The Benefits of a Well-Planned Field Trip
Despite the notable changes in today’s schools with an emphasis on technology, media, and information everywhere, field trips are necessary additions to classroom learning. They can offer students exceptional educational experiences. How so?
§ Give students an opportunity to learn by doing – Instead of passively listening in class to a teacher presenting information, completing paper and pencil tasks, and/or routinely sitting in a confined space, students learn by immersing themselves into sensory activities (feeling, seeing, touching, tasting) a part of the world around them.
§ Provide new experiences – Many students, especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, may not have the opportunity to explore resources in their community and the neighboring areas. There are countless places to visit, see, and do and certainly something unique for all of your students to heighten their learning.
§ Reinforce concepts taught – Sure, students can learn by listening and reading, but retention and understanding increase when they learn by doing. Sometimes to fully understand something, it is helpful to experience it first-hand. For example, you can read about Native Americans but if you see a reenactment of a Native American village at a museum and spend some time in a longhouse making corn porridge or a beaded, feathered pendant, then learning comes alive! Likewise, you can memorize the various dinosaurs but seeing them built to scale at a science exhibit makes a h-u-g-e difference.
§ Establish a shared reference point – No matter the excursion, teachers can use this experience and what was learned from it throughout the year. They can refer to what the students learned or link new knowledge or related knowledge to the field trip.
§ Increase communication of all participants – We know that everyone learns in different ways. The field trip just might be an avenue for some of your students who don’t necessarily shine in the classroom, to excel. Or there might be some students who don’t really like school, but the field trip is the hook they need to get excited about learning. Time spent away from the classroom is also beneficial for teachers to get to know the students on a different level and vice versa.
§ Foster connection of parent chaperones to the teacher/instruction – If parents chaperone, they can more readily see what is involved with the nuts and bolts of teaching. They are made more aware of the content, student learning, and behavior needs, etc.
§ Help meet objectives in core curricular areas – Many curriculum objectives are met through field trips in learning by doing and/or being exposed to various things that you can’t duplicate in a classroom setting. Thus, field trips help with meeting objectives to boost student learning and academic performance.
TravL mobile app is the best digital tool to use to organize and manage the field trip or any type of group trip while on-the-go. TravL features the trip schedule, roster, messaging, and a photo gallery.