Best Practices in Environmental Education Fields Trips: The Importance of Curricular Integration, Preparation, and Follow-up

Abstract

There is a large body of research extending across multiple disciplines that indicate how to implement a field trip so it reaches optimal educational potential. Past research shows that more comprehensive preparation and follow-up leads to a better learning experience. This study describes the preparation and follow-up Minnesota teachers conduct with their students before and after an extended field trip to a residential environmental learning center (RELC), how these teachers connect such trips to formal curriculum, and the kind of support and resources RELCs provide teachers to facilitate preparation and follow-up for field trips to their facilities was determined. Results show that there are inconsistencies between the RELCs in terms of the resources they provide to teachers before and after field trips. Teachers welcome preparation and follow-up materials but face similar barriers to integrating field trips into their formal curriculum as those that have been stated in research for over 30 years. In addition, the types of preparation and follow up teachers conduct with their students fall on a wide spectrum, similar to past research findings. This was an initial step towards a greater understanding of how extended field trips to RELCs in Minnesota can be integrated into the formal classroom and what research efforts are needed to support these understandings.