The Benefit of Field Trips

Primary Faculty Mentor’s Name

Meca Williams-Johnson

Proposal Track

Student

Session Format

Paper Presentation

Abstract

Episodic memory is commonly described as a person’s unique recall of a specific event, almost as if it is an “episode” of something that is being watched. Episodic memories can be triggered from senses such as sights and smells, sometimes making it seem as if someone is “transported” back to a familiar time and place, and allowing him or her to remember a previous event. People have been known to have very specific episodic memories, allowing them to remember extremely specific details from witnessed or experienced episodes in their lives. If episodic memory can be so strong in helping people remember given information, it is thought that they may be able to help people retain specific information when learning about new subjects. If this is the case, it is reasonable to wonder whether or not helping to create episodic memories could help young students learn about new topics. While hands-on learning within the parameters of a classroom can be very conducive to learning, it is wondered if it may also be helpful to move students into a new setting, creating completely new sensations, apart from the typical school setting, in order to help students create entirely separate episodic memories. Thus, it is wondered whether or not field trips can be beneficial in the creation of episodic memories. If so, perhaps the episodic memories created on field trips can help students relate to the curricular information that is intended to be absorbed during said field trips. Throughout the study “The Benefit of Field Trips,” the researcher has compiled information from a review of several different literature sources in order to gain a better understanding of what episodic memory is and how it may relate to field trips. This literature review was followed by a series of interviews in which the researcher asked five pre-service teachers and five veteran teachers a series of qualitative questions regarding their previous experiences with field trips and their viewpoints on the matter. The result seeks to better understand whether or not field trips can be conducive to curricular learning.

Keywords

Episodic memory, Field trips, Benefits of field trips, Connections to curriculum

Location

Room 2903

Presentation Year

2014

Start Date

11-15-2014 8:30 AM

End Date

11-15-2014 9:30 AM

Publication Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Nov 15th, 8:30 AM Nov 15th, 9:30 AM

The Benefit of Field Trips

Room 2903

Episodic memory is commonly described as a person’s unique recall of a specific event, almost as if it is an “episode” of something that is being watched. Episodic memories can be triggered from senses such as sights and smells, sometimes making it seem as if someone is “transported” back to a familiar time and place, and allowing him or her to remember a previous event. People have been known to have very specific episodic memories, allowing them to remember extremely specific details from witnessed or experienced episodes in their lives. If episodic memory can be so strong in helping people remember given information, it is thought that they may be able to help people retain specific information when learning about new subjects. If this is the case, it is reasonable to wonder whether or not helping to create episodic memories could help young students learn about new topics. While hands-on learning within the parameters of a classroom can be very conducive to learning, it is wondered if it may also be helpful to move students into a new setting, creating completely new sensations, apart from the typical school setting, in order to help students create entirely separate episodic memories. Thus, it is wondered whether or not field trips can be beneficial in the creation of episodic memories. If so, perhaps the episodic memories created on field trips can help students relate to the curricular information that is intended to be absorbed during said field trips. Throughout the study “The Benefit of Field Trips,” the researcher has compiled information from a review of several different literature sources in order to gain a better understanding of what episodic memory is and how it may relate to field trips. This literature review was followed by a series of interviews in which the researcher asked five pre-service teachers and five veteran teachers a series of qualitative questions regarding their previous experiences with field trips and their viewpoints on the matter. The result seeks to better understand whether or not field trips can be conducive to curricular learning.