Development and Operational Test of the Free Semester Program Education in Arboreta and Botanical Gardens: Focusing on ‘Gardener for a Day’ Program in Korea National Arboretum

As part of the free semester program, the ‘Gardener for a day’ program in the Korea National Arboretum was newly developed in 2018. The program was developed as a free semester program reflecting the works of a ‘gardener’ who performs the planning, preparation, maintenance and management of exhibition gardens. This ‘Gardener for a day’ program was applied to a total of 106 middle school students in October 2018. Educational elements were extracted from Korea National Arboretum exhibition gardens and career exploration of gardeners. The program was designed to provide education on theory and practices, including watching the gardener video, visiting the gardener booth, meeting with actual gardeners at Korea National Arboretum, visiting two exhibition gardens, and participating in three types of practical training as a gardener. A survey about program satisfaction and education was conducted after the program to analyze the students’ satisfaction with the program (contents, management, instructor), free semester program (career planning, occupational attitude, independence), and education (awareness of forest biospecies, preservation will). The analysis showed that the following results: satisfaction with the program (score 4.0), free semester program (score 3.8), and education (score 4.0). Comparative analysis of the pretestposttest questionnaires showed that there were significant educational effects in career planning, occupational attitude, and awareness of forest biospecies.