Integration of Narrative Strategies in Poster Design Education for Southeast Asian Students

Owing to the proactive implementation of the New Southbound Policy, the proportion of Southeast Asian students studying in Taiwan is steadily increasing. They exhibit variations in perceptions, communication, and cultural backgrounds in learning. These differences often lead to confusion and challenges during the coursework. In this study, we integrate narrative strategies into poster design education, where professors teach students textual contexts to identify and solve problems, and ultimately integrate design knowledge and skills. We investigated the differences in the student’s performance in poster design after the integration of narrative strategies and their reactions. Using a pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design with 40 Southeast Asian students, the 12-week experimental teaching was offered. Significant improvements in creativity, text composition, illustrations, layout, and color in poster design were observed after the period. The students could utilize transformation and metaphor as design techniques, demonstrating that integrating narrative strategies stimulated students’ imaginative capacities. Such a result indicates significant efficacy in enhancing the learning experiences of Southeast Asian students.