Field Survey and International Education: Urban River Restoration

 

Conducting a field survey about how people in Taichung preserved the Green River and then sharing what we found with the Japanese students in a video conferencing exchange  

Several driven and dedicated teachers from KMJH worked together for a club, taking turns planning and delivering theme-based courses. The main idea is to conduct a field survey of the river regarding its history, preservation, and ecological system. My job was to make it an international collaboration, learning and sharing the river with our Japanese counterparts through Zoom exchange sessions. 

 

With some basic ideas of how video conferencing works, students proceeded with the preparation of their English presentations, including a compare and contrast between the Green River 綠川 in Taichung and the renowned Genbei Rive 源兵衛川, the history of the Green River, and water testing and on-site inspection. My colleagues already did most of the scripting, so I only helped with the revision and rehearsal of student presentations. 

 

Due to time constraints, we only got to select three pairs of club students for the presentations, and they did a good job for sure, with clear pronunciation and a well-paced delivery. The rest of the students paid attention to the Japanese students' sharing throughout the exchange. Students from both schools were timid and shy, some still managed to ask follow-up questions. 

 

Thanks to Taka Jian's effort, we made it happen on the last day of the Japanese semester. With the hectic end-of-semester schedule in Japan, his students did a good job sharing interesting topics. We got off to a bumpy start due to a technical problem, Taka and I remained calm and fix it though.