Educating Rural Farmers on Healthier Food Production

先修要求

/ Co- requisite/ Exclusion NIL

Teaching Pattern

Methodology As the service clients are Putonghua/Cantonese-speaking people, students who can communicate in Putonghua and/or Cantonese will have an advantage. -- 2 of 7 -- 3 1. e-Learning Module • Students are required to attend the 10 hours e-learning module offered by the Office of Service Learning at PolyU to gain a basic understanding in the concepts and practices of service learning. • Students are requested to complete the e-learning module within the first four weeks of the semester. 2. Discipline-Specific and Project-specific Lectures, Seminars and Discussion groups Discipline-Specific and Project specific topics will be delivered through the following medium: • Lectures, Seminars and laboratory Lectures are provided to equip students with discipline-specific knowledge, including concepts on modern agricultural good practices, new developments of modern agricultural technology to facilitate student’s basic understanding of modern agricultural practices. In addition, knowledge of Chinese food culture and concepts and models for responsible agricultural will be illustrated, so that student’s will gain an general background on the issues and problems faced by farmers in China, and help them identify possible gaps for improvements in their current practices. Introduction and background knowledge on the service site, the farmers, their crops and their imminent issues faced will be presented and discussed. Guest Lecturer will be invited to give seminar related to recent issues of food production in China • Workshop and Group Discussions Students are to be divided into small work groups with various assigned tasks to tackle problems and issues that can make improvements to the production of healthier food for rural farmers; Students are required to utilize the knowledge and skills of this subject in their service planning. Throughout the planning process, the students learn to collaborate with each other, resolve conflicts, solve problems, make decisions, as well as take up initiatives and responsibility. 3. Service Learning Projects The service learning projects are designed to develop students’ generic competencies of innovative problem-solving, teamwork and communication, and enhance students’ sense of social awareness, responsibilities and engagement. -- 3 of 7 -- 4 The objective of the service project is to help rural farmers to improve their livelihood, by introducing new concept of agricultural practice and safe and healthier food production. Students will be taken to a selected rural farming community, and will be required to use their knowledge and skills acquired in class to help to raise the crop growing standards, aiming to enhance their efficient use of resources, raise productivity level, reduce default rate, enhance crop quality. Students collectively will build model farms/units/fields on modern agricultural process and to use it to help other rural farmers in the area. The service project will be conducted in one of the following areas (but aim to expand to other locations where there is a need for improvement in agricultural practices): - Dayang Lujiang, Sichuan (Growth of Paddy & wheat, rapeseed, fruit & vegetables) - Shifang, Sichuan (mushroom farming (Jew’s ear)) The selection of service site will be affected by weather and other factors affecting the crop season of the local area. For service in China, the subject is planned to be delivered as a Semester 1(+2) and Semester 2(+3) format [i.e. Semester 1 extended into Winter Break or Semester 2 extended into Summer break] in which all discipline and project specific components are to be completed during the first / second semester and while service delivery will be conducted during the break (winter/summer) soon after the semester examination period. Each visit will last for 8-10 consecutive days (the first and the last day on travelling). For service in Hong Kong farms, students have to complete the service within the registered semester. Some projects may necessitate specific selection requirements on participating students. The teaching team will make the final decisions on project allocation, but efforts will be made to accommodate student preferences on their choice of projects. Students are expected to bear part or all of the costs of the service learning trip. 4. Reflective Journals & Report and Review Sessions -- 4 of 7 -- 5 Students will be required to write a proposal before and a reflective journals after the service learning project to demonstrate their ability to: (a) link their service learning experiences with the academic focus/discipline- specific content of the subject, (b) reflect on their service learning experience to identify their learning gains as well as areas for future improvements, (c) reflect on their roles and social responsibilities. To guide students in using reflection as a tool for learning, and to assess their ability in achieving the above learning objectives, reflection and review sessions will also be held both during and after the service learning project. Experts and facilitators from outside the subject-offering department (e.g. Office of Service Learning, NGOs) may be invited to contribute to some of these sessions as appropriate.