Creating Field Trip-Based Learning Communities

Abstract

In this article, I propose using the “field trip-based learning community” as a way to foster informal interaction among students and faculty. By incorporating students into the design and implementation of a field trip, faculty can engineer an environment where student and teacher encourage and learn from one another in an environment not tied to any particular class or for any course credit. The strategy operates on the premise that frequent and regular contact of faculty with students outside the classroom environment results in opportunities for both groups to not only become actively involved in learning but also to see themselves as resources for each other's personal and educational growth and development. Maximizing the out-of-class academic experience is paramount.

Key Words:

• learning communities
• field trips
• field-based learning
• ethnic geography

Acknowledgments

The author is indebted to the other members of the field trip-based learning community created at the University of Texas at Austin during the 2005–2006 school year. Through the deep commitment and incredible work of Tara Buentello, Michael Davis, Alisha Cloud, and Naya Jones, this project was highly successful.

Notes

1. The producer did fulfill his promise about a month later, and, early the next year, an “Austin Now” documentary on the local PBS station briefly featured our field trip. Available from http://www.klru.org/austinnow/archives/gentrification/index.php (accessed August 31, 2007).