Cross-Boundary Peer Learning in the Mekong: A Case of Field-Based Education in Natural Resources Management

This article analyzes the process and output of a cross-boundary peer learning exercise about policy and implementation on natural resource management in the Mekong. The exercise involved university students and academics from Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Australia. The pedagogic approach taken was student-centred learning, whereby students learned with and from their fellow students, and about their peers’ perspectives in other Mekong countries on similar issues. The article consists of four parts. The first part introduces the exercise and discusses conceptual frameworks including cross-cultural learning, peer-based learning, and experiential learning. The second part describes the Mekong Learning Initiative research exchange program, explaining the process by which students from different countries and different learning cultures engage in peer-based learning. The third part uses students’ own reflections to show ways in which learning outcomes from the student research exchange differ from conventional learning activities. The discussion section draws on the successes and challenges of the exercise to explain how we as teachers engage with adaptive learning for both research and pedagogic purposes, to identify elements critical to enhancing experiential learning in the cross-boundary peer based learning situation.