Problem Based Groundwater Investigations with Community Engagement for
Undergraduate Term Projects at PSU, Thailand
Abstract
In Southern Thailand, Prince of Songkla University is the leading public
university across five campuses, with Hat Yai being the main one.
Science education is strong with several undergraduate programs; among
them physics with geophysics electives where students can also do their
term project. Groundwater exploration is among the main objectives of
the Geophysics Research Center at PSU and undergraduate projects are
well integrated into them. During their classes and laboratories,
students learn the science behind groundwater and geophysical
technologies. This requires working in the field and thus carrying heavy
equipment. Female students, often the majority, have to do that in the
same way as male students and thus learning it by doing it as a team.
Teamwork is one of the essential social skills students learn.
Undergraduate term projects in geophysics are always chosen based on a
real problem, which is usually coming from outside the department and in
most cases from outside the university, with customers ranging from
local communities, over companies, to local government agencies. By
this, the students learn the importance of their work for other people,
thus giving them a motivation. Every project requires the students to
initially talk with the customers to identify the problem and explore
the area. They then have to decide on the geophysical survey plan with
support from their advisor. After finishing the data acquisition and
processing, the interpretation will be done in a team with a
presentation, usually at the university. After that, students give a
shorter presentation and report to the customers, explaining them in a
non-scientific language their interpretations and conclusion. They also
have to answer questions that came up. For doing this, in most cases the
team is going back into the field where the customers are. This overall
procedure with community engagement shows the student how important
groundwater is in many rural areas and how difficult it can be to find
groundwater, thus realizing them the importance of preserving it. If
circumstance allow, later field teams might visit earlier projects done
and learn about how the customers continued after the undergraduate
project was finished. Photo: Student team engaged with local community
leaders after a finished project, where a well was drilled.