Research-Based Learning in Rural Areas: A Case Study of Xichang Middle School in Hai'an County, Jiangsu Province

Author: Yu Jinli
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: Effective, Infinite Exploration, Research-Based Learning in the Context of Information Technology, Moving Towards Curriculum Leadership, Research-Based Learning in Rural Areas, Large Class Small Group, Catalyst for Innovative Thinking.
Do you know?
1. How can schools implement the open-ended course of research-based learning reasonably and effectively based on the local context?
2. How can research-based learning be conducted in the context of information technology? What is eClass?
3. How can research-based learning be evaluated and managed? Exams are not suitable; without exams, what should be done?
4. Can rural secondary schools carry out research-based learning? Is it a resource issue or a problem of awareness and action?
5. How can large-scale schools with more than 20 parallel classes carry out research-based learning for all students? Are there specific strategies?
6. How is Shanghai's research-based curriculum planned and designed? What are the similarities and differences between it and the national research-based learning in the general high school curriculum plan?
If these six questions are resolved well, schools that "want to carry out research-based learning but lack strategies" can gain inspiration or ideas, or refer to and imitate them. This series of books is based on the two-year research conducted by project experts in school settings, telling the curriculum stories of six project schools.
The Case Studies on Research-Based Learning in General High Schools is the first case study series in China to focus on the implementation and development of research-based learning. It takes the research-based learning practices of six schools of different types as the research subjects, striving for dialogue, interpretation, reconstruction, understanding, and analysis based on case studies, rather than telling, transmitting, and instilling knowledge. The series includes: Research-Based Learning in Rural Areas—Case Study of Xichang Middle School in Hainan County, Jiangsu Province, Effective, Infinite Exploration—Case Study of Xishan Senior High School in Jiangsu Province on Research-Based Learning, Research-Based Learning in the Context of Information Technology—Case Study of the Experimental High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University, Moving Towards Curriculum Leadership—Case Study of Wuhan No. 49 Middle School on Research-Based Learning, Large Class Small Group—Case Study of Wenling High School in Zhejiang Province on Research-Based Learning, and Catalyst for Innovative Thinking—Case Study of Dali High School in Shanghai on Research-Based Learning. These six cases focus on exploring six major issues urgently addressed at the school level in China's current stage of general high school research-based learning: How can schools implement this open-ended course reasonably and effectively based on the local context? How can research-based learning be conducted in the context of information technology? How can research-based learning be evaluated and managed? Can rural secondary schools carry out research-based learning? How can large-scale schools with more than 20 parallel classes carry out research-based learning for all students? How is Shanghai's research-based curriculum planned and designed?
For these six questions, the series provides real-world scenarios, allowing readers to engage with their own experiences and thoughts to appreciate the stories here, thereby fully enjoying the joys of appreciation, sharing, understanding, and critique.
When the General High School Research-Based Learning Case Study project was initially established, the sub-projects took into account that as the first course introduced in China, the success of research-based learning in its promotion and implementation could be one of the indicators for measuring the success of current curriculum reform. Rural secondary schools not only account for a significant proportion of China's high schools but also have their own unique characteristics in terms of educational development. The General High School Curriculum Plan (Experimental) currently being formulated by the Ministry of Education continues to regard research-based learning as an important component of the new high school curriculum, determined to select an ordinary rural secondary school as a case study to explore whether research-based learning can be carried out in rural schools and whether it can be done well. Although according to current popular standards, such schools are not "ideal" research partners, Jiangsu Province's Xichang Middle School in Hainan County became a "typical case."
Perhaps many people do not consider Xichang Middle School's research-based learning as "good," but it is real, created by the school under normal circumstances. The teachers and students of the school have also proven through their ordinary yet extraordinary practices that even the most ordinary rural secondary schools can carry out research-based learning and do it well!