Curriculum Development for a Medicinal Plant Conservation Youth Camp Using People’s Participation Process in Ban Plumphatthana, Pa Kam District, Buriram Province

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to develop a medicinal plant conservation camp for youth in the community, using the knowledge of medicinal plants obtained from Ban Plumphatthana Community Forest. The steps in this study include (1) preparing for the development of a medicinal plant conversation camp: the group of local herbalists, members, and leaders of the community were interviewed so as to survey the need for organizing a camp; (2) developing a medicinal plant conservation camp: the objectives, contents, activities, as well as assessment and evaluation tools were set and constructed; and (3) implementing a two-day medicinal plant conservation camp with a sample of 50 children. Data were collected using the knowledge test and the attitude test. SPSS was used for data analysis. While the results of the knowledge test were analyzed using T-Test, the results of the attitude test were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Matched Pair Test. The results indicated that students who participated in this camp gained significantly more knowledge about medicinal plants at the 0.05 level. In addition, students also had more positive attitudes toward medicinal plants, which is significant at the 0.05 level. Finally, the students’ overall satisfaction toward participating in a camp was at a very high level.