Field-Based Learning

What is Field-Based Learning?

In field-based learning, teaching is extended to a site outside of the classroom or laboratory,
exposing students to a real-world setting. Students learn though direct interaction with an
environment that reflects taught concepts rather than learning through indirect presentations of
the setting such as textbooks or lectures.
hy use Field-Based Learning?
Field-based learning may serve a diverse range of teaching aims and goals as students are
provided with a perspective of materials, objects or phenomena that are not accessible in, or fully
appreciated through, other settings.
Field-based learning is generally chosen because the experience:
provides an opportunity to present materials, objects or phenomena that are not accessible
otherwise to students in a way that enables direct contact and interaction
provides students with an opportunity to practice skills or techniques that cannot be
carried out elsewhere
stimulates higher understanding and reinforcement of previously learned classroom
material
stimulates an appreciation for, concern or valuing of the visited environment
(Lonergan, N. & Andresen, L.W (1988) field-based education: some theoretical considerations.
Higher Education Research & Development, 7 (1) 63-77.)
Field-Based Learning Teaching Strategies
When teaching one-day field studies:
Prepare: Establish the basic narrative/descriptive elements of the material to be studied on the
field study before the trip takes place. This might be accomplished in the form of a lecture in
class, or via a handout distributed beforehand. In addition, point the students towards any useful
websites. This strategy gives you the advantage of working in an analytical mode while you are
on the field study site, rather than being limited to describing to the students what they are
seeing.
Awareness: Teach and foster a self-conscious awareness of the site. Many students may be
unaware of the history, significance or background of a site that is necessary for critical
consideration of the environment.

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Engage: Encourage students to ask questions of guides, to interact with the site and its
environment, or chat with other visitors. What, for instance, do local visitors say about the site:
do they react notably differently to our group? Why?
Meta-Learning: Have students think about how what they experience at the site complicates or
contradicts what they have read or discussed in class. How might they account for any such
differences? How does the medium of learning affect their conclusions?
Build Upon: Leave time for discussion on site while the issues are fresh; always follow up field
studies with a discussion in class once students have had time to meditate on their experiences
Illustrate: Try, where it is useful, to find new or slightly oblique ways to teach concepts. For
example, a Literature and Philosophy class on theorisations of subjectivity visits a gallery
specialising in contemporary British conceptual art to address the core issues of the course
visually rather than textually.
Assess: Set assignments on what students learn on field studies: this will ensure students pay
careful attention to what they experience

Field-based Learning
Most research on school-based learning has focused on learning that occurs in a classroom,
laboratory, library or computer room. But in earth science, ecology, and environmental science, a
different venue is important: field-based learning. In these disciplines, working "in the field"
means going outside and making observations and taking samples of objects, structures,
processes and phenomena, using the human senses and instrumental sensors. The features of
interest include rock formations, soil, weather, plants, animals, landforms, bodies of water, the
interrelations among these, and the processes by which they change through time or vary across
space, either naturally or due to anthropogenic influences.
Since at least 1911 (Anonymous, 1985), field courses, field camps, field trips, field labs and field
investigations have been part of the foundation for careers in geology, ecology, environmental
sciences, and archeology (Kirchner, 1997; Manduca & Carpenter, 2006). Scientists in these
disciplines claim that field experiences help students develop a feel for Earth processes, a sense
of scale, an eye for significant features, an ability to integrate fragmentary information of
different types from different localities (Turner, 2000), to reason spatially (Orion, Ben-Chaim &
Kali, 1997), to visualize changes through time in geological structures (Dodick & Orion, 2003),
and to analyze the quality and certainty of observational data supporting geoscience theories
(Manduca, Mogk & Stillings, 2004).

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Learning in the field differs along multiple dimensions from learning inside a school building
(Kastens & Liben, in prep.). The scale of the study is typically large relative to the student, on
the scale of meters to kilometers, as contrasted with the micron- to meter-scale objects studied in
the laboratory.. Field-based inquiry brings students into direct experiential contact with the raw
materials of Nature. In contrast, most school-based learning begins with more distilled products,
such as words, maps, diagrams, graphs, or equations, and thus the student does not experience
the full cascade of inscriptions (Roth, 1996; LaTour, 1986) from the most local, concrete and
material to the more abstract and mathematicized.
On the topic of learning in the field, we wish to know:

What cognitive strategies are used in the field by master geoscientists to inform their
decision-making, for example, what traverse to follow, what samples to collect, where to
draw the border between map units (Broderic et al., 2004)? Amid the visual complexity of
nature, how do they pick out the signs, patterns, contrasts, and aberrancies that have
causal significance (Frodeman, 1996)? By what processes of observation, integration, and
interpretation is new knowledge constructed in field science (e.g. Ernst, 2006)?

How do students develop these skills? How does immersion in a field setting and the
kinesthetic experience of field work affect student learning? How can geoscientists'
cognitive strategies be translated into effective instructional practices, such that students
can learn science by doing science in the field?

How do students' prior life experiences influence field-based learning? What kinds of
field-based learning are most effective for urban students with limited experience in
Nature? Can essential aspects of field-based learning be made accessible to students with
limited mobility?

How can we assess the impacts of field experiences on student learning (e.g.
concepts, content, skills), and attitudes about science?
Much of the research to date on field-based learning has been in the form of educational
evaluation of specific field programs in earth, ecological and environmental sciences. For
example, Hemler and Repine (2006) used pre/post instruments, group interviews, journals,
artifacts, performance assessments, and constructed response items to investigate the
development of skills, understandings, and attitudes across a three-week field geology course for
in-service teachers.

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Field Based Learning

Simply put, field-based learning extends the walls of the classroom. Students learn from direct
experience (such as internships, service learning, practicum, and experiential learning) in their
major field of study.

What does that mean?

Internships are periods of structured work placements for trainee professionals. "They engage
students in a process of active learning that links work experience with opportunities for critical
analysis and reflection." Academic internships are a three-way partnership between institutions
of higher education, intern site (or community), and the student. They provide hands-on learning
opportunities and allow students to collaborate with faculty and community.

Service learning is a strategy that incorporates meaningful community service with instruction
and reflection to enrich the learning experience and strengthen community ties. Through service
learning, students use what they have learned in the classroom and apply it to real-life problem
solving.

Practicum is a course that is designed to give students a practical application of studied theory.
They provide real-world experience, are useful in evaluating ability, support socialization within
the profession, stimulate the development of skills, provide a protected environment for
experimentation, and allow new thoughts and perspectives as well as increase motivation for
continuing education.
Experiential Learning is defined in two ways. One way describes the sort of learning that is
undertaken by students. In this way, experiential learning involves a direct encounter with what
is being studied, instead of merely thinking about it. The other way defines experiential learning
as education that occurs as a direct participation in the events of life.
(http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm)

Abstract

In 2009, Geography at National University of Ireland, Galway, launched a new taught master's
programme, the MA in Environment, Society and Development. The vision for the programme
was to engage students in the analysis and critique of the array of interventionary practices of
development and securitization in our contemporary world. A range of modules were set up
focusing on a number of interrelated concerns, including geopolitics and security,

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environment and risk and managing development. These core themes are approached from a
number of critical perspectives, including political ecology, critical geopolitics and political
economy. A key additional aim from the outset was to go beyond solely academic critique to
consider participatory forms of development knowledge and practice that can emerge from
field-based learning. To this end, a module entitled field-based learning was initiated,
involving a 12-week seminar course in Galway, followed by a week-long fieldwork programme
in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where each year approximately 15 students intersect with
the development work of local community leaders, the UN, EU and a variety of NGOs, civil
society organizations and public advocacy groups. In this paper, we outline some of the key
challenges of initiating and practising such a grounded and often unsystematic approach to
learning in the field. We reflect, in particular, on the complexities involved in seeking to facilitate
and practise critical participatory knowledges that comprise both academic and civic engagement
values.
Keywords:: field-based learning, geography taught master's programme, participatory
knowledges, civic engagement
Introduction

Developing meaningful forms of academic field-based learning (FBL), educational civic

engagement or active civic critique is neither straightforward nor without challenges. And there
is, of course, an enduring role in the academy for insisting upon the need for critical thinking that
is independent from strategies and practices of policy and governmentality.

For California State Business School at Monterey Bay, for instance, it is a concept that
combines hands-on course learning with interactive out-of-class experiences, where students
apply knowledge gained in the classroom and put it to use in the community through a variety
of ways, including real world course projects, service learning, internships and mentored work
experiences (CSUMB Business School, 2010CSUMB Business School. (2010).
GWENNA MOSS CENTRE FOR TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS
What is it?
Why would I use it?
Field-based learning in the Edwards School of Business
The goal of field-based learning is for students to apply practical, research, or workplace skills.
For example, in the natural sciences, students collect soil samples, while in the social sciences
students conduct interviews.

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Studies have shown that real-world experiences

Enhance students motivation (Curtis, 2001).

Improve the ability to retain targeted core concepts (Lisowski & Disinger, 1991).

Broaden students learning experiences and knowledge base (Kozar & Marcketti, 2008).

Learning in the field may focus on skills and/or multiple intelligences that are
underrepresented in the classroom (e.g. kinesthetic, visual-spatial, holistic, or naturalistic
from http://serc.carleton.edu/research_on_learning/synthesis/field.html).

How do I apply it in my teaching?

Field Based Learning in the School of Physical Therapy
Field-based learning differs from instruction that simply occurs in the field in two distinctive
ways

First, field-based learning is learner-centred, where students make discoveries by

engaging in a learning experience.
Second, it is inductive, where students employ the logic and reasoning of their discipline.

Depending on learning outcomes, a field-based experience could also be inquiry or project-

based.
At its core, field-based learning is essentially learning by doing. Along with engaging in
experiences first-hand, field-based learning should also involve personal reflection. Gross Davis
(1993) cites the work of John Dewey, when she points out that experience itself is not enough:
Field experiences are most likely to be academically and intellectually valid if they are carefully
planned and monitored, structured to serve specific learning goals, and preceded by orientation
and preparation. Students also need ongoing opportunities to reflect actively and critically on
what they are learning from the field experience and to assess the results (p.167).
Example learning activities could include:

Logs or journals
Critical analysis of field experiences

Term papers synthesizing scholarly literature and the field experience

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 Pre and post assessments

Group interviews

Artifacts

Performance assessments (Gross Davis, 1993;