An Action Research of Using Community Resources for the High School Fieldwork

[[abstract]]In order to keep up with the current educational trend in and the Grade 1-9 Curriculum, geography education has undergone major changes in respect to teaching content and teaching methods. In terms of knowledge, the focus is laid on the relationship between human activities and the environmental system and how they shape the district landscape. In terms of affective domain, learners are expected to cultivate a stronger sense for the local culture as well as global view. With the above concerns, in the 95 curriculum guidelines in senior high school, the fieldwork teaching was clearly listed. It is hoped that through fieldwork teaching, students will be more familiar with their hometown and in turn develop an identity and sense of their own local culture. Community resources include people, events, time, places, and objects. Jian-Hu-Tang cultural garden is in close proximity to Lan-yang Girls’ Senior High School(LYGSH). The community resources in the garden are very rich. Therefore, this study was targeted at Jian-Hu-Tang cultural garden as the location of fieldwork teaching. The principle in designing the fieldwork teaching was based on constructivism. The researcher implemented several fieldwork teaching activities on two classes (77 students) in LYGSH. Through participatory observation, document analysis, questionnaire investigation, and focus group interview, the researcher tried to evaluate the practicability and effects in applying the community resources to fieldwork teaching. The research results are as follows: 1. The fieldwork teaching design which was based on structuralism can help students explore and construct their understanding and knowledge about the environment. It can also boost students’ autonomy in learning. 2. The researcher first analyzed the community resources and then designed the curriculum based on the characteristics of the resources. This method focused on “the interaction of Person and the environment”,” a region feature”,” practice the skill in geography”,” the affection target of concern hometown” ...etc.. 3. The application of community resources in multiple fieldworks can improve students’ knowledge and affective feeling, and it improves students’ cultivation of their sense and identity of their own community. It also strengthens the connection and interaction between the school and the community. As a whole, applying community resources in senior high school fieldwork teaching has high practicability and leads to good results.