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1181 | The power of fieldwork: enhancing student learning in the outdoors | Tim Favier (1); Dan Swanton (2); Veronique Schutjens (1)

Fieldwork is a core pedagogical practice in geographical curricula worldwide and the ultimate form of place-based education in higher education. With the interpretation of immersive experiences outdoors, theory can be put into practice – and the other way around, as practice marks stepping-stones towards understanding theoretical concepts. However, there seems to be untapped potential of fieldwork for student learning, in at least four ways. First, teachers send students outdoors, but often insufficient time is dedicated to allowing students to reflect deeply on interpreting and evaluating their experiences (Simm & Marvell 2015). Second, the learning potential of fieldwork is underused when it is not linked to earlier experiences of outdoor learning (ie using longer individual learning lines), or misses opportunities to value the interpretations and evaluations of other students through collective or peer learning (Golightly 2018). Third, there is a growing awareness of the importance of designing inclusive fieldwork opportunities in recognition that not all students have had equitable access to outdoor learning spaces and the learning opportunities they afford. And fourth, during the Covid-19 pandemic, many educators transformed traditional fieldwork into virtual fieldwork, or let students conduct self-directed excursions with smartphone apps. This increased our insight in the use of geospatial technologies in fieldwork activities and challenged established pedagogies of field teaching. Now is the time to take stock of approaches and experiences of richer fieldwork learning and ask how can we turn fieldwork experiences into deep learning for all students?

Tim Favier (1); Dan Swanton (2); Veronique Schutjens (1)
(1) Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, (2) School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

 
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