Project Odyssey: A Research Into The Tourism Sector of Palakkad

Project Odyssey-Overall Report

Class XD students undertook various activities as part of project based learning. The activities included preparing albums and articles for bulletin board, conducting a survey, visit to DTPC,Palakkad and interview with an official at DTPC,Palakkad. Here is a brief report of the project works.
Group members: Anne Joseph, Anjitha, Arjun, Austin, Ajay.B, Bhumika, Dheeraj.K.S

Findings

• Palakkad district has many potential areas as tourist spots.
• According to DTPC, various projects are implemented in Palakkad district for promotion purposes. Around 300 crores were spent from 1990 to 2013.
• In Kerala tourism, Palakkad is highlighted because of its scope in eco-tourism.
• 75% of the people get information about tourist spots from the internet.
• Purpose of visit for most people are leisure than adventure, health etc. Most visitors prefer one – day trip.
• Most preferred locations in Palakkad are Tipu’s fort, Malampuzha and Nelliampathi.
• Most people are unaware of places such as Anangamal, Chembai Memorial, Kunjan Nambiar Smarakam etc.

Possibilities in Palakkad Tourism Sector

• Scope for trekking and adventure tourism is great in hilly areas of Palakkad. We ought to focus on it.
• Road shows and Travel mart is an upcoming area of interest in tourism. Tourist Department can arrange it with the co-ordination of adventure clubs and NGOs.
• The Department of Tourism must take initiative to provide proper marketing techniques for Palakkad tourism.
• Tourism Department can utilize the advantage of technology for promotion purposes.

Conclusion

The study on tourism in Palakkad district gives details about the importance of tourist development in Palakkad. The growth of tourism in Palakkad helps to solve problems like unemployment, lack of amenities etc.

The Department of tourism spends a lot of money to promote tourism but in the case of Palakkad, tourism Department cannot implement more projects because most tourist destinations come under the forest and irrigation Department.

The project shows the important tourism places and the problems of tourism marketing in Palakkad district. Palakkad has immense tourism potential. The government and private sector must promote tourism by providing proper infrastructure and other tourism-related activities.

A common strategy that maybe followed is to provide more tourism products such as tourism literature with greater quality. Next, the information collected through survey should be thoroughly assessed and mapped so as to identify the actual potential of tourism resources of the state, both at micro and macro levels. A comprehensive tourism policy based on local requirements is the need of the hour.

References

District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) Palakkad.

Odyssey Project Plan 1

Project Based Learning

1.Project Plan

(1.1)The Define Phase

(1.11)Introduction:

·   Write a statement describing the overall purpose of the project.

·   What is the key challenge or problem the project is aiming to address?

·   What are students intended to learn from the project?

The project is designed keeping in mind a topic relevant to the age group of class X. The following are the topics planned to be dealt with- 1.      The status of tourism in Kerala, with special reference to Palakkad. 2.      The contribution of the tourism sector to the economy. 3.      Changes that have to be brought about and the areas that have to be focused on to give a boost to the tourism industry. The work will be allotted to different teams and they will collect information in these curriculum areas. They will be given a chance to present their work before their peer group as well, thereby helping them develop self- confidence.

(1.12)Project Scope:

            Describe the scope of your project. This may include class and section, subjects it covers, self shills to be used etc. as well as other factors affecting scope.

v  Students of X form the project team. v  Subjects involved: History and Tourism, English, and Mathematics. Student research will be monitored and guided so that the work progresses in the right direction. v  Focus on development of 21rst century skills.

(1.13) Curriculum and Standards:

            List the curriculum and standards this project with cover.

§  Class X curriculum topics related to the topic ‘Travel and Tourism’ in the Main Course Book- §  The important tourist attractions in K Palakkad. §  Major stumbling blocks in the development of the tourist sector. §  The scope of tourism in the coming years.

Odyssey Project Plan 2

Project Based Learning

Lesson 2

2.1 Essential Question:

            Put in writing the question that will engage the students

Has the development in tourism sector in the district of Palakkad in Kerala reached the optimum level?

2.2 Grouping Strategy:

            Describe the criteria that will be used to form students’ team and how this maps to the goals of the project.

6 teams comprising of 7 students of mixed gender, ability and skill sets, as well as varied religious, social and economic backgrounds. The team members will get ample opportunity for interaction with peer group as also to develop their self-confidence and ability of public speaking by giving them a chance to present their project findings in front of their class. The collaborative work planned aims at developing 21rst century skills.

2.3 Learning Environment:

            Describe the learning environment for the project including any classroom adaptation that will be required.

Class X D will have a Project Based Learning corner where the findings and project output material can be displayed. They will have access to computer and internet in the lab for their online research. A display board and a small storage area too will be provided to the team. The research notes will be converted to documents that the team will maintain in the computer allotted to them in the computer room. Members also will collaborate via email as is required and will have class room discussions that will enable them to prepare and present the project output in the form of data analysis and surveys, albums, reports and power point presentations.

2.4Assessment Approach:

                Describe the approach for:

                2.41 Authentic Assessment:

Authentic do-able tasks that will be carried out by the team will include- 1.      Preparation of albums highlighting various aspects related to the tourism sector. 2.      Preparation of questionnaire for online survey on preferences of tourists. 3.       Preparation of questionnaire for an interview on the various aspects of tourism sector, the problems faced and the plans envisaged.

           

2.42 Formative Assessment:

           

Regular feedback and guidance as and when required will be provided to the students as they work with the various tools of the project –preparation of questionnaire for online survey and interview, research, surveys, data analysis, power point presentation, as also to help them prepare the materials for albums and questionnaire.

2.43 Summative Assessment:

Assessment will be conducted based on – Ø  Survey, data analysis and inference thereof. Ø  Report of the project work. Ø  Power point presentation

2.44 Rubrics:

Rubrics ( to assess the survey data and interpretation, Power point presentation) will include accuracy of interpretation of survey data, reports , and effectiveness of presentation

2.45 Gradings:

Project grades will include the grades of assessment conducted during the project and the final project report including the albums, online survey, questionnaires and power point presentation.

Odyssey Project Plan 3

Project Based Learning

Lesson 3

Plan Phase

3.1 Work Breakdown, Products and Milestones:

            List the project task and, if possible at this stage include the sub-tasks. For each task add the product that will be created and indicate it will be a milestone.

Classroom instruction: The students are divided into groups, essential question is explained and the related lesson in Main Course Book is done . Select student group. (Student group) Research: Online and from books. ( Research Report) Activity: Questionnaire for answering ONLINE- interaction with elders.( (survey report) Activity:. (albums) Activity: interview with the Secretary DTPC. (interview report) Class activity: preparation of bulletin board. ( Bulletin Board) Note: Products are shown in ( )’s. Milestones are in bold font

3.2 Role definition:

            List the roles team members will fulfill in the project.

Project leader: Teacher will fulfill this role Researcher : Different groups will research on different sub topics Survey writer (all students will contribute to this) Surveyor Presentation author Presenter (all students will take some part in the presentation)

3.3 Task schedule:

            Note start and end dates for the project.

                Include expected dates to start specific tasks

Project start date 4th November 2016 Project end date :30th November 2016 Research to be started- 8th November 2016 Questionnaire for survey of preference and interaction with elders  will be prepared by the team under the guidance of the teacher- to be started by 2nd week of November.  Discussion among group members- After the survey is completed. ( to help prepare the survey report )

3.4 Special Activities Plan:

                List any special activities (e.g. Field trips or guest speakers) including dates.

Interview with the Secretary DTPC

           

3.5 Resource Plan:

List resource that will be required during the project and any other date constraints associated with them.

Online research for material and the computer : 1 English period per week for the duration of the project. School library.

3.6 Direct Instruction:

List any planned direct instruction sessions and link them to specific tasks if appropriate.

Lesson : Unit:5 - Travel & Tourism in Main Course Book

3.7 Reviews and checkpoints:

                Describe how you will incorporate review meetings and checkpoints in the project

A 30 minute class meeting every week to discuss the progress of the tasks taken up and problems encountered by them during the same. A 5-minute meeting with each group separately twice a week

3.8 Assessment plan:

            Describe the balanced assessment plan for the project. List products that will be assessed during the project. List rubrics that need to be created before project launch.

Opportunities for authentic assessment will include: the surveys and results Formative assessment will primarily focus on the artifacts created by the students during the project. Special attention will be paid to survey prototypes, albums  power point presentation and bulletin board. Summative assessments will be performed on the survey results, presentation on the tourism sector. Rubrics prepared: Rubrics will be prepared to assess the questionnaire prepared, the survey questions, the results of the questionnaire and the survey conducted, content of the power point presentation.

Odyssey Project Plan 4

Work plan-Lesson 4

Sl. No	TASK	SUBTASK	ROLE	START DATE	END DATE	PRODUCT
01	Launch project			04.11.16	30.11.16	Project launched
02	Deliver classroom instruction	Areas to be covered. 1.Define the project 2.Culminating products	Teacher	04.11.16	04.11.16	Initial classroom instruction is completed
03	Group selection	Students’ list	Teacher	05.11.16	05.11.16	Group selection is completed
04	Programme sheet activity	Prepared based on curricular units and findings about the tourism sector of Palakkad	Student and teacher	05.11.16	07.11.16	Prepared
05	Conduct research	Collection of Content on 1.Tourist attractions in Palakkad 2. Preferences of tourists.	Students in teams	06.11.16	28.11.16	Albums
06	Preparation of questionnaire	Eliciting from peer group and analysing	Team for online survey	09.11.16	10.11.16	Prepared questions. Start of online survey
07	Perform survey	Create survey questions, conduct survey, prepare survey report	Students’ team	10.11.16.	28.11.16	Online survey and report
08	Advice meeting	Team prepare briefs	All team members	16.11.16	16.11.16	A meeting was held
09	Programme sheet presentation	Presentation	All team members	16.11.16	17.11.16	Presented
10	Bulletin board display	Preparation of articles on tourism courses and displaying before the class	Students’ team	18.11.16	19.11.16	Completed
11	Power point Presentation	Preparation of power point based on collected material	Student team	20.11.16	23.11.16	Completed
12	Visit to DTPC Palakkad	Preparation of questionnaire for collection of information	Student team	29.11.16	29.11.16	Completed
13	Project presentation	Posting in the computer/blog	All	28.11.16	03.12.16	Completed
14	Assessment and grading	Prepare rubrics and assessment	Teacher	29.11.16	29.11.16	Completed
15	Reflection and evaluation	Student reflection and evaluation, Teacher refection and evaluation	Students and teacher	03.12.16	03.12.16	Completed.
16	Project closed	Submitting to the Principal	Teacher	05.12.16		Closed