Students' Perception of Biology Fieldwork: The example of students undertaking a preliminary year at a UK university

Abstract

It is widely held among biology teachers that fieldwork is valuable, but little is heard about students' perception of fieldwork or about the reasons for their liking or disliking fieldwork. This paper uses data from students to explore the hypotheses (1) that biology students with a positive perception of fieldwork have a less positive perception of laboratory work and vice versa and (2) that perception of fieldwork is related to demographic/personal factors and/or to pre-university perceptions and experience of fieldwork. Numeric indices of appreciation of biology field and laboratory work (I field and I lab ) were determined using questionnaire information from 54 students. I field and I lab were positively correlated and there was no evidence of polarization of views; the problem that some students have a poor perception of both needs to be addressed. Mature students had a more positive view of fieldwork than 18-20-year-olds. However, regression analysis of I field against principal components suggested that demographic/personal factors had relatively little overall influence (, 20%) on appreciation of fieldwork. Perception of fieldwork at university was related to the rank given to fieldwork when choosing a university course. However, students who had participated in pre-university fieldwork did not have a more positive perception of university fieldwork; although students who recalled a worst memory of pre-university fieldwork had a less positive perception of fieldwork at university. The seeming mixed relevance of pre-university fieldwork suggests that the relationship between perception of fieldwork undertaken at university and quality of pre-university fieldwork is an area for future research.

More Than Just Learning Discipline Skills: Social Interactions in Science Fieldwork Could Enhance Student Well-being and Cognition

“…Students' responses to social interactions in fieldwork were overwhelmingly positive. This finding aligns with previous studies of undergraduate students in science and various other domains (Cotton, 2009;Dunphy & Spellman, 2009;Goulder et al, 2013). Education researchers have reported benefits of social interactions to learning, social connections, professional development and positive emotions and feelings (Chanson, 2004;Goulder et al, 2013).…”

“…Additionally, these well-being benefits could also have positive flow-on affects to student cognition. This study defined cognition as learning experiences, outcomes or abilities (Goulder, Scott, & Scott, 2013). Rayner (2014) posits that pedagogies promoting critical thinking skills are primarily based around encouraging students to interact and participate in academic dialogue.…”

Nordic Student Teachers’ Views on the Most Efficient Teaching and Learning Methods for Species and Species Identification

“…The importance of first-hand experiences of the natural environment has therefore been emphasized in several studies around the world [42,47,[51][52][53]. However, teacher education programs seldom include practical methods for fieldwork or outdoor education [54,55].…”

“…Time for practical training and teaching experiences should therefore be increased in teacher education programs in order to develop teachers' pedagogical content knowledge [26]. Because teacher education programs seldom include practical methods for fieldwork and other forms of outdoor education [54,55], teaching and learning of species and species identification through the most popular and efficient methods, outdoor experiential learning and outdoor project work, would fit very well as practical training of teaching. These methods could best be arranged during field trips and fieldwork of high quality, where living organisms and their habitats have the main role, completed with some functional web-based resources.…”

Working and Learning in a Field Excursion

“…Field excursions are often lauded as crucial learning experiences by students and teachers, despite the relatively high costs of this pedagogical approach ( Boyle et al. , 2007 ; Goulder et al ., 2013 ; Harland et al ., 2006 ). In the past few decades, a large body of literature has accumulated that examines individuals’ emergent knowing as they engage with working practices.…”