I am fairly certain that anyone who has ever been on a school field trip has heard this phrase at some point or another, despite the fact that trips can be highly educational.
Field trips often result in mixed experiences - yes, admittedly certain school field trips end up being a (potentially free) holiday with your classmates but, equally, field trips can also provide an occasion where students are constantly engaged and working due to the close contact with staff!
This September I went abroad on the Berlin field trip for one week for one of my third-year Geography modules. Unlike previous years, this year’s trip consisted of only eight students (six of which were male!)
East Side Gallery, Mühlenstraße– An International Memorial for Freedom
Due to the small group size, this meant that there was nowhere to hide in terms of each individual pulling their weight in terms of workload and contributing to our intimate seminars.
The field trip was very intense - given that it was the equivalent of a term’s worth of lecture content squeezed into five full days!
A typical day on the field trip
7:30am: Wake up calls and breakfast
9am: Lecture
10:30am: Out in the city
4-6pm: Return to the hostel to prepare presentations
6pm: Evening presentations/seminar
Each day was themed (political ideologies, memory and memorials, architecture, etc.) and the lecture at the beginning of the day provided an overview into what kind of concepts we were expected to research during our day. We were split into two groups of four (which varied each day) and had to prepare a research proposal and presentation for our evening seminar.
Amongst the stelae at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
As you can see, we were studying and researching from 9am to 8pm at night. Part of our assessment for the module was ‘participation in the course’ therefore there was an extra incentive (and pressure!) to perform well during the course, and not just treat the week as a holiday abroad with lovely company!
So why bother going?
I realise that so far I have portrayed my field trip as rather busy but, in fact, it was the best trip I have ever been on! Yes, the workload was intense and the days were exhausting, but you go to bed knowing that you’ve had a majorly productive day and learnt much more about a city than any Lonely Planet Guide could tell you.
The week in Berlin also put me in a great position in terms of coming back to Southampton and not having any lectures for the course but just coursework to write!
I realise that field trips are not always optional or part of every degree on offer at the University of Southampton, but I would encourage any of you with the opportunity to take a field trip module! Aside from visiting a very trendy city filled to the brim with historical and cultural significance, I had the opportunity to meet and bond with people on my course whom I may not have ever ended up meeting if it weren’t for the trip!
Learning outside the four walls of a lecture theatre was a real refresher as to why I chose to study Geography and reminded me of its real-world relevance.
Berlin was a brilliant experience and I’ll never forget the excellent week I had away!
Aditi
No comments:
Post a Comment