Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Using field trips in project-based learning - Suggestions for EFL high school teachers and students - Tieng Anh 10 Global Success

 NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
 HA HUY TAP HIGH SCHOOL 
 ---------- 
 TEACHING INNOVATION 
 USING FIELD TRIPS IN PROJECT-BASED 
LEARNING: SUGGESTIONS FOR EFL HIGH 
 SCHOOL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 
 Subject: English 
 Author: NGUYỄN THANH TRÀ 
 School: Hà Huy Tập High School 
 Cell phone: 0916070905 
 Email: [email protected] 
 School year: 2022-2023 
 PART 1: INTRODUCTION 
1.1. Rationale 
A classroom without walls is entirely possible, and from what we know, it is 
engaging students all the time, all across the country, in schools that use place-
based learning. It can start as a simple field trip with an idea to go out into the 
world and experience something beyond the limitations of the classroom. Field trip 
can be defined as a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal 
environment. When done for students, as it happens in several school systems, it is 
known as school trip or school tour. According to DeWitt & Storksdieck (2008), 
field trips provide opportunities for more affective learning including feelings and 
attitudes. They also foster thinking skills, and they set up a substructure for future 
learning by raising awareness. In addition, field trips, which aim to meet children’s 
needs for direct and meaningful learning through research, problem-solving and 
on-the-spot observation, have been found to support permanent, positive changes 
in their knowledge, skills and attitudes. Such trips are among the most effective 
means of providing children with opportunities to learn experientially about natural 
environment and of magnifying the benefits of classroom education. At the same 
time, this experience makes positive contributions to teachers regarding planning a 
trip, coordination of students, time management, and collaboration with other 
teachers. It is true that field trips are important for all development domains, 
including social-emotional development, and if carefully prepared, can provide 
rich experiences for students. For instance, whether students are visiting a local 
library to learn more about their community’s history or visiting a museum to then 
build their own micro-museum exhibits, project-based learning offers both teachers 
and students a pathway for thinking outside the walls. By planning instruction in 
correlation with experience, teachers can add authenticity and deeper layers of 
meaning and engagement for students. Last but not least, with a trip that further 
supports the community, the relationship between its residents and the schools 
comes full circle. The matter of fact I mentioned above inspired me to choose the 
topic “Using Field Trips in Project-based Learning: Suggestions for EFL High 
School Teachers and Students”. Hopefully with this study, teachers can use it as 
a source of reference in their teaching process. 
1.2. Aims of the study 
The aims of the study are as follows: 
- To provide a brief review of field trip and project-based learning. 
- To observe the subject in its natural state and possibly collect samples 
- To suggest stages of field trips used in lessons to enhance EFL learners in 
conducting projects 
- To explore the perception of teachers and learners to this approach in practice 
 1 PART 2: CONTENT 
2.1. Theoretical Background 
2.1.1. Overview of Field Trip 
2.1.1.1. Definitions of Field Trip 
A field trip is considered as a didactical and pedagogical tool that in, a broad sense, 
motivates the students, stimulates the interest in discovering something more about 
a particular subject. It also enhances the strengthening of competences related to 
themes already studied in classroom context. As a result, in the specific case of 
second language learning (SLL), the field trip assumes a greater role in the way the 
learning and teaching process is understood, especially when promoting the 
correlation between the theory and the practice of a language learning, between the 
school context and the real context. A single field trip can embrace and contain 
several themes and, subsequently, several different curricular units, as it fuels the 
discovery and the comprehension of the whole view of the reality (Monteiro, 2002) 
[1]. Actually, the number of goals of a field trip are greater than the ones that can 
be reached in classroom contexts considering similar periods of time. The teaching 
inside the classroom in association with the field trips enables "learning to know, 
combining general broad culture with the possibility of studying in depth a reduced 
number of matters: learn to learn, to benefit from opportunities offered by lifelong 
learning." (UNESCO, 2010, p.31) [2]. 
It is believed that the field trip is a resource with a never-ending set of educational 
potentials, as it can happen in different places, such as museums, historical sites, 
exhibitions, companies, zoos, hospitals, government agencies, amusement parks, 
fire stations, outdoor activities, among many others. 
In any of the cases mentioned, the first objective is always to discover 
something, to add more knowledge. This acquisition is then completed in a fun 
ludic way. Furthermore, this type of activities not only strengthens interpersonal 
relationships among the members of the participating group, but it also facilitates 
the relations with the people of the place we are visiting. According to Montero, 
2002 at a certain point in the teaching – learning process, a field trip provides 
students with experience and knowledge that can enhance their academic 
performance. This type of field trip is seen as a source of enrichment as it provides 
students with real experiences in the way of doing and acting. In other words, it 
favors discovery and the broad comprehension of reality. There is no doubt that 
this field trip offers a learning opportunity that enables the development of 
different work techniques as well as socialization among learners. It is considered 
as an active learning process as it allows the brain to learn better when students 
build their own knowledge in direct interaction with the environment and cultural 
of the local by consolidating the contents taught in the classroom. Field trips also 
arouse curiosity in students and desire to expand cultural knowledge. 
 3 Preparation of an Instructional Document 
This step reveals the objectives and learning outcomes of the trip. This phase of 
any field trip is considered the most demanding and time consuming. However, it 
is significant to the success of the experience for learners. It is true that the 
participants given pre-trip instruction can learn and retain more from a field trip 
than those who receive no preparation. In the field visit instruction document the 
following information should be included: 
- General information: obtain a rough map for reference 
- Schedule and timeline: including exact hours for meeting points, and contact 
numbers 
- Specific information: Review of existing information on the project site, 
experiences, and potentially some important documents on the subject 
- Questions: Identify and prioritize a list of key questions and potential sources for 
the answer such as key informants, sites to visit, things to observe. Clearly identify 
sensitive issues. These will be based on the purpose of the visit (to size up a 
reported problem or to check program implementation), as well as the review of 
background information. 
• During the field trip stage (activities) 
It is necessary to have a field coordinator for the field visit. Activities that happen 
on the field trip often include lectures, tours, worksheets, videos and 
demonstrations. Therefore, it is important to have a designated person who can 
facilitate the whole visit and take the responsibility for the whole planning of the 
program. This person should be an expert on the subject, so he/she can really 
provide participants with additional information and can answer upcoming 
questions. At the same time, participants have to be asked to collect all the 
information they read, hear, observe, see and feel. Teachers can provide specific 
questions in the overview document. Encourage the participants to be open-mined 
and flexible. They may have to adjust their expectations and plans on arrival. 
Teacher should also encourage students to build relationships with the group 
members and to respond to their needs and interests as much as possible. 
• After the field trip stage (follow-up activities) 
In this stage, teachers should allow time for students to relax especially when your 
field visit has been to a site that is emotionally challenging, provide enough time 
for participants to exchange experiences and to answer questions. Occasionally, 
teachers may provide time after the visit so that students can prepare their 
presentation or feedback on what they learned through the visits. The nest day, or 
any time after the visits, students could reflect on the learning. Students should be 
encouraged to exchange these experiences and ask questions so that everyone can 
learn from the experience. They key to enhancing any trip for a student is the value 
 5 - Encourage students to look nearby for the kinds of animals, plants, rocks, etc., 
they saw during the trip. 
In short, follow-up activities are the collection of discussions or reports or the 
presentation of products that occur in the classroom once the field trip is 
completed. 
2.1.1.3. The Role of Teacher and Learners in the Field Trip 
Field Trip Safety Tips for Teachers 
The active teacher was knowledgeable in the subject matter, related activities to 
prior learning, participated in active questioning, and promoted critical thinking 
skills. While taking children on a field trip, teachers have a huge responsibility of 
their safety. And as student are usually not so responsible and old enough to be at 
their best behaviors, teachers must keep a tab of the below tips as they are helpful 
in ensuring student safety: 
- Make students get their parents’ signature on a no-objection form which gives the 
school permission to take children on a field trip 
- Divide students into groups and assign a monitor to be able to give equal 
attention to all students and avoid mishaps. 
- Inform students about the place they are going to visit and prepare them about 
what they are going to be doing there. 
- Educate students about the safety tips for the trip and let them know who they are 
supposed to reach out to when they need any help. 
- Let the students know they are going to be divided into groups and also let them 
know who they are going to be with so that they can be comfortable around the 
people. 
- Choose a safe transport. Instead of hiring private vehicles, school buses that 
students travel are safer and more preferred during field trips. 
- Carry a first aid kit and also water and juices in case to avoid students from 
feeling dehydrated and low on energy 
Myers and Jones (2003) emphasized the role of teachers in monitoring and 
management as important, but stressed the teachers should also monitor learning 
through active engagement. 
Nabors, Edwards, and Murray (2009) compiled a survey of 60 site-educators from 
a variety of nationally recognized field experience sites. The site-educators 
responded to the following questions with comments and recommendations for the 
well-planned field-trip. 
• How should teachers prepare students for a visit? 
• What are the advantages to your organization when students come prepared? 
 7 and carefully designed products and tasks. It is also defined by ACTFL (2002) as 
an effective model for creating curriculum units and authentic assessments that 
engage students while supporting development of language/culture proficiency, 
global competency and 21st century skills. Through participation in project-based 
learning, the value of language learning in an interconnected world becomes 
immediately apparent to students of all ages. 
These definitions suggest that PBL is an instructional strategy whereby students 
work cooperatively over a period of time to create a product, a presentation, or a 
performance. It stresses the necessity of students learning by investigating a 
complex question, problem or challenge while promoting active learning, engaging 
students, and allowing for higher order thinking (Savery, 2006). Besides the need 
for inquiry into new knowledge, life-enhancing or success skills are also the key 
gains expected out of students once they are engaged in PBL. 
2.1.2.2. Characteristics of Project-based Learning 
The past decades have seen a growth in the use of project-based learning (or PBL) 
in many educational settings. While attempts have been made towards assimilating 
the natural learning environment of a child into the language classroom, making 
language learning occurs naturally in the way rich experiences could be gained for 
learners of varying levels of language proficiency is no easy tasks. For students 
majoring in English, what is expected through years at college is more than a 
mastery of language competence. With increasing demands for preparing students 
to be competent users of English in a professional work setting, the ability 
to work in a team together with critical and creative thinking is deemed as 
important as these are considered essential 21st century skills for future 
professionals. 
With this enhanced reconceptualization of teaching for better learning experience, 
it is important that learning should go beyond the conventional practice of the 
chalk and board with the teacher being the sole transmitter of knowledge and 
students being passive recipients. In fact, in a traditional classroom, the time 
allocated for the development of the natural curiosity of the learner can be limited, 
especially when the focus remains on the subject being taught rather than on how 
students learn. Such a teacher-based approach tends to embrace a more structured 
form of learning, delivering content rather than new learning. A more learner 
centered and holistic approach to learning is thus needed because it favors efforts 
that arouse the students’ interest, that ignite their eagerness to learn, that engage 
them in meaningful learning environment, and that give them a sense of societal 
miniatures where they can function with real objects and real people where 
learning is shaped by direct contact with, or direct exposure to, more real-life 
situations. 
To meet these requirements, problem-based learning was introduced. Under this 
approach, the teachers are expected to present course material in a way that their 
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