At the Faculty of Business Administration (Amagasaki Campus), an off-campus study class for the “Amagasaki Tourism Walking Map Project” was held from the fall semester to the spring semester as a practical class.
This is part of a comprehensive partnership agreement between Kansai University of International Studies and Amagasaki City.General Incorporated Association Amagasaki Tourism Bureau In this project, students formed groups and asked "Amagasaki sightseeing walking mapwas conducted as a PBL (=Project based learning) class to create
The purpose of the class is to:
- Contribute to the community through community-based classes in collaboration with the government (I would like to increase the number of visitors by creating a walking map in the southern part of Amagasaki City, where the population is aging, and having people use it.)
- PBL (problem-based learning) including fieldwork increases students' motivation to learn
- Broaden students' perspectives by learning practical teamwork (expanding perspectives in the process of pursuing and completing a single goal while communicating in a small group)
Mr. Norikazu Shimada of the Amagasaki Tourism Bureau giving a lecture on tourism in Amagasaki
In the class, first- to third-year students who chose to take this subject were divided into groups of four to five students. Mr. Norikazu Shimada of the Tourism Bureau (right in the photo) learned about regional revitalization through tourism and the increase in the non-resident population. After that, he presented a sightseeing map with walking, trains, and buses as the starting point, with many photographs. I challenged the task of importing and creating with PowerPoint.
Students think up their own walking course, choose stopping points along the way, walk around the site, take pictures to put on the map, conduct fieldwork to gather information as necessary, and discuss their opinions in group work in the classroom. While exchanging, I worked on creating the map's route, point configuration, and overall design, and managed to complete it.The map consists of courses in four areas starting from Hanshin Amagasaki Station, and each course takes roughly a few hours (about an hour of walking) and anyone can try it.
After finishing learning from the students who participated...
- There were many interesting things and new discoveries when I happened to stop by even in places I used to pass casually.
- By walking around Hanshin Amagasaki, I was able to see the streets full of old-fashioned atmosphere, and I felt that I wanted to convey the good old town of Amagasaki as the redevelopment of the area progressed in recent years.
- I had a strong impression of the shuttered town, but I was able to learn a new side of Amagasaki.I felt that redevelopment of the shuttered shopping district would revitalize the area.
- I learned a lot from this lecture because I was able to do things that I did not know and work that I had never done before. "I learned the importance of acting as a group and communicating in a group.
Many opinions were expressed, such as …, and we were able to make the class a lesson that gave us experiences and impressions that could not be obtained from classes that are only lectures in the classroom.
The completed sightseeing walking map will be released on the Amagasaki Tourism Bureau website in the future.
Click here for the completed Amagasaki sightseeing walking map pdf
Completed map cover
Completed map course list
A group of students doing research in fieldwork
A group of students examining the composition of a map in group work