How can high school students enrich their academic portfolio when many activities and competitions on and off campus have been delayed or suspended because of the pandemic? National Sun Yat-sen University offers “Guiding the Future Stars of Siwan: Self-Directed Learning Incubator Program” for high school students to help them in their self-study. Professors of various fields review high school students’ self-study plans and offer professional advice to help them write more comprehensive plans. This year, the Program offers online consultations for high school students, open for application now, aiming at having the University’s teachers and students help them enrich their academic portfolio.
According to the Office of Admission Strategy, many high school students reported that writing self-study plans were the most difficult part of their academic portfolios. According to Associate Professor Chun-Hua Tang of the Department of Finance at NSYSU, who has served as a consulting professor of the Program for two terms, students do not need to do extensive and difficult self-study but shall reflect on their abilities, set goals accordingly and plan progress in subjects they are interested in or those that they do not dislike to enrich their knowledge and advance their skills. Students may not be sure how to plan at the beginning but experienced mentors help them achieve better efficiency in their self-study. Director of the Office of Admission Strategy, Associate Professor Chien-Cheng Kuo pointed out that for students who are used to passive absorption of knowledge, self-exploration and study planning may be a painful process, but also an opportunity for rapid self-growth. He also observed that the high school students who participated in the Self-Directed Learning Incubator Program at NSYSU in the past two terms have made noteworthy progress in planning and project execution, and the motivation and ability to self-improve are attributes that university professors value in candidates applying for admission.
This year, for the first time, the Program included the “Independent Study Planning: Ask Your Seniors!” online counseling service, inviting university students with self-study experience to help high school students with their questions regarding self-study planning, and share experience in university life and university and program selection. Regarding this issue, NSYSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Po-Chiao Lin said that as a senior, he is able to empathize with the confusion high school students experience and that direct counseling and sharing will provide high school students with a better understanding of self-discovery.
NSYSU’s Guiding the Future Stars of Sizihwan: Self-Directed Learning Incubator Program is open for application until February 18. Interested high school students are welcome to refer to this website: https://reurl.cc/Q7o6y0 or contact Ms. Tung of the Office of Admission Strategy via phone 07-5252000 ext. 2147 or email: minikua@mail.nsysu.edu.tw.