Project Elements
How did your activities and research for this International Schools CyberFair project support content standards, required coursework and curriculum requirements?
We learned how to apply the knowledge acquired in Chinese class and social studies class to onto our interviews, and how to systematically organized interview content into intelligibly reader-friendly information.
In this research project we tried to present pictorially our textual content to maximize readability and to entice readers' interest.
As there was only so much research work to cover, from the start we split into three groups to separately tackle with different tasks, but as each group wrote in divergent styles, we faced the problem of not being able to integrate our individual works into one coherent final product. It was only then that we learned of the importance of prior coordination before the actual commencement of group work.
In school most the curriculum is essentially conducted based on classes, each concerning only its own distinct discipline and field of knowledge, and because of this we rarely have the opportunity to learn about anything outside the curriculum. The Cyberfair, however, provided us with just this opportunity to do what we could not in the curriculum: to engage in-depth in a topic of research. We had to read, write, do interviews, assemble data. Our teacher would also look over our work and make corrections where necessary. This extracurricular method of learning, and the effort it entails, though indeed almost overwhelming at times, allowed us to feel a new sense of accomplishment that is nothing like that felt upon receiving mechanically nice test scores.
Aside from collecting information online, to facilitate our research we also used Google Sites to share files online amongst fellow team members, making the editing and discussing of details much more convenient. We love kind of internet learning, because it is so much more efficient that the traditional method where everyone could only discuss when all were physically present.
What skills did you learn?
Pre-interview Etiquettes
We learned that prior to conducting an interview we should complete an explanation manual of our project and the questions we were to ask, to make an appointment with the interviewee to decide upon the time and place to meet so as to allow the interviewee to properly prepare and give us more feedback.
Interview Etiquettes
During interview, interviewees might prepare water for us, and we learned that we should say thank you when we receive our water, that when asking a question we should begin our inquiry with polite phrasings, and that when we finish our interview we should say thank you.
The spirit of seamless cooperation
Over the course of our research the teacher would split us into groups in accordance with the requirements of the research. For example, for interviews with store owners, we were split into groups of three, where one asks the questions, one takes the pictures, and one who takes notes on the proceedings; for the presentations, someone would be in charge of the cuisines, someone the history of Xiaoxi, and someone the historical relics. Everyone worked together to complete the project.
What ideas and methods were you able to implement into your collaborative effort?
Though we are scattered among three different classes, in different grades, and attend cram schools at different times, and hence have only very limited time to get together and discuss, but we were able to manage to talk things over during recesses. Further, our teacher taught us how to use Google Docs to do our work together online, so that we were able to complete the PPT for our presentations at our respective homes without having to worry whether or not we were able to gather at one specific location.
What concepts were you able to cognize or come to intimate terms with?
By studying the history of Xiaoxi Street, we learned that Changhua City was once a town surrounded by walls, which were torn down only after entering the Japanese Occupation period, and that this place was once extremely prosperous because of its geographical location. By studying the local cuisines we discovered that the recipes and methods for making these foods were passed down through generations of modifications to become the one-of-a-kind cuisines of renown that they are today. By studying the historical relics we became aware of the difference between county-level relics and nation-level relics, the differences between “shrines,” “temples,” “guans,” and “angs,” and the artistic value of stone carvings, wood carvings, mud sculptures, and Koji ceramics.
How does this research project coincide with the needs of your school?
Xiaoxi Street is located close to our school, whose history is worthy of study, and the surrounding historical relics are also the favorite locations of school excursions. During this project, we went to each class to introduce Xiaoxi, to let our fellow students and classmates know more about the history of their home. Participating in the guidance of Xiaoxi also presented us with the chance to function as guides outside of school.
What has been or will be the impact of your project on your community?
We made presentation files and went to individual classes to give presentations and let more students learn about the history, culture, and cuisines of Xiaoxi Street. We learned that, after our presentation, there were in fact students who went to Xiaoxi Street for walk in its alleyways, and visited some of the renowned cuisine stores listed on our website.
The recommended routes for visit, the historical relics, and the delicacies on our website were organized for the purpose of providing tourists from out of town a reliable informational source by which they can know how to have fun in, to enjoy the foods of, and to experience the culture of Xiaoxi.
Conducting research on Xiaoxi, we often found ourselves freqenting the area, to such an extent that some of the store owners have even come to know us quite well. They knew that we embarked on the mission of propagating Xiaoxi, and were not only nice to us but fairly supportive of our efforts.
When giving guidance on Xiaoxi Street, we met university students from Hong Kong who wished to learn more about the history of Xiaoxi, and so we did our best to introduce them to Xiaoxi. We took them on a small tour of Xiaoxi, showing them the historical relics, the cuisines, and other significant cultural sites, and even took a souvenir photo with them in the end.
How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?
We would like to thank many people, whose assistance not only helped us complete our project but moreover functioned as opportunities for us to learn how to properly negotiate with other people. We would first like to express our gratitude for the director of personnel, who helped to contact and arrange an appointment for interview with the mayor, and to allow us hear from the mayor first hand the various parties and efforts involved in the management of tourism resources and the future prospect of Xiaoxi. Thanks also goes to the chair of Xiaoxi Cultural Association Mr. Ying-hua Su, for bringing to our attention how there are indeed various forces working behind the preservation and propagation of Xiaoxi culture; to the retiree Meng-jun Wang for not only showing us how to make items for use as guides but also for introducing the founder of Bagua Salon, Mr. Yu-zheng Su, to us, allowing us to see how his innovation and passion Mr. Su is able to found a place to propagate Xiaoxi culture.
Also, we are greatly indebted to all the store owners who agreed to take our interview and the tourists who stopped to listen what we had to say. We usually make small thank-you cards to give as tokens of gratitude in advance to those who have taken our interview. The truth is, we believe that the best way of repaying their kindness is by effectuating our project to the fullest, so that their time and effort will not got to waste.
Was the usage of internet teaching and learning more efficient compared to conventional methods? Please elaborate.
Conventional methods lacked vividness, which we found rather dull, and hence we like internet teaching and learning. We are able to use the internet to look up a lot of information, saving a lot of time we would have used going to the library. Using Google Docs to collaborate on our files online, we could work on our report anytime, anywhere, so we could continue at home where we left off at school, and could use a shared file to work on things for which we had not the time to talk over in school. It is simply so very convenient.
Please explain what informational technologies you employed to complete your research project?
We used several information tools and technologies:
Information tools-
1.Google Apps for Education:Our school uses the Google Apps for Education service, the core foundation of which being the Google Docs suite, which allows us to create word processing documents, slideshow presentations, and spreadsheets. We used Documents to save research data, and utilized its share function to, on the one hand, allow group members to collaboratively edit the content and to more engagingly participate in the project, and on the other, enable our teacher to conveniently make timely modifications. Prior to uploading our data onto our website, we first used Google Sites to set up the initial infrastructural layout of our website; only after merging our individual files as required on Google Sites could we upload the thoroughly processed content onto our website.
2.Email: we used email to communicate, share, and exchange the data and photos we found. After our interview, Mr. Su also used email to send to us the map of must-see scenic spots made by the Xiaoxi Cultural Association along with introductory notes to the representative cuisines of Xiaoxi.
3. Search engine: we like to use Google to search for data, but of course we also occasionally turn to Yahoo to look for pictures and photos.
4.Books from the county library: to study Xiaoxi, in addition to information available online we also relied on of a couple of books from the county library collection that provided introductions to as well as maps of Changhua in the past so as to gain a more detailed comparative understanding of Xiaoxi then and now.
Technologies-
1.Photoscape: we use this software to process our photos. As most of the original photo files extracted from digital cameras are too large in size for a website, we use this software to compress the photos. In the case of some photos in which the lighting is insufficient, we would use this software adjust their brightness and contrast; we also add borders to enhance their overall presentation.
2.X-mind: after discussing about the infrastructure of our website, we used X-mind to pictorially illustrate and record our concept in the form of mind maps.
3.Digital camera: for each outing we would always split into three groups, and be it during interviews, surveys, or guidance, we would always use the digital camera to take photos of each other to use as record; our teacher would also take photos of us.
4.Pen recorder: during interviews, to prevent deviations from facts, we chose to use a pen recorder to take down the entirety of our interviews, which we would process after we returned to the computer lab in school.
Out of all the tools we used the most invaluable is Google Apps for Education, being entirely free and built in with a variety of features and fuctions. Documents in Google Docs enables online file sharing, by which all group members could simultaneously edit a given file online, whereas Form is used for making surveys, by which we were able to know in a week the general level of familiarity of students with Xiaoxi. We were able to quickly integrate data for our website thanks to Google Sites. Via email we could exchange information and files amongst each other. Search engines offered easy and efficient access to the information we needed.
We found the most useful technology to be the digital camera, which played an indispensable role in keeping records of our research process. Be it an interview, a guidance on historical relics, or an introduction to cuisines, these moments photographically captured and placed in our presentation and uploaded onto our website as visual aid would enable our viewers to very intuitively grasp and relate with our words. Digital cameras also now comes with the function of video recording, which we also used sometimes to record our guidance sessions.
What influences or impacts did you receive from this research project?
We had always known where Niaochia Noodles and A-chang Taiwanese Meatballs are, but not the fact this this area was also called Xiaoxi. Mercantile business used to flourish here, and hotels were everywhere, but now only a scanty few of the mercantile shops and hotels, old and worn with the passage of time, of those heady days remain, by which we can only imagine what it must have been like during the heyday of Xiaoxi. But, with recent developments in tourism, Xiaoxi is once again regaining its vitality, and when we were conducting our survey and providing guidance we found that many tourists came to have a taste of the local cuisines, or to feast their eyes upon the former residence of Du, stay a night or two at Red Leaf Hotel. They were all drawn here by the distinct local old-time delights of Xiaoxi, and it this is the all more reason to continue to protect our unique local culture.
Discoveries, lessons, and surprises
Discoveries
“Xiaoxi Street” cannot be found on the map, because this is a name by which the people back in the past referred to this area. Through this research project we were able to learn about the developmental history of Changhua City, and the once prosperous Xiaoxi.
Niaochia Noodles, a Xiaoxi local cuisine and one of the top three gourmets of Changhua, derives its name not from some special meat put inside the noodles, but from the first owner, whose Chinese zodiac sign was the rat and whose physique was small and delicate. Since rat in Taiwanese sounded the same as rat and cat (both pronounced as “niaochia”), the name was changed to Niaochia Noodles.
Only after researching and interviewing did we realize that there were so many historical relics around Xiaoxi, and all of them can be reached within 30 minutes of walk; these places include such famous relics as the Roundhouse, Kaihua Temple, Yuan Ching Guan. It’s hence no wonder that when we interviewed the mayor, he repeatedly emphasized that the density of historical relics in Changhua is perhaps the highest in Taiwan, and that therefore Changhua has great potential for tourism development.
Lessons
We learned from the experience of preparing a presentation on the tourism resources of Xiaoxi for our fellow schoolmates that much preparation is necessary before actually giving the presentation on stage; as it is only normal that one could get so nervous on stage as to be unable to speak or to think, if one is not adequately acquainted with the topics he is to talk about, he is bound to stutter on stage.
We learned during our interview the store owners and survey with tourists that when asking for help one must be polite. When we first begin our survey, we simply approached the tourists boldly and without any reserve, and surprised or scared some of the tourists. We then learned that we should introduce ourselves, and tell them what we wish to do; after we began doing so, those who were not in a hurry were much more willing to not only fill out our survey questions but moreover introduce other fellow tourists to fill them out as well. There were also tourists who treated us to snacks afterwards.
Surprises
When interviewing Mr. Yu-zheng Su, we were enthralled by his ability to somehow magically transform pieces of inconspicuous garbage into dazzling artworks.
Our interviews and guidance at Xiaoxi Street was a big challenge, but thanks to the teacher’s timely help we were able to slowly get the hang of what we were supposed to do. There were tourists who, seeing us working hard, treated us fried glutinous rice cakes. There were also tourists from Beijing who filled our survey. There were also backpackers from Hong Kong, for whom we gave a guiding introduction to the cultural artifacts of Xiaoxi Street.
After actually giving guidance and conducting interviews, we learned that A-chang Taiwanese Meatballs and Changhua Taiwanese Meatballs, stores which we all frequent, are right here on Xiaoxi Street, and that within the alleyways of Xiaoxi there’s a whole other world waiting to be explored: Red Leaf Hotel (Family Recreation Center), former Tipsy Tavern, former residence of Du, Doctor Lane, to name a few, are all hidden here, and only by walking the alleyways can one learn personally the stories of its glorious past.
When interviewing Mr. Ying-hua Su of Red Leaf Family Recreation Center, he demonstrated for us many ways to play with folkgame gadgets, and showed us how we can have quality folkgame with a simple pair of scissors and a piece of paper.
