As lecturers we are conscious that fieldwork is one of the most effective modes of experiential teaching and learning, but in comparison to say the lecture room, fieldwork can be expensive and resource intensive. We want to maximize students’ time in the field and ensure synergy between their experiences in other learning spaces. We believe that multi-directional learning in GEES subjects is enhanced when the students’ field and laboratory experiences are brought into the lecture theatre, and those in the lecture theatre and laboratory are taken into the field.
In ensuring this learning and synergy we involve the students in four activities:
- First, in advance of the field trip we provide them with theoretical settings and background field area information that will underpin fieldwork insights.
- Second, we encourage students to engage fully with their fieldwork by making it stimulating, challenging and rewarding for them. We clearly define the learning aims and objectives, promote careful time management and provide field guides and supplementary teaching in the field.
- Third, as follow-up, we expect students to reflect critically on their field experiences, to develop their understanding of what they observed. For example, they explore, through laboratory and computational analysis, the data they gathered in the field and they relate their findings to the theoretical and/or geographical context.
- Finally, we assess students’ fieldwork formally and summatively, both in the field and on return to the campus, and we give them feedback to encourage self-reflection.
We see podcasting as enhancing, not replacing, traditional fieldwork teaching methods. Podcasting can aid each of the four activities. It can also build bridges between learning spaces because it provides a richer and more immediate method of integrating and accessing information across learning spaces in ways that contrast and compliment traditional methods. |
