Ethnographic Applications of Collaborative and Cooperative Pedagogy for Cross-Cultural Learning: A Case Study from Si Satchanalai, Thailand

Abstract

In early 2017, a combined group of faculty members and students from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Thailand, and Ball State University (BSU), U.S.A., organized a three-week fieldwork in many communities around Si Satchanalai Historical Park. Relying on their ethnographic experiences to actively explore the livelihood in conjunction with cultural heritages and social practices of the local people, such undertakings provided a contextual basis for this research. Conceptually informed by the edifying model of Cooperative and Collaborative (C&C) pedagogy used during the 2017 KMITL-BSU collaborative efforts, the inquiries examined the workshops and field trips in Si Satchanalai district for their roles in: 1) advancing tacit knowledge of the participants on the assigned subject matters; and 2) expanding a horizon of understanding between the Thai and foreign partakers. Altogether, the upcoming discussions demonstrated the methodological applicability of the C&C approach in architectural and design education, coupled with its scholarly merits in cross-cultural learning.