CyberFair Project ID: 7227

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International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: The Lost Governmental Building-Public Administration Hall
Category: 6. Historical Landmarks
URL: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2012/gsh7227/index.htm
Bibliography: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2012/gsh7227/bibliography.htm

School: Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School
    Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan

6 students, ages 15-16 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 16, 2012. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2010

Classes and Teachers: Tsun-Mu Hwang

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://web.ck.tp.edu.tw/

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Community

The Taipei Botanical Garden, located in the southwestern part of Taipei, draws a large number of visitors throughout the year. This beautiful garden was founded in 1921, though it has been in existence since 1895. During World War II, the garden was deserted. After the war, it has been taken over and maintained by the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute. Currently, this garden boasts over 1500 plant species and spectacular lotus blooms in summer. In additional to various plants, the Taipei Botanical garden offers a very special place to visit—Taiwan Bu-Cheng-Shih-Szyamen (administrative office of Ching Dynasty).

2. Summary of Our Project

As students of Jianguo Senior High School, the reason to choose Taiwan Bu-Cheng-Shih-Szyamen as the subject of our research is very simple—we are neighbors. Through visiting this historic site and reading books and documents, we hope to give a complete and detailed description of this historic site. Our research will include the structure of this building, administrative commissioners, and architectural conservation. We expect the result of our research can give the public a better understand of this beautiful cultural heritage and raise public awareness of the necessity to preserve ancient and historic buildings.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

Our school has four computer classrooms. And each classroom has 40computers.We use Broadband Internet, wireless network, academic network to do the project.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

(1) School work and exams fill up all our time and we need to put efforts on the participation in International Schools Cyberfair. We need to make the best use of time. Because each teacher of us put high expectation on our Humanity and Social Group and we need to present the project well. Summaries, translation, transcripts, commentaries… a lot of work need to be done. But these also help us a lot while developing the website and achieving for higher efficiency.

(2) When we began collecting data for Public Administration Hall, we found only scattered data. There has been no official website available and diversified data on the Internet are lack of reliability. Later, we consulted with Mr. Chuang Deren and had some ideas to get started. Then, we decided to focus on the research of books and relevant papers. We still had no idea about how to start our project when we were at the National Central Library among tons of information.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

We selected Public Administration Hall at Taipei Botanical Garden as our research subject. Through on-site investigation as well as book and paper reading, we would like to introduce Public Administration Hall in details. Our research is divided into themes of architectural structure, governors of Public Administration Hall, historical background and restoration of historical site. We expect the research results will provide the public with basic concept of restoration and maintenance of historical site as well as give comprehensive interpretation about the value of the existence of Public Administration Hall.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

In this project, we benefit the most from the summary and quotation techniques. We even understand a little bit of historical research method and academic research. We also realize the importance of the ability to raise questions in research but at school, we only receive limited training and guidelines in this regard. On the other hand, our teachers provide us the guidance and assistance to acquire basic academic knowledge and this is very helpful for us to look for more in-depth understanding. With studies on historical sites and reading for thesis, we lay the good foundation for further learning. In this era of rapid advancement of science and technology, on-line teaching becomes the norm. We all believe this will make our learning more efficient and saves us time to duplicate or convey more difficult concepts, but for some people, it takes time and courage to make the best use of the technology.

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Project Elements

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

Computer operating system:Windows XP Windows 7 Website browser:Microsoft Internet Explorer Mozilla Firefox Google Chrome Web environment:Broadband Internet Wireless Network Academic Network USB:Pretec 01GB USB Device MP 330 USB Device Pretec UltimateGuard USB Device Camera:Sony Nikon Kodak Photo and image processing software:Adobe Photoshop CS3 Word processing:Microsoft Office 2003 , 2007 Website development software:Dreamweaver MX 2004 Social networking tool:Facebook E-mail

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

We tried to collect comprehensive written data and after compiling, we give detail introduction of the function that historical site used to serve to allow the public treat the historical site not only the second tier one rated by Taipei City Government but also are able to understand its historical meaning. This historical site has been here since Qing Dynasty and we have the duties and responsibilities to understand it better. We also put our efforts on the introduction of restoration of the historical site because like people, the historical site will gradually get older and in the end, without proper care, it will be labeled as a “dangerous building.” By the time, it will become part of past. How to preserve it with proper and regular maintenance is also a very important issue. Meanwhile, we conducted an in-depth interview with the tour interpreter and she was very pleased to see our study and promotion project since few visitors went to this site and fewer have a good understanding of it.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

Taiwan Provincial Administration Hall, after worn by wars and time, has witnessed the ups and downs of history and now locates quietly inside Taipei Botanical Garden. Most local residents regard it as a good spot for leisure walk and do not have in-depth understanding about its full landscape and historical transformation. Through studies, we unveil it from the historical shadows and allow local residents to know better about its cultural and historical background as a historical building. This project presents the sense and sensibility of the historical building.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

We conducted an in-depth interview with the tour interpreter and she was very pleased to see our study and promotion project since few visitors went to this site and fewer have a good understanding of it.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Because this is the first time for us to take a part in the large-scale research project and we were not so familiar with the process at the beginning. For example, we arrived at National Central Library without IDs and had no choice to rush home first. During on-site interviews, we found our camera ran out of batteries. We did not have recorder ready when interviewing the librarian. We felt funny for these experiences but we did learn the lessons and made fewer mistakes. We learned the philosophy behind “the importance of good tools.” Preparation is the key to all research projects, especially, tools, and this can only be known from practical experiences.

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View our CyberFair Project (Project ID: 7227)

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