Taiwanese universities encourage the incorporation of “social participation curriculum” under the Ministry of Education’s "University Social Responsibility (USR) Program." This study aims to examine the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that concern communication students and the communication skills they employ in their USR projects. In the first semester of 2022, 56 freshmen enrolled in the "Streaming Media Platform Management Practices" course were organized into 11 groups. Prior to engaging in social participation activities, the students received instruction on communication skills and the SDGs agenda. The study focused on identifying the SDGs issues selected by students and the types of media used to advocate these issues. Further insights into media usage were gathered through a focus group discussion with group leaders. The findings indicate that students show a greater interest in environmental issues, followed by social issues and economic growth. Their social participation activities included serving tea, conducting beach clean-ups, performing social experiments on gender discrimination, and providing companionship to the elderly. These activities were disseminated via memes and short videos on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, with less frequent use of YouTube and TikTok. Additionally, some students reported experiencing social anxiety during team interactions. Nevertheless, they felt a sense of accomplishment from engaging with "real people" and the "real environment." The study concludes that integrating SDGs into USR curricula can enhance students’ learning experiences by making them more engaging and rewarding.

Authors:
Pei-ying Tsai, Shih Hsin University, Taiwan
Yu-Li Wang, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Pei-ying Tsai is currently an Assistant Professor of Communications Management at Shih Hsin University, Taipei, Taiwan.

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