Lesson 17

Field Studies

Objectives

 Know the nature and purpose of field studies

 Identify the advantages and challenges of field studies
 Design a lesson plan using field studies

Introduction

Teacher Cora was thinking of a suitable teaching strategy for her discussion on
inflation. She thought that this topic should be discussed in an authentic way because
this is a very useful concept that her pupils might use all throughout their lives.
Moreover, she also thought that when pupils are involved in any classroom
experience, it encourages lifelong learning. After a long self-deliberation, she finally
decided to employ a field study.

In her class, she asked her pupils to interview the canteen managers in their
school about the movement of the prices. They also listed down all the most in
demand snacks. Upon gathering the needed data, they went back in the classroom
and, as it usually goes, the pupils with the facilitation of teacher Cora-generated
implications and conclusions. In the end, the pupils were able to see the relevance of
the activity outside the classroom. Teacher Cora has also seen the great level of
participation that her learners exemplified.

You may have experienced the same classroom activities in the past but not too
frequent. Going outside the classroom is an avenue for learners to see the reality. This
is much needed in a social studies classroom for we say that our laboratory is the
entire community itself. Hence, if teachers want to ensure that their learners strongly
comprehend a societal lesson, they must send their leaners to reality.

Think

Field studies are learning experiences outside the four corners of the
classroom. Field studies enable the learners to personally gather and analyze data in
their own context. In a nutshell, field studies provide learning experiences that
transcend a regular classroom through direct experiences and observations. Field trips
can be done within the school campus, the school vicinity, in a local museum, and
many other places which last for several hours.
 During field studies, learning takes place in a reality-based context rather than
mediated by videos or books. It gives the learners a taste of the outside world which
allows them to clearly see what happens in their community. The optimum benefit of
field studies for teachers is that it allows the learners to target a wide range of
learning competencies. It also allows teachers to employ authentic tasks that are
reflective of the curriculum.

Compared to field trips, field studies highlight more student involvement

because the learners are directly involved in the planning, implementation, and
assessment of the activity. Field trips usually happen in a long-distance trip such as
going to national museums or any other related places. What is good about field
studies is that it could take place in nearby areas such as rivers, government offices,
supermarkets, and even inside the school campus.

Field studies are beneficial to both teachers and students. For students, it creates
learning opportunities that promote critical thinking, long-term retention, positive
attitudes toward subjects, appreciation, and increased curiosity. Moreover, cognitive
development and student motivation are also enhanced because they become active
participants in planning up to the activity itself. All these are applicable to both
elementary and secondary learners. Teachers also benefit from field studies. The
series of excursions add new educational perspectives through "teachable moments"
that rarely happen in the classroom (Manner, 2018).

Why use field studies?

 It provides experiential learning. Field studies offer an opportunity to witness

objects and events not accessible at school. Direct contact and observation
encourage more concrete learning experience than merely showing videos or
images.
 It targets specific skills and knowledge. Being able to experience things
provides learners an opportunity to practice skills and appreciate values that
cannot surface elsewhere.
 It strengthens schema. The experiences in the field stimulate higher
understanding and appreciation of previously learned concepts by means of
validation.
 It motivates values development. Exposure to a phenomenon stimulates
appreciation and concern for the visited event or place.

Challenges in field studies

 Curriculum alignment. One of the most defeated purposes of field trips is its
curricular relevance. Sometimes, if not most of the time, the curriculum aspect
is replaced by leisure engagement. To ensure curriculum alignment, teachers
must thoroughly plan and execute the desired learning outcomes before any
other purpose.
  Lack of understanding of field studies. Before conducting the activity,
teachers must ensure that their learners have fully understood the nature and
purpose of the field study. Failure to do so can contribute to the downfall of the
activity. Hence, as part of the preparation, teachers should teach the essential
kick- start concept to the learners.
 Costly. Financial requisite is the biggest problem in this teaching strategy. This
is also the reason why teachers tend to engage in virtual field trips rather than
actual site visits.
 Preparation Time. Field studies require much time, from preparation up to
classroom discussion and assessment. While it is very important, it is also a fact
that it could interrupt other teaching schedules. This now anticipates for
necessary adjustments in teaching hours and topics.
 Safety. This is the most debated issue, among others. In recent years, we had
witnessed various events where student safety became the talk of the town. This
resulted in the passing of government and institutional policies. Recently, the
Department of Education lifted the moratorium on off-campus activities and
implemented new guidelines that adhere to K-12 demands. To ensure safety, all
schools must abide by its provisions.

What to Keep in Mind When Planning and Doing Field Studies?

For a smooth and successful field study, the Centre for Teaching and Learning
(2019) enumerated things that teachers need to keep in mind in planning and
conducting the said activity.

 Awareness. In a starter kit, teachers basically have to condition the learners

before the actual visit. Teachers need to point out the purpose, the dos and
don'ts during the visit, and, most importantly, the assessment part. Having a
prepared mind comes the responsibility and accountability. The learners will be
able to learn about their freedom as well as their limitations while enjoying data
gathering.
 Engage. The most significant factor that teachers need to highlight is student
involvement. They have to plan out every detail and experience that the learners
need to undergo through. Keep in mind that all the learners must be exposed to
the same degree of engagement to ensure that all of them are learning.
 Metacognitive Learning. The excitement should not stop on the site visit itself.
The most important part still is the deepening and valuing of knowledge and
skills learned from experiences. Never let a good learning opportunity pass
away without ensuring learning.
 Build Upon. Curiosity signals effective and motivational learning. To start up
the curiosity among the learners, teachers must conduct prior research on the
environment or event that they have to visit. Imposing trivial questions and
supplementing information during the conduct of study augments interests and
encourages deeper learning among the learners.
  Illustrate. Never fail to integrate ideas in real life. The integration could happen
during the on site visit or inside the classroom. Experiential learning becomes
more effective when it is placed on the reality context. Learners should be able
to see the applicability of learned knowledge so that they can successfully live
what they have learned.
 Assess. As part of the educative process, it is relevant to ensure that the learners
have gained the desired competencies and knowledge. This could be done
through effective, meaningful, and aligned assessment activities.

Field Study Tool Kit

The success of any activity greatly depends on the extent of the teachers'
preparation. As earlier mentioned, field studies allow the learners to gather
information for classroom activities or discussion. Hence, teachers must know how to
create their own data-gathering tools to be used by their learners. Here are some
examples of data-gathering tools and data interpretation tools.