A Study on the Development and Application Paths of High School Geography Practice Halls under the “Three New” Context

This study investigates the development and application of high school Geography Practice Halls within China’s “Three New” educational reform context—comprising new curriculum standards, new textbooks grounded in core geographic competencies, and a restructured college entrance examination (Gaokao). Moving beyond conventional classroom instruction, Geography Practice Halls are conceptualized not as static physical spaces but as dynamic, experiential learning ecosystems that integrate simulation, artifact-based inquiry, digital mapping, collaborative project work, and locally grounded field investigation. Drawing on curriculum theory, spatial literacy research, and sociocultural perspectives on learning, the paper identifies three interlocking developmental pathways: curriculum anchoring to core competencies such as regional cognition and comprehensive thinking; textbook scaffolding through structured use of case studies and data sets from newly published materials; and explicit alignment with Gaokao assessment formats—including scenario-based analysis, multi-source data interpretation, and solution-oriented reasoning. Empirical insights are drawn from diverse school contexts, revealing how urban key schools leverage advanced technologies for data-intensive modeling, while rural regular schools achieve equivalent competency development through low-cost, place-responsive practices like seasonal environmental observation and community-integrated land-use mapping. The study further documents the evolving role of teachers—from facilitators of pre-designed activities toward co-designers of contextually relevant modules—and highlights institutional enablers such as leadership-driven time reallocation, cross-departmental integration, and policy recognition of practice-based assessment. Persistent challenges include structural inequities in resource access, tensions between standardization and localization, and misalignment between hall-based formative assessment and traditional summative evaluation. The paper concludes by proposing a sustainable, equity-oriented vision for Geography Practice Halls as nodes within a broader reform-aligned ecosystem—one that centers teacher agency, contextual responsiveness, and competency-centered documentation.