Research courses are carried out in the way of walking learning, the most important of which is to follow the principle of education。It is necessary to realize the educational value and learning significance of the research course，On the one hand, there needs to be a strong sense of curriculum，Through the course design, let the research truly have the connotation of learning;On the other hand, it is necessary to deeply understand the uniqueness of the course form of research travel，Recognize "how learning happens" in this course format，Thus, we can deeply understand the characteristics of autonomy, practicability, openness and generation of research courses，Think outside the box，Enter into a new learning mode with students。

In December 2016, the Ministry of Education and other 11 departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Promoting Research Travel for primary and secondary School Students", which regarded research courses as a major innovative measure in the talent training mode in the field of basic education in China, and listed them as an important part of primary and secondary education teaching practice。Qinglanshan School of Dongguan City has included the study course in the compulsory curriculum plan of the school。Since its establishment, the school has organized three domestic research trips with the participation of all students in the themes of humanities, history, science, ecology and geography in just one year。

Learning occurs in environmental exposure

The graduate program brings students into an incredibly wide world。In this world, the environment leads children to think and imagine with an invisible educational power, quietly changing the inner world of children。

Walking between mountains and rivers, they appreciate the magic and broadness of nature, accept the edification of beauty, and broaden their horizons and minds。For example, in the Anhui Research Group of "Tracing the Ancient Anhui · Seeking the Dream" organized by the school, the students climbed Mount Huangshan, when the most beautiful mountain of the motherland was displayed in front of them, and when the strange pines, rocks, clouds and waterfalls of Mount Huangshan, which were read in books and seen in picture albums, became real scenes in front of them, they showed unusual surprise。That night, the students forget fatigue, in the "Huangshan poetry Competition" competing to recite their own impromptu poem, that is the best time for students to "borrow the scene to express their feelings" to learn writing。Another example is the Chongli Research Group of "Ice and Snow Passion · Dream Realization Winter Olympics" organized by the school，A group of students who have lived in the South for a long time，To the snowy mountains，Witness "A thousand miles of ice，The magnificent sight of "ten thousand miles of snow floating"，现场吟诵毛泽东《冰球突破豪华版网页版》等诗词，"Northern scenery" is no longer a monotonous word symbol，It became a living image，It leads them to interpret and understand the poetry，Learning in this situation is completely different from sitting in a classroom。

Stopping in the famous cultural city, the students feel the long history of China, breeding national pride and cultural confidence, accepting the infection of traditional culture, and opening up the thinking across the ancient and modern。Students of Xi 'an Research Group who participated in "Han and Tang Travel Far · New Style of Ancient Road"，In the historical and cultural city of Xi 'an，From the "Terracotta Army" of "thousands of troops and horses", they felt the magnificent artistic creation of the Qin Dynasty，From the "Forest of Steles" a little authentic pieces appreciate the profound delicacy of Chinese calligraphy，From the "Big Wild Goose Pagoda" architectural entity found the historical witness of Chinese Buddhism，Also feel the glory of the ancient scholar at that time "goose pagoda title"。These are the learning gains that are difficult to get in the classroom and in books。

The students who participated in the research group of "Tsinghua University Science and Technology Investigation Camp" walked into the Qinghua Garden to personally feel the powerful atmosphere of science and humanities in this hundred-year famous university。In the old Tsinghua Library，The students saw a room full of books with many vicissitudes，When we know that the masters such as Zhu Ziqing and Wen Yiduo, who are revered in their hearts, have read these books here，The motivation in the heart is self-evident;In the history hall of Tsinghua University，Tsinghua celebrities Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao, Zhao Yuanren, Chen Yinke，There are also the introduction of the life stories of Liang Sicheng, Qian Xuesen, Deng Jiaxian, Qian Sanqiang and other masters, and the physical testimony of their outstanding contributions to the nation and the world，Let the students truly feel the spirit and temperament of the great man，What inspires them is their devotion to the motherland。

What happens here is the best learning process for cultivating the spirit and character of children。Many years later, when they relive the memories left here, it will be a baptism, a spur。

Today's students have grown up with the information environment. The research courses take students away from the cold screen and return to the real and natural reality environment. They observe with their eyes, feel with their hearts, think with their minds, express with words, and carry out experiential learning in real situations。

In fact, the design of graduate courses can fully tap into rich educational elements from the environment that students face and experience during their graduate studies。Some of these elements can be integrated in a curricular way into a common learning resource for all students，Organize student learning in the form of a theme or project，But more educational elements are hidden in the environment in a rich and diverse form，Different students can observe, experience and think from different angles，So as to realize the construction of individual learning experience。In this sense, research travel should leave students a free, open, selective learning space, so that different students can get more personalized harvest from the "environment" this vast, rich "book"。

Learning happens in the experience of inquiry

Research course is not only an open, generative practice activity, but also a targeted thematic learning activity, so it has the connotation and course nature of "research learning" and "project learning" itself。The organizer of every research course needs to go through the basic links of "designing the theme - choosing the route - formulating the plan - organizing the implementation - summarizing and evaluating", so that the research course can truly become an effective learning activity and avoid falling into the misunderstanding of "only traveling and not learning"。

After the goal of the research course is determined, in addition to analyzing the characteristic resources of the research place that can be integrated into the curriculum resources needed for research, it is also necessary to carefully study how to use these resources to organize the learning process。One of the most important issues is to guide students to carry out effective learning methods throughout the whole travel process, to continuously form new learning in the process of actual experience, and to truly realize "all the way to the journey, all the way to the learning process".。

Through the summary of several research courses, we believe that "observation and visit", "inquiry experience" and "hands-on practice" are the learning methods often adopted by students in the process of research。

Observation is a kind of purposeful, visual integrated with other senses as one of the comprehensive perceptual activities, is an important way to obtain information and understand the world.The visit is to listen to, talk, dialogue and other ways to carry out the investigation, collect and grasp the required materials and information。In the process of research, guiding students to observe nature and investigate society can not only enable students to have a clear, vivid and specific perceptual understanding of the objects of observation or investigation, accumulate rich perceptual experience, but also cultivate students' ability to understand the world from the perspective of methodology。So it's a learning process with a double meaning。

For example, the students who have participated in the Chengdu Research Group of "Close Contact with Giant Pandas" are the children in front of Qinglan Mountain School and the students in grade three and four of Primary school。For children whose cognitive abilities are still in the early stages of development, observation is the best way for them to learn。At the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, children observe the pandas' appearance, fur, posture, movements, expressions, daily living, diet, temperament and many other aspects for several days。In the process of observation，The teacher at the front of the class has the characteristics of weak focusing ability for children，Constantly ask questions through the field，Get children's attention to observe，And guide the children to draw down the phenomena they see by drawing pictures;And for third and fourth graders，Through a pre-designed observation access record sheet，List various observation items and visits，Field observation of giant pandas from multiple angles and in all directions，Conduct on-site interviews with base staff，Panda feces were also taken for observation，The feces characteristics of "vegetarian" animals were analyzed from the aspects of color, odor and viscosity，The daily homework is to write the observations and interviews into the "Observation diary".。Through such a field learning process, the children became more interested in the objects they observed, and came up with one conjecture and question after another related to pandas。These conjectures and questions are the seeds of exploring the unknown world that grow quietly in their hearts, and the observations and experiences that naturally remain in children during such a learning process are the beginning of children's learning of scientific research methods。

In school education, the inquiry activities in the classroom are often limited to indirect experience and rational knowledge, while the grounded perceptual knowledge is always lacking。Inquiry in research is a learning activity of thinking and exploring under real situation, which is of great significance to solve the proposition of knowledge in life。Research courses bring students into a scene different from school education, and carry out exploratory learning in the face of the real world and real problems, which can well fill the gap between rational knowledge and perceptual knowledge。Therefore, it is a very important way to arouse students' learning in the research course to select the questions suitable for students to explore and organize students to carry out research。

Learning happens in hands-on practice

The famous psychologist Piaget said: "Wisdom begins with action, students' various senses participate in cognitive activities, can make information constantly stimulate brain cells, promote active thinking, easy to store and extract information, while easy to stimulate students' curiosity and thirst for knowledge, produce the drive to learn.。This statement is a profound interpretation of the meaning of "learning through hands-on practice"。Manual operation is the process of using hand and brain, and it is an effective means to solve the contradiction between the abstract of knowledge and the figurative of thinking。

Hands-on practice is an indispensable form of learning for postgraduate courses。Although the learning activities carried out in the school can also create opportunities for students to operate and practice, the vast majority of them are carried out in an artificial and simulated situation。The research course will bring students into the real situation of life, and the problems they face in hands-on operation and practical practice have the nature of "original ecology", and the unique value of its learning resources is irreplaceable。It is based on this understanding that the teachers of the research team communicate closely with the base, make full use of local resources as much as possible, and arrange some "hands-on practice" projects for students, so that the research can truly construct a learning model of "combining hands and brains" and "learning while doing and experiencing while doing"。

Heqing is a research site of Dali Research course in Yunnan Province, where there are a number of folk traditional crafts belonging to the national intangible cultural heritage。The research group grasped this resource condition and arranged students to carry out a series of hands-on learning activities。Under the guidance of local technicians, the students tried their hand at making "Jia Ma", tile cat mud and tie-dye products。In the process of carving, kneading, painting, dyeing and other operations, from the palm into the heart of the students are the exquisite skills of Bai folk craft, artistic creativity and the real experience of the pursuit of local national spirit contained in these objects。

There are many more hands-on learning activities like this in the process of research。For example, students who participate in the Science and Technology Research Group of Tsinghua University get a hands-on opportunity to create a jewelry in the metal Craft jewelry laboratory of Tsinghua University。They exert their artistic imagination, carefully painting on small pieces of copper, and then go through several processes such as enamel firing。Finally firing their own personalized "products"。Many students were so unhappy with their first attempt that they asked not to eat dinner in order to buy more time to work again。This fully shows that this kind of hands-on activity has stimulated students' great enthusiasm for learning。

Learning happens while walking

A study trip is a walking based form of learning where students work as a team in a challenging new environment。In the process of walking, the social environment that students face is the big classroom they learn, and the various events they encounter are the living materials for their learning。In such a "big classroom" and reading such "living materials", children's learning is vivid and broad, and often unfolds in a way that is more intangible than tangible and integrated than single。This kind of learning often takes place in the details of the study, some in the pre-set goals of the study trip, and some are triggered by real situations encountered by chance。This kind of learning with society and life as the object highlights the generative and open characteristics of research。

In the course of learning activities, we often feel that this kind of learning occurs naturally in children。On the way to study，They need to pack their own bags every day，Arrange daily living and washing，Get there on your own time，When encountering certain difficulties, you need to solve them yourself or actively communicate to ask for assistance，When you get lost, you need to find the "organization" on your own...And these，Rarely leave parents in life，Especially for children in the lower school age group，It is their experience of learning to be independent, learning to survive, learning to live。On the other hand, students who study travel are in a real social life environment. They take high-speed trains, stay in hotels and inns, visit places of interest, and walk in folk villages. There are civilized conventions everywhere and norms of behavior at all times。They will learn through personal experience: When is it necessary to be patient，When do you need to whisper，When do you need to restrain yourself，When is it necessary to "give in three first"...And this is how they experience social rules as they grow up，It is the most effective learning process to cultivate modern civilization consciousness and civic accomplishment。

The team action of the study trip also provides students with an opportunity to learn to get along, learn to communicate, learn to cooperate, and learn to manage themselves。As the organizers of research activities, teachers will consciously leave many specific matters in the process of activities to students to decide, choose and complete。例如，In everyday activities，On a rotating basis, some students assist the faculty in managing the team，Give them specific tasks to do，Such as organizing discussions, maintaining discipline, counting people, issuing room card vouchers, passing notices, etc，Complete these tasks，It's not just an exercise in ability，It is also the cultivation of collectivism spirit and responsibility consciousness。For another example，Train berth allocation, hotel room arrangement, visit and stay time determination, walking route selection，It is often left to the students to discuss and decide，Let them learn how to organize their own actions independently，Take responsibility for your actions，Let them learn how to resolve differences and conflicts that arise among their peers，Teach them obedience to the collective will and respect for others，Let them experience the understanding and tolerance that people should have。These are the cultivation of key skills such as "communication and exchange" and "cooperative problem solving" for talents in the 21st century, which is an important construction of students' core literacy in the new era。This kind of learning triggered by research trips is of profound significance to the growth of students。

What is more worth mentioning is that many activities in the process of study also have positive significance to the tempering of students' will quality。In the process of study, the long journey, climbing mountains and wading water appear from time to time, which is the tempering of the students' will quality。Although it is difficult to develop and implement the study travel course, Qinglanshan School will firmly take the study travel as the school's curriculum choice, and constantly optimize the quality of the study course in practice and exploration, so that it will become the most meaningful and valuable learning in the growth of students' lives。