The Learning Culture of a Mobility Program for Sustainability of Tasik Chini Biosphere reserve

Abstract

Recently, there is a growing body of research and practices in student mobility programs among higher learning institutions in developing countries. One of the student mobility programs offered to the global community is the UKM-Global Student Mobility Program. Through this program, students were not only exposed to the culture of the locals includes customs, social values and traditional heritage, but students will also be exposed to the culture of learning according to the native environment. Therefore, by utilizing the primary data collected during the Student Mobility Program in Tasik Chini Biosphere Reserve on the 10-12 July 2011, this paper attempts to define the learning culture in the mobility program. The findings showed that learning culture in the mobility program includes the culture of learning outdoor activities and scientific experience, the culture of living of the locals, the culture of interaction between students and host community and between students as well as and between students and elements of Biosphere Reserve found in Tasik Chini. Given an increasing popularity of knowledge-based learning and teaching in UNESCO Man and Biosphere Program, this paper stresses the importance of deep learning that elaborates the complexity of learning and teaching of the ecosystem as well as the sustainability of the knowledge it intends to nurture among the host-participants, especially the local and international students.