a Methods of Teaching [2 i FIELD TRIP o_o eee Definition of Field Trip A field trip is defined as any teaching and learning excursion ou Heidgerken has defined field trip as an educational procedure by which student studies first-hand objects and materials in their natural environment. of the classroom. Purposes of Field Trip * To make a connection between reality and theory -hands-on. * Can be used as an introduction to a unit or a culminating actively. + To provide an authentic learning experience. + Provide opportunity for students to get to meet and interact with others. + They can experience all five senses, see, touch, feel, smell, taste. Guidelines to Plan for a Field Trip + Itshould be planned and effectively organized: check for college/board/university policy in field trips; students to teacher ratios; transportation procedure and fund raising. + Ensure that the field trip fulfills the educational objectives. + Prepare a checklist to ensure that all tasks are completed (e.g. booking fac! and transportation, parental notifications, medical forms, supervision, safety precautions, emergency information) and have the administrator sign the checklist once completed. + Ensure students have necessary background knowledge prior to field trip, if introduction to field trip provide essential preparatory information in order to prepare students for the experience. + Plan on route activities to enrich their experience during the field trip. + Be sure to visit the site ahead of time, in order to plan for safety, resources and resource personnel, facility. * Plan post-trip activities that build on the knowledge gained in partaking in the field trip (example: reports, displays, photos, graphs). The following steps are suggested as a guide in organizing and conducting field tips by Heidgerken 1. Knowledge of resources: Make a survey of the immediate surroundings and of the community as a whole in order to determine those settings could offer potential education experiences for students. 2. Rapport: Establish and maintain cordial relations with those in charge of the situations to be visited. A friendly welcome by the visited authorities is conducive for learning. 3. Objectives: State objectives for the unit carefully and completely and then select the learning activities which will best contribute to the attainment of the objectives. 4. ‘Time and transportation: Make necessary arrangements for the time and place \d for the length of the visit, with the administrative personnel in the of meeting an , \ place to be visited. Planning of transportation may be done with students.288 § Nursing Communication and Educational Technology 5. Preparation of the students: All trips should be made in connection with some unit, material or project and therefore, should develop naturally out of the class setting. The trip assignment is one form of unit assignment and it must be based on good principles. 6. Supervision: The trip should be supervised carefully in order to protect both the student and institution, Safety and comfort should be considered. Safety measures are discussed below. Guidelines for Safety and Behavior: There are many potential liability situations that can occur on a field trip, it is teacher’s ultimate responsibility to ensure that the following safety guidelines are met concerning safety and behavior while outside the classroom: + Set behavioral expectations for the field trip and describe and discuss them wi the students prior to departure. + Have students create their own code of behavior with teacher involvement. + Describe the consequences for not behaving properly prior to embarking on the trip. + Provide parents with behavioral expectations and ask them to ensure that the children know and understand the code of conduct and the consequences. + Ensure that the student/supervision ratio meets board/university standards. + Eliminate all the safety concerns identified in the college/university policy. + Use state approved transportation, + Ensure that safety gear and first aid equipment are readily available and in plain view, Advantages of Field Trip * They furnish firsthand information to supplement and to enrich the classroom instruction. + They correlate and blend college life and outside world, providing opportunity to interact with the persons and with community situations. + They develop a better understanding of the etiologic factors of disease—housing, sanitation, economic conditions, and industry. + They create situations which help to develop observation and keenness. + It provides opportunity to apply that which has been taught, to verify which has been learned. + They provide actual source material for study. ‘They arouse interest and vitalize instruction, thereby providing motivation. + They serve as an effective means of correlating the subjects of the curriculum. * They provide opportunity to consider and to solve problems arising from individual and group participation in a natural social situation, * Students remember the field trips because they learn using different methodology. PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION/LEARNING Programmed instruction: An important innovation: Programmed instruction or Programmed learning is one of the important innovations in the teaching-learning Process. Programmed instruction is a carefully specified, systematically planned,