An Online Graduation Ceremony
2021.05.29
In light of the ongoing pandemic, this year's graduation ceremony was held online—a first for National Tsing Hua University. The event was made all the more memorable with two additional firsts for NTHU: the commencement speaker was the youngest ever in NTHU history, and it included the first batch of students in the new experimental education program in Taiwan.
This year NTHU awarded bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees to a total of 4,975 students, and participation was on-line only. Donning a doctoral gown, President Hocheng Hong gave his graduation address in the International Conference Hall at the Learning Resource Center, which was empty but for the school flags and banners.
Ideals in action
The theme of President Hocheng’s address was “action,” and he encouraged this year’s graduates to hold fast to their dreams and to put them into practice with unswerving perseverance.
Commenting on the NTHU school motto, “Self-discipline and social commitment,” Hocheng explained that it serves as a reminder to turn knowledge into action, to never give up, and to always live up to your highest ideals.
The primacy of altruism
This year's commencement speech was given by public interest prodigy Shen Hsin-ling(沈芯菱). Shen earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences nine years ago, and at the age of 31, she is the youngest commencement speaker in the history of NTHU. Since beginning her public service work at the age of 11, Shen has established various social welfare organizations which have contributed more than NT$9 million to various worthy causes. In addition, she has given a total of 1,037 speeches at rural schools, during the course of which she has traveled some 400,000 kilometers.
In her speech Shen spoke about the importance of altruism, and said that when she began her studies at NTHU one of her professors said, “ Congratulations on being admitted to NTHU; one thing you need to consider carefully is how your studies here will be of benefit to society at large.” She suggests that we dedicate more time and resources to public service as we get older, beginning with 20 percent of our time and resources at the age of 20, and increasing this year by year, so that it reaches 60 percent at the age of 60.
Shen advised this year’s graduates to place “self-discipline and social commitment” at the center of their lives, and to pass it on to the next generation of graduates.
At the vanguard of experimental education
In 2018 NTHU launched the first experimental education program in Taiwan, which allows students to design their own curriculum so as to meet their interdisciplinary interests. A total of seven sophomores joined the program’s first batch; the four who have already completed the graduation requirements are Lin Fangru(林芳如), Chen Tsojen(陳佐任), Wu Huanran(吳煥然), and Yang Funing(楊馥寧); the remaining three are scheduled to graduate at the end of the next semester.
Lin began home-schooling during high school, and was admitted to NTHU via the Special Admissions Program. Her studies focus on home-schooling, society and culture, and social entrepreneurship. In the past four years she has participated in several forums on innovative education, interviewed teachers and parents from around the world, and served on the Ministry of Education’s Experimental Education Council. She also writes the newspaper column “Flipped Education,” in which she explores a variety of issues facing students in experimental education programs.
Lin’s mentor is Chen Yiguang(陳怡光), who said that lots of students and parents participate in the experimental program out of dissatisfaction with the current state of education, yet doing things differently is rarely easy. Lin dedicated seven of her academic credits to designing an experimental education project, conducted at an elementary school in Sichuan over the course of 17 days. She also wrote the teaching plan, raised funds, and recruited assistants. She said that experimental education is much more challenging than the conventional approach consisting of sitting in class, listening to lectures, handing in homework, and taking exams. In recognition of her accomplishments she was awarded NTHU’s “Chasing Your Dream” Scholarship.
Lin said that NTHU is a pioneer in experimental education, and that the Program is constantly evolving. During the course of the Program she learned how to communicate with people from different regions and different generations, and also learned how to solve problems by patiently making whatever adjustments that are required. For Lin, these abilities are essential for a successful career.
Chen Tsojen is very clear about the mode of learning that suits him best, and it’s not the typical one, which is why he chose the experimental education program. Chen’s course of study integrates mechatronics with a variety of areas, including robotics, racing, and aeronautics. His self-designed three-year curriculum includes courses in power mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science, as well as several practicums.
Chen is a member of the Robotics Team of the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering and is the Asia and Oceania representative of the Infiniti race car engineering education project, in which capacity he went to the UK for a yearlong training course, along with representatives from Europe, the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, and the Middle East. At the end of the program he was awarded the project’s highest rating. His graduation thesis was on rocket science.
Also admitted to NTHU via the Special Admissions Program, Wu Huanran specializes in ballroom dance. He began to study dance at the age of 6, and has served as a consultant for numerous dance companies. He plans to start a business in ballroom dance, and is doing coursework in management, physical education, psychology, and performing arts. He has studied ballroom dance with a number of prominent dancers in Taiwan and abroad, and his graduation thesis was on ballroom dance choreography.
Wang Chin-shou(王俊秀), the associate dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, advises Wu and two of the other students in the Experimental Education Program. Wang periodically has all three attend a meeting with him to share their experience and to advise them on how to make the most of their time at NTHU by getting acquainted with various fields.
“Evaluations in experimental education are like an open book exam, with no standard answers,” said Wang, who conducts oral exams with his experimental education students at the end of each semester, and emphasizes that learning is what counts the most.
Yang Funing specializes in management and marketing, and has taken numerous courses on the foreign online platform Coursera. Her graduation thesis was on organizational reform. Although she had to make major revisions to complete her thesis, she was impressed with all the support she got from the school along the way.
Vice president for academic affairs Chiao Chuan-chin(焦傳金)said that the experimental education program has now completed its third year. It was originally started because many students admitted to NTHU via the Special Admissions Program were having difficulty finding a suitable course of study amongst the existing departments and programs, but now the Experimental Education Program is open to all students. Experimental education students currently only account for 0.5 percent of the student body, but it’s the best choice for those who are self-directed and require lots of flexibility in their studies.
In his address, President Hocheng Hong exhorted this year’s graduates to hold fast to their dreams and to put them into practice with unswerving perseverance.
Student representative Lin Fangru (林芳如)of the Interdisciplinary Program of Humanities and Social Sciences delivering her address.
This year's commencement speech was given by NTHU alumna Shen Shen-ling(沈芯菱); at the age of 31, she is the youngest commencement speaker in the history of NTHU.
Lin Fangru (林芳如) (right), a 2021 graduate of the experimental education program, hosting an international forum on innovative education.
Chen Tsojen(陳佐任), a 2021 graduate of the Experimental Education Program, preparing a rocket launch at the Hsiangshan Wetlands in Hsinchu.
Wu Huanran(吳煥然) (right), a 2021 graduate of the Experimental Education Program, teaching a class in ballroom dance at the Johan School in Chubei.
2021 graduates of the Department of Quantitative Finance.
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