Excursion

You can use a field trip to test students’ acquired knowledge in practice through a visit to a place or organisation. During or after the visit, you let students do assignments that are relevant to what they have learned. You can evaluate the assignments and include them in the final assessment of the course. Some examples:

• A historical excursion where students visit monuments or museums.
• A nature excursion where students visit natural areas to apply their knowledge about ecology or climate.
• A technical excursion where students visit a company or organisation, such as a factory, engineering firm or laboratory. 
• A cultural excursion where students visit a city or country to learn more about its culture, history, art, architecture, music or literature.
• A business field trip where students visit an organisation or company to learn more about real-life practices.

On a field trip, you can use different types of assignments to test students’ knowledge, such as:

• Observation assignments where you have the students observe specific aspects of the destination such as architecture, landscape, ecology or technology. if necessary, have them describe, photograph or draw the observation. 
• Research assignments in which you have students collect specific data about the destination, for example about its history, culture or ecology. Possibly have them conduct interviews or read documents. 
• Analysis assignments where students analyse and interpret collected information based on what they have learned, such as making a SWOT analysis or identifying trends. 
• Reflection assignments in which the students themselves seek the connection between the field trip and the material learned, and incorporate this into a report or presentation, for example. 
• Problem-solving assignments in which the students try to solve an existing problem arising from the excursion based on their learned material.
• Field trip-based presentation assignments where students present their analysis, solution or idea to a panel of teachers or industry experts. 
• Group work, where field trips are a part of it, where students work together in groups to complete one of the above assignments.

Want to know more?

• Community Service Learning – Vrije Universiteit
• Teaching outside the classroom – Vanderbilt University
• Exploring the Educational Impact of Academic Field Trips Over Time (pdf) – Nova Southeastern University
• Field trip – KU Leuven
• Students have a taste of consultancy during company visit – Universiteit Leiden
• Reasons why industrial visits are key to student development – Sharda University

Zie ook: Onderzoek, Projecten en Producten, Productontwerp, Casusopdracht, Bedrijfsbezoek.

VU Taxonomy?

Interpersonal skills
Oral communication
Written communication

What total group size?

More than three hundred
More than one hundred
Between fifty and one hundred
Up to fifty
Up to twenty five

What activity group size?

Individual
Small group (2-4 pers)