About the Lab
“Taoyuan Autodidactic 3.0 Lab” was a project launched by the Department of Education, Taoyuan City Government, in 2017, with an aim to realize the spirit of educational experiment and curriculum innovation of the three-type acts of experimental education. The old science hall of Taoyuan Junior High School was renovated and integrate with IT infrastructures to construct a multidisciplinary and autodidactic venue, which consisted of hardware and facilities including a science lab, exploratory research room, auditorium, website, and curriculum database. The lab officially opened and started offering courses in October 2017.
The project devises three major types of courses—“Classic Keynote Speeches,” “Autodidactic Exploratory Courses,” “Electives at another School”—based on the principles of “expanding own horizons” and “breaking free from existing framework of learning.” The services target grade 5 to senior high school and vocational school students who apply to join the experimental education program, to whom the government provides diversified educational resources, setting a precedent of experimental education in Taiwan!
About the Lab
Media Feature – Taoyuan Story (2020.04)
Autodidactic 3.0 Lab_An Alternative in Education
In Harry Potter, children who are given an opportunity can board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾, and embark on a journey of wizardry. Taoyuan City established “Autodidactic 3.0 Lab” in 2017 to ignite for children, who longed for learning on their own, an alternative imagination of education beyond traditional school education.
Early on, our society had stereotypes of students, believing that students of self-education were either gifted or they could not adapt to school life. The implementation of the “Three Type Acts of Experimental Education” has redefined learning model, which also represents that Taiwan is now putting more emphasis on pluralistic and adaptive education, returning the autonomy of learning to children, while also offering parents more options of education to choose for their children. In light of this development trend, Taoyuan City tried to incorporate the spirit of experimental education and curriculum innovation, and launched non-school-based experimental education in 2017, establishing “Autodidactic 3.0 Lab” at Taoyuan Junior High School that integrated and provided learning aids and resources.
Professor Wu Shu-min, head of the “Taoyuan City Autodidactic 3.0 Lab” project specializes in special education. According to Professor Wu, “Autodidactic 3.0 Lab” takes on the spirit of pluralistic education in gifted education, and strives to accompany children to explore their talent. Thus, children who want to participate in Autodidactic 3.0 Lab are not selected based on their intelligence test results; instead, the lab explores through interviews the autonomous learning plans devised by parents and children, as well as whether the children have burning desires to learn.
Over the past three years or so, a total of 716 elementary, junior high and senior high school students have participated in the program, and the number continues to grow. Professor Wu shares that, most of the children participating in the program have some basic understanding of own interests; compared to other children, they know what they want, and are more proactive to learn as they have evolved from “being asked to learn” to “wanting to learn.” Thus, the function of “Autodidactic 3.0 Lab,” to these kids, resembles a bridge that provides guidance and assistance.
Currently, the program offers courses in four major categories: “Classic Keynote Speeches,” “Exploratory Autodidactic Courses,” “Electives at another School,” and “Application for Lab Equipment by Individuals or Agencies,” in aim to prevent stagnation in learning, while also making self-learning more systematic. Among the categories, “Classic Keynote Speeches” shares a similar concept with mentorship, where professional icons of various domains help to usher students into different disciplines, so that they can stand on the shoulders of giants and explore diverse fields. The lab also signed MOU with National Chiao Tung University, Chung Yuan Christian University, and Ming Chuan University, at the end of 2019, which enabled students to audit or attend electives in the universities, so that they can gain early exposure to applied courses such as design, multimedia, entertainment technology and aviation. Furthermore, in addition to visiting enterprises to get in touch with the industries and learn career options, the lab also encourages students to take matters into their own hands, finding the answers to the problems they are curious about and wondering through research and experiments.
“Autodidactic 3.0 Lab” is offering more diverse courses and gaining access to richer and more complete resources. To junior and senior high school students, getting an early taste of university courses and campuses gives them more concrete expectations and imaginations of their future. Every student is different, and both traditional school education and non-school-based experimental education have own suitable targets. “Regardless of which type of education, it is vital for parents, teachers, and schools to sustain the interests and burning fire to learn within children; once that fire gets going, children will be highly motivated to learn, and can invest themselves long-term to explore knowledge and expertise. What remains to be done is to accompany them on their paths towards success,” emphasized Professor Wu Shu-min.
Starting from the moment they were born, children have been absorbing and growing every day, becoming independent individuals to face the various issues in life; from family, school, to the society, we need to provide them a broader world, so that their unique talent can be kindly accepted and properly guided, allowing these little seedlings to grow and thrive into a beautiful forest and blossom on a vast land.