. The decline of local industries has caused population decline and aging problems. The Taiwanese government promotes regional revitalization and hopes to create local employment opportunities and achieve the goal of local sustainable development. Guanshan is a small town in the East Rift Valley of Taiwan. The region is rich in natural resources, with agriculture and tourism as the main industries, and serious population loss and aging are the most important issues for the sustainable development of the community. This study conducted one-to-one semi-structured interviews with actual operators in Guanshan to verify the relationship between the actual operation mode and concept of regional revitalization, at the same time, observe the local tribal ecology and industrial context. It also discusses the problems encountered by operators returning to their hometowns, and the support and appealing of relevant policies for local sustainable operations, and summarizes the factors that affect the sustainable development of the Guanshan community. The study is based on the results of in-depth interviews and analysis of cases to deduce the factors that affect local sustainable operation: (1) develop non-toxic agriculture, (2) promote plastic-reducing packaging, (3) promote education on food and agriculture, (4) develop diversified platforms, and (5) attract youth to return. Driving the vitality of the local economy through the promotion of sustainable communities achieves the vision and purpose of regional revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to WHO, creating an age-friendly environment requires actions owing to the rapid increase of the aging population. The older in the next decade are the baby boomers generation, and their lifestyle and desire are different from current's generation. That means we need a new model to take care of and serve older adults in the future. This needs a new career development opportunity for youth. Through this study, we designed cross-generational co-creation and actions. Youths and senior citizens collaborated to accomplish four tasks including diet, physical activity, cognition, and social relationship. This empirical study was implemented by Yang Sheng Foundation (YSF) which is a third sector organization and promotes "self-healing" strategy and behavior changes for older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goals of sustainable development combine the three characteristics: universal, Integration, transformative. The goals guide the international community to build a fairer and more peaceful world, which is a global issue today. Education has a catalytic impact on global development, guiding people to develop appropriate values and skills, and then leading humanity to sustainable and inclusive development, so that all human beings can live in peace. On the other hand, the development of science and information technology (IT) changes the way people learn to read constantly. One of the most important issues is how to use the latest technology to help and improve reading skills in the education. Especially, Taking English as a Second Language (ESL), factors impacting students' intention and behavior of read English articles with mobile devises is an important issue. The purpose of this study is to explore factors that improve students' use of mobile devices to read articles when they are learning English. This study uses the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to analyze the intention and user behaviors. The type of technology acceptance which is suitable for explaining the behavior of college students in Taiwan to learn English is investigated with UTAUT. The research tool of this study uses a questionnaire survey method and uses the UTAUT to explore factors that predict students' willingness to use and behavior in learning mobile devices. There are four main predictors are summarized: performance expectation, effort expectation, social impact and enabling conditions. In addition, gender, age, experience and voluntary use are also considered. Students in a vocational university in north Taiwan responded to allow 138 valid questionnaires. According to the research result, the performance expectation, effort expectation, social impact, facilitating conditions causes positive effects on user behavior and intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Taiwan, students in visual design-related disciplines have long neglected the traditional mindset of balanced development in many subjects during their secondary education. The learning process has largely abandoned STEM and other mathematical and scientific courses, focusing only on skills and craft training. In recent years, STEM education has been actively promoted in higher education in Taiwan. This study aims to plan and design a learning model that is motivating and fun for students within the constraints mentioned above. We used game-based learning to introduce STEM education and enhance visual design students' interest in STEM. A course was selected to teach programming logical concepts. The students were taught to use Scratch and Code.org as learning platforms to learn the building block programming language. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, online board game activities were incorporated into the teaching mode of the course. Game-based learning and game mechanics were integrated into the learning activities of the course. The learning activities incorporated a cardboard game with digital media and a competitive mode to enhance the interest of students with design expertise in STEM topics. The basic concepts of programming language were transformed into images and the game mechanism was added to enhance students' motivation. In this study, students were introduced to the basic structure of programming through a specially designed board game to enhance their logical thinking skills. We found that the transformation of program concepts from words to images helped learners to make picture associations, which effectively increased motivation and motivated learners to participate in learning. Especially for students who were not interested in STEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English is considered a global language that is taught and learned in certain bilingual preschools. Moreover, it is regarded as an official first foreign language in Taiwan that students from elementary to high schools are obligated to learn. With the development of high-tech devices in recent years, more English learners tend to choose online English courses instead of traditional learning. This study investigated the different learning anxieties that English students in Taiwan experience while taking interactive English online courses in a synchronous learning environment. Data were obtained by asking the participants to answer a survey questionnaire, then analysed through descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, and One-way ANOVA using the SPSS 22 software. It is hoped to explore the factors that cause learning anxiety during online English learning with online teachers and provide some useful suggestions for students when they learn English online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid and advanced growth of technological tools, online learning becomes a prominent trend in teaching ESL/EFL all over the world, especially in higher education. Such an example is learning English vocabulary. Students can learn and retain vocabulary using different sources of materials via the internet or online tools. Furthermore, motivation is a crucial element that helps students retain vocabulary and facilitate their success in learning English. This study explores Taiwanese EFL university students' motivation in learning English vocabulary online and the relationship between students' motivation and their background characteristics, including gender, university major, and years of study. The participants consisted of 200 EFL students at a technical university in central Taiwan. They were asked to answer a survey questionnaire adopted from previous studies. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS. The t-test was applied to examine if there was any significant difference between EFL university students' motivation and their background characteristics. The findings indicated that female students were significantly more instrumentally motivated than males, but there was no significant difference between males' and females' integrative motivation and personal motivation. Additionally, the results of the one-way ANOVA showed that English major students were highly instrumentally motivated, integratively motivated, and personally motivated than non-English major students in learning English vocabulary online. These findings provide some educational implications for teachers and contribute to the literature considering EFL university students' motivation for online vocabulary learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this research is to understand the status and relationship of the leadership competency of current elementary school principals and to explore its impact with different background variables, perception status, and differences. We used a questionnaire survey method to compile " the principal's leadership competency in elementary schools" for investigation. The principals of public elementary schools in the northern, central, southern, and eastern districts of Taiwan were taken as survey respondents. A total of 420 principals were selected as samples, and 340 valid questionnaires were collected. The response rate of valid questionnaires was 81%. A series of statistical methods such as descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data collected. The conclusions of this study are as follows: (1) Primary school principals show good leadership competency, (2) there are significant differences in principal's leadership competency among different background variables, and (3) the cultivation of principal's leadership competency can improve school management effectiveness through the participation and growth of the professional community. According to the conclusions, suggestions are provided as references for principals, the department of education, and future follow-up studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale of public preschool educators' teaching beliefs. 548 public preschool educators who work in the northern area of Taiwan were recruited as stratified random sampling, and 405 of them returned valid questionnaires with an effective rate of 73.9%. The data was analyzed by EFA and CFA. Results showed that the fitness of the model was acceptable, and the instrument had good reliability and validity. The instrument covers four dimensions including teaching materials, teaching implementation, teacher's role, and teacher-student interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regarding to raising living standard in Taiwan, service industry had stand more than 65% GDP and manufacturing is around 35% recently. The data from Council for Economic Planning and Develop0ment of Taiwan, in 2015, the service industry stand more than 73% of GDP, and the tourism industry has played one of the most important rules. In service industry, recently, the policy of Taiwan government encourages overseas tourists come to Taiwan for resort and it made many new tourism hotels built and they also had to do the overall reform to satisfy their customers of global, especially respecting on Eastern Asia. In this study, experts and scholars in the fields of industry academia were interviewed. Survey were issued to the object companies and a comparative case study was conducted to analyze the influencing factors and extent to which differences on the competitive edge conducted with governments' support and internal management. By primary data and literature review, this study hope that an effective reference for improving industrial competitiveness and models of competitiveness could be available for the governments and the companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]