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Field-based education is an integral component of undergraduate geoscience curricula and provides educational and social benefits associated with enhanced learning. But field excursions can too often end up as simple show-and-tell events and fall short of implementing effective teaching practices and achieving desired student learning gains. Moreover, logistical and economic pressures tend to discourage or create obstacles for the inclusion of field-based activities in undergraduate geoscience programs, especially in commuter-based colleges and universities. This case study shares how a one-day field trip offered at a commuter-based undergraduate campus of Indiana University was deconstructed to identify content-specific learning outcomes, and then reconstructed to a unit-based learning progression. The site-specific geologic content focused on describing and correlating outcrops of Paleozoic sedimentary strata in the Starved Rock area of Illinois. Shifting from a single-day field trip to a multi-session learning progression focused on instructional scaffolding and emphasized formative assessments that integrate cognitive learning theories including retrieval practice, elaboration, spaced practice and dual coding. Common practices of field geologists such as creating sketches of outcrops (dual-coding) were purposefully integrated as meaningful activities with opportunities for peer mentoring and reflection. Restructuring to a three-week unit included pre- and post-trip assessments to enable instructors to identify and address knowledge gaps and facilitate self-driven learning opportunities for students.

The objective of this study is to introduce eco-literacy in early childhood and to look into the role of digital media in increasing children's awareness of eco-literacy in the era of society 5.0 on daily environmental issues. This study applied a literature review of various sources related to eco-literacy through digital media, especially YouTube as well as interviewing class teachers. The results showed that introducing eco-literacy to elementary school students can be accomplished by telling stories, watching videos, or organizing field trips. There are four important points in developing an eco-literacy attitude: developing empathy, joining the community, making observable things visible, and asking children not to cause environmental damage. In addition to digital activities, efforts to improve ecological literacy should be extended through programs and exchanges regarding the need of environmental protection the 5R (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot) approach. Further studies in the same topic on teaching eco-literacy to elementary school students can be carried out in a more intensive way through relevant games to instill a love of the environment based on 5R strategies.

There is increasing educational interest in immersive virtual reality (IVR) applications which aid student learning and performance. However, few empirical studies have investigated the potential for implementing the technology in middle-school social studies classrooms. This study employed a quasi-experimental approach to address this issue, using pre- and post-test evaluations to measure academic achievement, and questionnaires to examine cognitive load and sense-of-presence. 48 seventh-grade students participated, split evenly between experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a systematic set of IVR-based social studies lessons via Head-Mounted Displays, while the control group covered identical content conventionally. Experimental group participants attained higher academic achievement with lower cognitive loading than control group students. The experimental group also experienced high levels of multimodal presence (physical, social, and self). This study yielded empirical evidence demonstrating the potential benefits which IVR offers social studies education. Furthermore, it provides an example for how effective, IVR-based social studies lessons can be developed.

Place-based learning encourages students to explore their local communities, learn about history, and develop critical thinking skills. This article focuses on six middle school students who participated in a History Club and entered the National History Day competition and discovered how history and place liberates learning.

The purpose of the current study is to reveal the reflections of the Köycegiz Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP) field trip planned within the context of the unit "Domestic Waste and Recycling" and the activities carried out concerning this trip on middle school students in Turkey. This research was conducted based on the semi-mixed method using a single-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. The quantified data were collected using open-ended questions about domestic waste and recycling, while the qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Twenty-seven middle school students (17 females, 10 males) participated in the study selected by convenience sampling method. According to the study's quantitative findings, the field trip to the wastewater treatment plant made the students realize the wastes produced at home, recyclable materials, the importance of recycling, and the contributions of wastewater treatment plants to the country's economy and nature. On the other hand, the quantitative findings indicate that this trip helped the students develop more eco-centric behaviors (Protection of biodiversity, Protection of nature, and Protection of resources, etc.). Moreover, the contributions made by the field trip structured within environmental education to the students could be gathered under the following headings: sustainability, personal, and cognitive.

In a university course on the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico, students engaged in a scaffolded inquiry project to consider connections between individual major areas of study or intended career paths and the Zuni Pueblo. Students completed project tasks prior to, during, and after the trip, and analyzed information gathered to answer their inquiry questions. Topics of interest were shared with the Zuni Tribal Council and a Zuni community partner for discussion and input. After completion, projects were shared with the class, the Tribal Council, a Zuni community partner, and the university community. This article will (1) explain the organization, pedagogy, and processes of implementation of such a scholarly project in an undergraduate service-learning, study-away, spring break course and trip and (2) share project outcomes, including student discoveries, in brief, to contribute to the sparse extant literature on the Zuni Pueblo, especially in contemporary Zuni and especially as relates to a variety of fields.

Youth development programs offer flexible environments for healing and positive identity development for youth facing discrimination and oppression. Programs often occur in out-of-school time (OST), a context that is clearly positioned in tandem with the education system to create complex relationships that lead to challenges in OST spaces. Youth development programs occurring in OST settings have the potential for resisting or replicating oppressive practices toward youth occurring in the education system. This article highlights a youth participatory action research (YPAR) project within an OST program using photovoice, field trips, and arts-based strategies. Eleven youth participated in the project over the course of nine months. Thematic content analysis of weekly photovoice and critical consciousness resulted in a primary theme of peeling back the layers. This theme encompassed the evolution of youth understanding the interconnectedness between their individual-level experiences of racism and broader community and systems-level inputs. This article describes critical consciousness development of OST youth participants through intentional engagement in critical dialogue, experiential field trips, and reflective art making.

Background: The gender gap in engineering presents a critical barrier to achieving a diverse and innovative engineering workforce. This gap is influenced by gender stereotypes, socialization processes, masculine culture, and insufficient early experiences with engineering. These contribute to diminished STEM self-concept, interest, and participation among women. Purpose/Hypothesis: This study assessed an engineering outreach program's impact on children's understanding of and interest in engineering and beliefs about who can be an engineer. It compared whether discussions of gender bias differentially influenced these outcomes for girls and boys. Design/Method: The study was a short-term sequential quasi-experimental design with boys and girls in grades 4-5. Six classroom groups attended a half-day engineering field trip and were randomly assigned to two conditions: Gender Presentation or No Gender Presentation. Pre- and post-program surveys measured changes in understanding of and interest in engineering and beliefs about who can be an engineer. Results: All children, regardless of gender or condition, had higher understanding of and interest in engineering after the program, but also demonstrated a bias in selecting men over women as engineers. Participants reported that both girls and boys like and are good at engineering and these ratings increased from the pre-program to the post-program survey. Conclusion: This research affirms the effectiveness of immersive and inclusive programming in enhancing children's understanding of and interest in engineering. No substantial gender-specific differences emerged regarding the impact of discussions on gender biases. The program underscores the value of early inclusive educational interventions in fostering equitable interest in engineering among young students.

Field trips enrich learning programs with out-of-school activities that can bring gains in students' academic content knowledge and personal growth. However, they are a source of anxiety for teachers because of the bureaucracy, pedagogy, etc., risks they imply. To address this issue, we propose FieldTripOrganizer, a field trip planner based on the mixed-initiative approach aimed at increasing teachers' autonomy and motivation in designing educational tours. The key aspects of our application are (i) the simultaneous provision of information filtering and automated scheduling support while the user designs the field trip, and (ii) the visual annotation of places and activities to show whether they can be included in the itinerary without violating its time constraints. Different from current tour planners, these functions enable the user to be in full control of the design process, delegating the system to manage difficult and burdensome tasks such as consistency checks and itinerary optimization. We evaluated FieldTripOrganizer in the use case of organizing a science field trip. In a preliminary user study involving 18 science teachers, our application turned up to be superior to a baseline tour planner in both usability and user experience. Moreover, the teachers declared that it was helpful, motivated them, and reduced their anxiety during the design of the field trips.

Service-learning, especially from a critical perspective, is a method of education that aims to bring students into relationships with community members to foster mutual understanding and give opportunity for shared learning and service. Universities that are compelled by their faith to seek justice may be the most effective at implementing service-learning programs when they are grounded in the justice and love of God. Herein, I report on a service-learning program that aims to advance the Christian mission by serving the least of these. I discuss lessons learned along the way and give examples from our partners.

Professional legislative advocacy is a pathway to improve the field of education as it may lead to policy changes that impact schools and the profession directly. Higher education faculty have the opportunity to infuse in their students the skills and confidence to become advocates for their respective disciplines. In this study on an approach to teaching, we developed a training intervention to teach and build school counseling trainees' confidence for engaging in professional legislative advocacy and evaluated its effectiveness in an initial study. Compared to pretest scores, the participants had significant gains in knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to professional legislative advocacy after the training intervention. Their posttest scores were also higher than a sample of school counselor trainees who did not participate in the training. We discuss the implications of these findings and suggested research directions.

This systematic review examines the pedagogical gap of how VFTs are adopted and integrated in K-12 classroom teaching and learning. Specifically, it focuses on the grade levels and subject areas, learning outcomes and pedagogical activities involved VFTs at elementary and secondary levels. The results of this review show the current usage of VFTs occurs more often in science and history-related classes for secondary students, mainly due to VFTs' affordances in offering access to unreachable exploration, visualization of complex concepts, and time change observation. It also reveals that the implementation of VFTs can lead to positive cognitive and affective learning gains when a variety of carefully designed pedagogical activities are used, among which scaffolding and procedural strategies are highlighted. The results also demonstrated that high levels of peer-to-peer interaction coincide with high levels of teacher-to-student interaction, however, high teacher-to-student interaction may not necessarily lead to high peer-to-peer interaction, indicating that need to design specific activities to promote student interaction among themselves. Thus, future research and practice may explore how VFTs can be used to enhance higher order thinking skills, such as analysis and synthesis, and teachers are to be empowered in the processes of VFT creation and adoption.

Distance online learning connects students to education opportunities without having to be present at the institution offering the learning module. This case study involved development of a dual on-campus and distance course into a fully online course. It required a student-focused approach and an innovative application of learning technologies, additional resources and learning frameworks to encourage student engagement, independent learning and growth of critical-thinking skills. Changes to the design of the teaching approach and the use of technology improved the quality and quantity of interaction and communication between staff-students and students-students and facilitated a hands-on learning experience for online students interacting asynchronously. Student engagement with the course material, other students and teachers increased compared to previous years. Additional resource videos, learning and assessment guides (written and video), and online field trips helped develop critical-thinking skills and connectedness of learning to real-world applications. Recommendations are provided of learning approaches that could be used by other educators in different subject courses.

This study aimed to examine the effect of informal learning environments on students' academic achievement and attitude levels in the Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge (RCMK) course. The study used a pretest-posttest experimental control group, quasi-experimental design model. An academic achievement test and Religion Culture and Moral Knowledge Course Attitude Scale were used as measurement tools. The study group comprised 116 students who continued their education in a private school at 4th and 5th grades. For the comparisons of attitude scale and achievement scores, independent samples t-tests were used. Before the posttests, the experimental group students attended mosque trips organized for the "Let's Get to Know the Mosque" unit. As a result of the study, it was observed that the attitude and academic achievement levels of the experimental group students towards the RCMK course increased after the implementation. It was found that informal learning had a significant and positive-positive effect on students' attitudes towards the course, and this effect was mostly on trust, benefit, interest, and liking sub-dimensions of the attitude scale, respectively.

From a tradition of fieldwork-based teaching in geography, we consider the intersections of fieldwork sites and their social and spatial relationships for implications for non-placement work integrated learning (NPWIL). As the skills agenda gathers pace in universities it is critical to understand forms of NPWIL and their development. As a form of NPWIL in geography and related disciplines, fieldwork generates a range of personal, professional and academic skills for students. Through a case study of site-based fieldwork for cultural heritage teaching, we examine how such teaching can expand our understanding of this form of NPWIL. In contrast to ideas of university work including WIL as characterized and bounded by temporal linearity, we argue for seeing WIL in terms of non-linear temporality and slow "innovation flow". We link this analysis of WIL with understandings of cultural heritage and heritage sites as also non-linear and emergent in both time and space. We reflect on a detailed case study of heritage management teaching that draws on fieldtrip and a long-term relationship with a heritage site that is an historic coal mine. Over time the evolution of the field trip shows that the site itself is a key agent in this form of NPWIL. The site embodies and generates a range of changing social and spatial relationships with community, heritage managers, and other sites linked to the mine and its history. This networked perspective on fieldwork sites illustrates how supporting "slow innovation" in fieldwork based NPWIL can facilitate beneficial teaching and other outcomes.

Preservice teachers in science education courses do not generally experience informal, authentic science education practices in their fieldwork. This study used the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to frame a study that integrated informal science teaching experiences with a university teacher education science methods course. The results showed improvement in participant preservice teachers' ability to teach science content, their self-confidence in teaching science, and their ability to connect what they learned in their methods course in a real-life setting.

This research was carried out to reveal the experiences of pre-service elementary teachers during their visit to the science center and their observations and opinions about this experience. For this purpose, a case study, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was adopted. 32 pre-service elementary teachers participated in the research. Interviews, observations, and diaries were used to obtain the data, and the data were subjected to content analysis. As a result of the analysis, four themes were reached: image, interest, contribution, and improvement. The results show that pre-service teachers associate the science center image they create with technology, laboratory, and scientists. It was determined that pre-service teachers showed more interest in some disciplines of science, scientists, and technology-related fields in the science center. In addition, it was concluded that the science center would contribute to the innovative and productive vision, economy, and science literacy of the society in the city where it is located, science teaching, and the professional development of teachers. Finally, the pre-service teachers made suggestions to increase the contribution of science centers to the region and society. The results of this study are expected to be a valuable guide, providing science teaching experience and a qualified science teaching vision for pre-service elementary teachers in informal environments.

Academic institutions are now expected to engage in developing and assessing learning outcomes; however, responsibility outcomes, such as respect for human dignity (RFHD), can be particularly challenging. As part of our Biopsychology course and Sensation and Perception course over the past decade, we applied the scientist-educator model of learning and drew from the literature on prejudice reduction to develop our RFHD interventions, which involved face-to-face interactions with others who had sensory deficits or brain/spinal cord injuries. We iteratively created two pre-post measures to assess development of different aspects of RFHD: a Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire and a 4-Factor RFHD Model Questionnaire. Recently, we modified the intervention and the assessments for adoption in our Class, Race, and Ethnicity in Society course. This paper reports findings from these three courses and a control course in engineering (n = 153). Findings support our two sets of hypotheses, regarding 1) the efficacy of the assessments to capture different likelihoods for interacting with others targeted by the interventions and changes over time in these factors, and 2) positive effects of the face-to-face intervention activities. This study demonstrates RFHD can be developed and assessed in a college course and provides new assessments for RFHD that are easily modified for a variety of types of others (e.g., individuals who are homeless versus blind or of a particular race).

Virtual Reality (VR) has gained more importance in the educational sector. A possibility of using VR in education can be Virtual Field Trips (VFTs). This work analyses the possibilities of creating VFTs with different software/tools, output devices, and 360° cameras in the educational sector. The preparatory work, with the recording of own 360° images, is described, including the involved time and comparison of 360° cameras. With a comparison, four categories of software/tools for creating a VFT are analyzed under the aspects of the needed technical equipment, the time effort, the needed skills to create the VFT and the level of immersion and interactivity, and the convey of technical content through the VFT. For the creation and use of a VFT a software/tool and an output device is necessary. The creation of 360° images requires a 360° camera, which is very time-consuming, concerning the everyday workload of teachers. Three of the tested software/tools require through a graphical user interface a low level of skills for creating a VFT. The created VFT with the different software/tools offers different levels of immersion and interaction. It is possible for teachers to create their own VFT, but the accompanying time and cost can limit the possibilities during the everyday work.

Field trips to augment in class learning hold valuable learning opportunities and can be transformative when observing context is important to understanding complex issues such as mental health and addiction. However, student reflections papers written after participating in the field trip were reviewed over a five-year period and identified that this form of experiential learning also resulted in harm to some social work students. Using a phenomenological approach (van Manen, 1990) to secondary data analysis, 53 papers identified four clusters of meanings related to discomfort, appreciation/ambivalence/regret, personal experiences of trauma and power. These individual experiences collectively raised larger questions around social work pedagogy and how educators should prepare students when confronted with distressing situations. We wondered to what degree witnessing such conditions became either a transformative experience as described by Rone (2008) or re-enacted individual experiences of past trauma. With field experience a pedagogical cornerstone to a career in Social Work, we advocate for ethically balancing between safeguarding students from feeling acute distress or re-experiencing trauma as a result of field trips, while ensuring they are professionally prepared to enter the profession upon graduation.

This study aims to investigate the situation of science teachers regarding out-of-school learning activities and to investigate how their participation in out-of-school learning activities as an observer within the scope of science courses creates a change in the situation of teachers. A case study was used in this study. Twenty-one science teachers in the study group participated as observers in the activities carried out with the seventh-grade students for seven different out-of-school learning areas. Pre- and post-interview forms were given to the study group. The findings demonstrate that a significant number of science teachers did not receive training for such practices before participating in the activities. They were aware of the benefits and importance of out-of-school activities but did not feel sufficient in learning practices. Another result of this study is that there are positive developments in the situation of teachers by showing a significant reduction in anxiety about aspects such as determining out-of-school learning environments according to the subject and performing out-of-school activities. In addition, this study reveals that teachers' observation experience makes them aware of different aspects of out-of-school learning.

Middle Grades teacher candidates participated in a "field trip" in an Integrated Reading course to model best practices in culturally responsive teaching. The college students visited their downtown city including a regional art museum and memorial sculpture garden commemorating local Black history to experience and contemplate possibilities for literacy integration in their pedagogy. Teacher candidates were encouraged to explore and understand community culture, history, and assets with respect to their future students' lives, identities, interests, and experiences, and how these considerations should motivate their instructional decision making with literacy applications. A follow-up discussion was facilitated by the course professor along with a final project and presentation to combine key takeaways from the field trip with the coursework objectives. Recommendations are made for both middle grades teachers and teacher educators on opportunities for leveraging community assets with culturally relevant pedagogy and literacy integration as combined lenses for middle grades best practice.

The study aimed to reveal the effectiveness of virtual tours to the archaeological sites in Al-Ahsa in developing historical concepts among kindergarten children and to identify the differences between males and females in acquiring historical concepts. To achieve these objectives, a quasi-experimental approach based on one group design was used. The sample of the study consisted of (30) boys and girls between the ages of (5-6) years in the third level in the kindergarten attached to the third elementary school for early childhood in Hofuf in Al-Ahsa Governorate. The pictured historical concepts test was applied after calculating the coefficients of validity and reliability, and virtual tours to the archaeological sites in Al-Ahsa were applied. They included Al-Qarah Mountain, Suq Al-Qaysariyya, Ibrahim Palace, Jawatha Mosque, Al-Amiriya School, Al-Bay'ah House, Al-Uqair Port, and Al-Asfaar Lake in the experimental group. The results showed statistically significant differences at (0.05) between the means of the scores of the experimental group in the pre-and post-applications in the pictured test of historical concepts in favor of the post-application. Also, there was an effect size of virtual tours to archaeological sites on the development of historical concepts among kindergarten children. In addition, the results showed no statistically significant differences at (0.05) between the means of the scores of males and females in the historical concepts test pictured in the post application. The study recommended the inclusion of virtual tours and historical concepts in the self-learning curriculum for kindergarten.

In a rapidly changing global environment, Initial Teacher Educators (ITE) have a responsibility to role-model contemporary teaching approaches, which develop graduates who think creatively and flexibly in educational workplaces. An important aspect of this work is supporting pre-service teachers (PSTs) to understand how to design assessments which facilitate a deep understanding of student learning. This learning can be achieved through the implementation of assessments which model contemporary practices and enrich student learning in ITE courses. This paper discusses new ways to consider the purpose of assessment by focusing on Experiential Learning (EL) as a form of assessment in ITE. This semi-systematic literature review encapsulates the intersecting areas of assessment, EL and ITE. Our resulting recommendation is the use of EL Projects to engage PSTs with meaningful and authentic assessments. This would encourage the development of skilled, knowledgeable and innovative thinkers who respond confidently to unanticipated and impactful educational changes.

This article describes the approach to teaching and supporting learners that led, in part, to high school math teacher Sarah Zehnder and the author, Amanda Hurley, a high school librarian, being named the recipients of the 2021 American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Collaborative School Library Award. The article details the process of their joint collaboration Library Renovation Project and discusses what made the collaboration work well.

Mechanisms supporting global learning and global citizenship continue to be incorporated as curricular and co-curricular components of undergraduate education in the United States. Global learning promotes critical thinking and problem-solving and intercultural competency -- skills that studies find are highly prized among employers. However, few studies have investigated faculty and student perceptions of global learning where it has been implemented in core educational curricula. In this article, the authors present findings from a qualitative study of a general education global learning curricular requirement at a liberal arts university in the southeastern US. Utilizing student focus groups and faculty interviews, the authors conclude that, while attitudes of global learning are high and it is deemed an important part of education by both students and faculty, the institutional barriers and challenges to teaching and learning in this area are difficult to overcome.

Environmental characteristics of kindergartens are important for the development of kindergarten-aged children. However, knowledge of the role of kindergarten play environments in developing children's fundamental movement skills is limited. A pilot study was carried out to compare the fundamental movement skills of 3.5- to 5-year-old children in two kindergarten groups. One group had access to a traditional playground, an indoor room for active play, and had weekly trips. The other group had access to a nature-based playground. Fundamental movement skills were measured using the short form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, second edition test. In total, 28 children participated--11 children attended the kindergarten group with the traditional playground, and 17 children attended the kindergarten group with the nature-based playground. The total test score was 14.64 for children with access to a traditional playground and 16.71 for children with access to a nature-based playground. However, no statistically significant difference between the groups in total test score and the individual tests was found. It might be that space and diversity of features are more important than exposure to nature. In future research, more robust longitudinal studies with larger samples are required to investigate different kindergarten playground designs and environmental features related to motor skill development.

This research was conducted to determine the effect of activities carried out at a project on teachers' awareness about out-of-school learning. In line with this purpose, a science center was designated as an out-of-school learning setting and 24 science teachers were trained accordingly. Practical studies have been carried out on developing activities for out-of-school learning settings. In this study, instrumental case study design was used. Two separate forms consisting of open-ended questions were used before and after the project. At the beginning of the study, the teachers stated that they were confident in organizing trips to out-of-school environments. However, when they were asked what they did during the trips they organized, it was seen that their practices were limited to the procedures and the control of the students, but their awareness of associating the trips with the lesson was quite low. At the end of the study, it was found participant teachers' awareness and knowledge of organizing qualified field trips improved due to the practical activities. They reported that they realized what needs to be done for a quality visit and also learned the characteristics of the observation form, worksheets and educational games that should be prepared for these visits.

This study aims to develop a valid and reliable "Teacher Anxiety Scale for Organizing Trips to Out of School Learning Environments" to measure teachers' anxiety about out-of-school learning environments. This research focuses on the methodological validity and reliability of the scale. The study group of the research consisted of 394 teachers working in public and private schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in different cities of Turkey. In the development of the scale, the processes of literature review, creating an item pool, obtaining expert opinion, pilot test, creating the trial form, data collection, data analysis (exploratory factor analysis, repeated exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, item analysis, and reliability analysis), and creating the final form were followed. As a result of the analysis, a valid and reliable scale consisting of 28 items and four factors was created. The factors of the scale were named "Bureaucracy-Related (BR) Anxiety", "Safety Risks-Related (SRR) Anxiety", "Harm-Related (HR) Anxiety" and "Pedagogy-Related (PR) Anxiety", respectively. While the Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient for the total scale was determined as 0.944; the reliability coefficients for the factors were determined as BR Anxiety Cr [alpha]=0.868, SRR Anxiety Cr [alpha]=0.922, HR Anxiety Cr [alpha]=0.903, and PR Anxiety Cr [alpha]=0.952, respectively. The results indicate that the scale is quite reliable.

The aim of the study is to examine the development of pre-service science teachers within the course about the out-of-school learning. In this study, the effects of the implementations in the course on the perceptions of the pre-service science teachers about the relevant subject and their self-efficacy in organizing teaching activities in these environments were evaluated. The study was carried out employing an action research design. The study group consisted of 36 pre-service science teachers in The Department of Science Education at the Faculty of Education at a state university in Turkey during the 2019-2020 academic year. Data collection tools were "The Form of Pre-service Science Teachers' Opinion on OSL", "Self-Efficacy Belief Scale for Planning and Organizing Educational Trips to Out of School Settings" developed by Bozdogan (2016), "Informal Learning Environments Scale" developed by Adiyaman (2019), and "Experience Determination Form" adapted by Aslan (2015). The data collection tools were used as a pre-test on the first week of the course and as a post-test on the fifteenth week of the same course. The qualitative data elicited from the open-ended questions and the "Experience Determination Form" were subjected to the content analysis method. The quantitative data obtained from the "Self-Efficacy Belief Scale for Organizing Educational Trips to Out-of-School Environments" and "Informal Learning Environments Scale" were analysed using the SPSS 25.0 package program. The dependent t-test was used to compare the scores of the pre-tests and post-tests. The results showed that the applications made within the course significantly affect the opinions of pre-service science teachers about out-of-school learning and their self-efficacy in organizing educational activities in out-of-school learning environments.

Learning in the mountains during winter prepares upcoming guides for tough environments by placing demands on their energy intake and enabling them to cope with a complex environment. However, few studies have explored energy intake and expenditure in outdoor education. Thus, energy intake during a 24-hour winter mountain course was investigated in a Norwegian educational context, where students must absorb large volumes of information in a challenging environment. Twenty university students (11 men, 9 women) underwent body composition, weighed energy intake, and accelerometry-based energy expenditure measurements. Overall, the students had an energy deficit of>2,300 kilocalories/day, corresponding to an energy balance of 62% for men and 54% for women (p > 0.05), despite having received lectures on energy requirements in advance. This sustained stress context combined with challenging environmental conditions and insufficient energy intake can predispose students to early exhaustion, injury risk, and potentially reduced information processing that may limit learning.

This case study investigated the enactment of a religious moderation literacy project for pre-service teachers of Islamic education at a university in Indonesia. Ten student teachers who participated voluntarily in an online tutorial session and a field trip program to the village where the community embraced interfaith tolerance were interviewed. They wrote reflective journals and collected photographs after joining the field trip. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The study found that the pre-service teachers improved their awareness of religious tolerance, felt empowered to act as tolerant teachers, and found leadership to be important for leading a peaceful life.

The authors develop, use, and evaluate a spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) app for teaching operations management. The app contains a 360-degree photo- realistic copy of real factory environments with blended information and gamified exercises. To solve a learning assignment, students virtually immerse themselves in the factory using the app on their smartphones with virtual reality headsets, tablets, or computers. The authors developed the SVVR app together with an industrial partner, implemented it in a graduate-level course on production and operations management, and evaluated it by drawing on app user data, assignment grade scores, and an evaluation survey. The results show that students reported an overall positive learning experience and that students who engaged more in the SVVR app performed better on the assignment. This paper contributes to the literature on SVVR with evidence of the learning effects of SVVR in an operations management curriculum. It provides an example of how SVVR enables virtual factory visits, integrates gamification elements, and can be integrated into teaching.

The article focuses on study visits from the perspective of mathematical project work. Project work means a systematic organizing method of teaching that is based around a project. The research questions are the kinds of study visits students made, the meaning(s) of those visits, the mathematical content in the visits and how such study visits should be developed. The research material consists of two questionnaires (one for teachers and one for companies) and a case study of a student group that carried out two study visits as part of their mathematical project work. The results show that both teachers and companies considered study visits to be significant from their own standpoints. The teachers organize study visits, but the content of the visits is not usually connected with activities in the classroom.

The purpose of this study is to investigate preservice teachers' (PSTs) perspectives on out-of-school learning (OOSL). A total of 100 PSTs studying at a faculty of education in Turkey voluntarily participated in the main research. The study was conducted as a descriptive qualitative inquiry, with study data generated from two online surveys plus an interview. The findings revealed that the PSTs expressed mostly positive effects of OOSL. The PSTs mentioned additional OOSL environments such as beaches. As stakeholders, a student's family, teachers, the school, official guides, and learners were mentioned as having active roles in the OOSL process. The expectation of an OOSL environment having been professionally designed was perceived the most by the PSTs. Most of the PSTs favored using OOSL during the pandemic period. Based on the study's results, teacher education programs operating outside of the classroom teaching environment can be organized according to the PST perspective.

In the United States, the two main political parties, Democrats and Republicans, have become increasingly polarized, including with regard to environmental issues. As part of a national study of environmentally focused single-day field trips for early adolescent youth in 2018, we conducted exploratory research to examine how outcomes differed for public school students from different sociopolitical contexts (i.e. predominantly Democratic, Republican, or mixed). Students from wealthier Democratic contexts exhibited less positive outcomes, measured as self-reported changes in environmental literacy, compared to others. The findings suggest that single-day EE field trips in the United States, in their current forms, may be particularly valuable in lower income and more politically conservative contexts, possibly due to the degree of novelty they may provide to these audiences. Meanwhile, EE field trips for students from wealthier Democratic contexts may provide reinforcement rather than meaningful shifts in environmental literacy, suggesting a need for more novel approaches for these audiences.

Political polarization in the United States has made many environmental issues strongly partisan, with Democrats largely receptive to environmental messaging and Republicans commonly pitted against it. This phenomenon may have meaningful implications for how environmental education is conducted for people from different sociopolitical contexts. We explored whether certain pedagogical approaches to single-day environmental education field trip programs were linked to better or worse outcomes for early adolescent youth (ages 10-14) from different sociopolitical contexts: majority Republican, majority Democrat, or mixed (roughly even). All observed effect sizes were small with one exception. Play-based pedagogies tended to yield less positive outcomes for students from Republican majority contexts than others, with a medium effect size. The findings suggest that some traditional approaches to play, such as role-playing as animals or pretending to be water droplets, may feel incongruent with the social identities of students from largely Republican communities.

This qualitative study explored the potential sources of enjoyment and boredom in geography classes among Bhutanese secondary school students. Utilizing open-ended surveys and semi-structured interviews, 206 participants aged 17 to 22, predominantly from classes 11 and 12, shared their perspectives. The thematic analysis of the data revealed four sources that contributed to students' enjoyment and boredom in geography classes. The findings on sources of enjoyment included sources like enthusiasm, encouragement, friendliness and support which emerged as crucial contributors to enjoyment. Moreover, video-integrated lessons, field trips, and challenging and hands-on activities, actively contributed to positive emotional experiences. Additionally, individual interest in geography, aspirations to become geographers, the relevance of materials and topics to learners' interests, were found to enhance geography class enjoyment. Conversely, the findings on sources of boredom included monotonous teaching methods, poorly prepared lessons, difficult content, dissatisfaction with presentation tasks, textbook-based activities, lack of interest in the subject or negative moods linked to boredom. Altogether, this study contributes to the growing research trend, focusing on the dimensions of students' emotions in the learning process. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations are made and directions for future research are presented.

Field trips provide real-world learning opportunities in biology education as they promote knowledge about nature among other things. As biodiversity is declining knowledge of species is important for understanding and appreciating the natural world and its implications. Many field guides are digitally available, but differences from traditional book-based guides are understudied. This case study compares the effectiveness of a traditional book field guide with a mobile species identification app during a bird field trip on cognitive, motivational, and affective outcomes for college students (N = 133). Linear mixed models indicate no differences in bird species knowledge between the groups before and after the field trip. However, participants in the book group felt more competent and reported a higher interest after the field trip. This suggests that books could probably still add value to learning in the field. They should not be dismissed as they can be useful tools for students by enhancing confidence and contribute to the learning experience in a different way to mobile apps.

Narratives, or stories, are used every day by people as a way of making sense of and communicating events in the world. Narratives can be highly useful as a learning tool in science education. Though research on narrative-based pedagogy in science education and communication is very common, most of that research was done in formal settings. Our study followed fourth-grade students who visited the science museum on a field trip, entitled "The Life of Leonardo Da Vinci," which used narrative-based pedagogy (e.g. the story of Leonardo da Vinci) as a common thread throughout the visit. Interviewing the students after the visit revealed that most students remembered facts mentioned in the narrative, and the narrative had a long-term effect. The students remembered this visit better than other visits. In addition, more than half of the students used vocabulary that could be associated with the visit. This study supports the idea that art-based research methods can be effective. Using photos and images proved to be more engaging for students, and all students used the photos of exhibits and other images to create their own stories.

Field study and field courses are integral to the discipline of geography. While there are many forms that a field course might take, in this paper we draw on two university-level field courses in the U.S. Southwest to propose a road trip pedagogy for field study. We reflect on the particular resonance of the road trip in the American West and how Western road trip mythology, combined with our own road trip experiences, helped shape the design of two road trip field courses. The educational value of both planned and un-planned encounters is a key strength of a road trip field course. We conclude by briefly reflecting on two future considerations for road trip pedagogy: possibilities for aligning anti-racist pedagogy with road trip pedagogy and the potential transferability of our American West road trip to other locations.