Recognition for outstanding performance in deep cultivation USR projects, both Rooting Project and Deep Cultivation Project receive awards

The members of the Asia University USR project team, posing together at the exhibition

Asia University achieves another milestone in its USR projects! Recently, at the grand "2023 USR Exhibition of Engaged Scholarship" held at the Cultural Heritage Park of Ministry of Culture, three projects from Asia University's USR program – "Guardians of Food Safety and Health," " You are not alone: AI Foreign language learning companions for rural schools," and "Building Age and Dementia Friendly Communities: Dementia Literacy x Wisdom Upgrade x Intelligent Assistance" – all received the Best Popularity Award.

Vice Chief Sustainability Officer at Asia University, Shao-Liang Chang, mentioned that the expo brought together 29 universities and 45 project teams, showcasing rich achievements in cross-university social engagement. Asia University demonstrated its expertise in deep cultivation USR projects, and all three projects received awards.

Among them, the rooting project "Guardians of Food Safety and Health" led by Director Yu-Cheng Chiang of the Asia University Food Safety and Inspection Center emphasizes collaboration across three departments to cultivate talents in food safety and health care for the elderly and pets, while also promoting agri-food education. The project has successfully organized 78 related activities with a total participation of 4,345 individuals, presenting nine outcomes. In terms of innovative teaching methods, it has conducted 93 sessions with 4,525 participants.

The USR project "Building Age and Dementia Friendly Communities: Dementia Literacy x Wisdom Upgrade x Intelligent Assistance" of Asia University's College of Nursing won the Best Popularity Award

The rooting project "You are not alone: AI Foreign language learning companions for rural schools", led by Professor Yu-Ling Lo from the Department of Early Childhood Education at Asia University, collaborates with 11 schools in remote areas of Taichung, Changhua, and Nantou. It is committed to providing online tutoring and companionship for students learning languages. This project addresses the issue of insufficient educational resources in rural areas, particularly the increasing demand for English and foreign language education under the development of the M-shaped society. By implementing online methods, students can interact with Asia University study buddy anytime, anywhere through computers and utilize the language learning platform SmartClass for practice. The project recruited and trained 20 Asia University study buddies, providing language learning resources for 199 students in rural and community schools, including English, German, French, and other languages. It involves seven on-campus courses and three training workshops for training courses.

Additionally, the deep cultivation project of the College of Nursing at Asia University, " Building Age and Dementia Friendly Communities: Dementia Literacy x Wisdom Upgrade x Intelligent Assistance," focuses on the theme "Asia University Coffee for seniors: Co-play with Generative AI Virtual Grandparents." The project showcased its six-year dedication to the Wufeng District in Taichung City at the expo.

Vice Chief Sustainability Officer Shao-Liang Chang emphasized that Asia University has long been deeply rooted in the local community, committing to the United Nations SDGs sustainable development goals and addressing significant issues such as health and education in the community. In addition to the three USR projects subsidized by the Ministry of Education, the university also self-funded eight other seed projects, further expanding its commitment to social responsibility.

Asia University's two projects, "Guardians of Food Safety and Health" and "You are not alone: AI Foreign language learning companions for rural schools," both receiving the Best Popularity Award