Sixteen-week undergraduate course with AQCI approach focusing on close reading, culminating in a poster research project and mock poster conference. Curriculum builds layered academic literacy: critical close reading of texts selected for their relevance to students’ professional trajectories and interests, collaborative group analysis, scaffolded analytical visual projects, and professional cross-cultural academic speaking tasks. Subsequent course iterations were revised based on student performance data and China’s 2025 national educational digitization & AI acceleration policies.