School field trips have become less common, especially in recent years, with illnesses such as COVID-19 going around. There have been fewer field trips than ever, especially in high school. Last year, Lafayette only hosted one field trip to the University of Kentucky for the College and Career Fair. This field trip was specifically for freshmen, but Lafayette should be hosting more field trips than just one per year that is specifically for one grade.
Field trips can be especially helpful to students who are visual learners. For example, a student going to a museum would allow them to go out and let them see new things. Going on field trips would also allow students to access tools and environments they usually wouldn’t be exposed to at school. One example would be a science class taking a field trip to the Kentucky Science Center, where students can see new things in person that they usually wouldn’t see in a school building. Field trips also help students participate in unique experiences, such as a trip to the zoo where students can see exotic animals in person.
Studies from Creative Activity and Service Trips, a program based on the International Baccalaureate, have shown that travel increases students’ academic knowledge. These studies showed that students who went on field trips averaged higher test scores on finals, received higher grades in class, didn’t miss school as much, and had fewer issues with their behavior compared to students who didn’t get to go on field trips. A survey in 2021 conducted by CAS Trips said that 89% of students even claimed that field trips had helped them with their education and career in the long run. Field trips help create an interactive learning space and help students avoid traditional textbook learning. However, ne could argue that field trips are not worth it because they waste time, money, and resources. A field trip’s planning, cost, and transportation can be costly and time-intensive. Even for a short field trip, most buses with drivers cost around $800.
Transporting groups on a field trip can also cause behavior problems since it may be hard for teachers to handle every student’s behavior on the trip off campus. Field trips can also take away from instructional time and deplete money in the budget.
Even with all these drawbacks, field trips can still benefit the learning experience. For example, studies from the University of Maine suggest a field trip to an art museum has shown increased student empathy, tolerance, and critical thinking skills. Letting students study art allowed them to think about a topic or theme from a different perspective and think more creatively. Field trips help visual learners by offering them the chance to learn through touch and feel instead of listening to what they are learning. Sophomore Jahmar Perry claimed that “…field trips are good for me because I favor learning outside…experiencing the real world and having new experiences instead of learning from powerpoints or textbooks every day.” Sophomore Jehovanis Kondo added to Perry’s statement, “…field trips help broaden my mind and help me become a better person in general.”
Ms. McCracken, a marketing teacher at Lafayette, stated that “…more field trips would be useful” and that teachers “…should be able to host field trips based on [the] content that is being taught in the classroom,” This would help students grasp and experience the content being taught on a visual level.
Students are in a classroom for over 8+ hours a day. Field trips are a way for students to learn hands-on. Freshman Kendon Wilson stated that field trips “…get students out of the classroom. During the field experience, students also get exercise and [have] more socialization [since] they are walking around and talking to each other,” The social experience of field trips may help some students who struggle socially.
The Times asked students if they think they should have more field trips. 7 out of 10 students interviewed said Lafayette should have more hands-on learning. Studies from the Arthur Morgan School show that students are more emotionally and socially healthy when they can collaborate with their peers more often and experience the outside world.
Field trips allow students to become better people in the future and experience things that they usually wouldn’t do inside a classroom. A study by the Tucson International Academy shows that schools that incorporate more hands-on learning through field trips experience higher graduation rates. Field trips allow students to learn about new career paths, look at things differently, and be more creative.
