Making the case for field trips: what research tells us and what site coordinators have to say

Education, Summer, 2009 by Martha L. Nabors, Linda Carol Edwards, R. Kent Murray

* Appropriate behavior was not established before students arrived at the site.

* Lack of student interest and/or understanding.

* Problems with health and safety issues.

Because field trip visits are intended as an instructional extension of the classroom, site coordinators were asked the next question, Question 5.

"What do you think students gain as a result of visiting your site?"

Responses to this question fell into both the cognitive and affective domains. Examples of knowledge acquisition in the cognitive domain included:

* Real experiences that might be a once in a life-time experience for some students.

* First-hand experiences with unfamiliar settings that provide a complete and accurate picture of the content.

* Hands-on, working knowledge of the site.

* Experiencing a new way of learning abstract information.

* Students being involved in conducting site-specific research. Examples of affective learning included:

* Building positive memories of the trip.

* Experiencing the construction of knowledge with excitement and personal satisfaction.

* Developing an appreciation for fieldtrip sites.

* Discovering that learning can be fun.

* Experiencing enthusiasm and a heightened awareness of the content related to the site.

Question 6 focused on the follow-up with site coordinators and students.

"What type of follow-up, if any, do you provide students after their initial visit?"

27 out of 38 site coordinators said teachers did not ask for any follow-up after their field trips. Site coordinators reported that they value follow-up correspondence by teachers. They also reported that teachers provided follow-up feedback only when solicited by the site coordinators.

When asked the ideal class/group size for field experiences, site coordinators indicated a group of 20 or less was ideal. The age groups preferred by the site coordinators were grades 1-6.

Conclusions

All of us can become field trip advocates who take children beyond the walls of the indoor classroom to the world of site-specific venues for learning. Teachers wanting to become more active in the learning and knowing experiences of their children will demand field experiences as a way for developing greater partnerships between teachers and field site coordinators. Field-trip destinations can enable students to inquire about varied content related information by observing, asking questions, and devising their own explanations for how and what they are learning. Students also make personal connections with their teachers, peers, and site coordinators, who can open new doors into the learning process. We can only guess the full extent of learning behaviors, both cognitive and affective, that students will exhibit as a result of engaging in discovery and personally meaningful field-trip environments.

We offer the following recommendations for improving your field trip experiences and those of the students in your classroom:

* Make the trip appropriate for the age and grade level and needs of the students.

* Connect the field trip to the current content, standards and units of study.