Background and aim: Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture (CETC) education plays a crucial role in fostering students' cultural identity and humanistic qualities. However, conventional teaching methods often lack student engagement, resulting in limited learning outcomes. This study aimed to: (1) study the background information focusing on course components, existing problems, and theoretical foundations of the Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture course. (2) To develop a Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture course based on social interaction and Situation-Based Learning to enhance students’ humanistic quality. (3) To assess the effectiveness of implementing the Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture course based on social interaction and Situation-Based Learning. Materials and Methods: A pretest-posttest design was implemented with 22 first-year film and television students (1 Class) from Chongqing Polytechnic University of Electronic Technology, Chongqing Province, China, in the academic year 2024-2025. Participants were selected using a cluster random sampling method. The course intervention consisted of eight lesson plans emphasizing social interaction and Situation-Based Learning. Data were collected using multiple instruments:1) Eight lesson plans with appropriateness(Mean score: 4.78);2) A traditional cultural knowledge test (Pretest: M = 71.39, SD = 7.16; Posttest: M = 85.82, SD = 6.15; Reliability: 0.82);3) A self-evaluation form using a five-point Likert scale to measure students' humanistic spirit and humanistic behavior (reliability: 0.91);4) An observation form evaluating students' humanistic spirit and humanistic behavior (reliability: 0.89); 5) A student satisfaction questionnaire (reliability: 0.95). Results: Results indicated significant improvements in students’ cultural knowledge, humanistic spirit, and humanistic behavior. Posttest scores of students’ cultural knowledge (M = 85.82, SD =6.15), students' humanistic spirit and humanistic behavior measured through self-evaluation was M = 4.25, SD = 0.27 and observation was M = 4.30, SD = 0.23, which exceed the 70% criterion at .01 level of significance (t21=12.79, p=.001 and t21 = 16.39, p=.001, respectively). The results showed a statistically significant increase compared to pretest results and the 70% criterion. Students also reported high satisfaction, highlighting the course’s effectiveness. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that incorporating Social Interaction and Situation-Based Learning through CETC education enhances student engagement and cultural understanding. The findings contribute to curriculum development by providing an innovative instructional model that fosters deeper cultural appreciation and student satisfaction. Future research should explore the long-term impact of this approach and its applicability across diverse academic disciplines.
Zhang et al. (Sat,) studied this question.