A Survey Study On The Design And Implementation Of Scientific Field Trip

Scientific field trip as an integrated practical activity has emerged in China in recent years.As one of the informal science learning activities,scientific field trip is considered to be an out-of-school activity that can effectively enhances participants’ interest in learning science and their scientific literacy.This study investigates the scientific field trips offered by the 800 science education bases nationwide certified by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology.A framework for the evaluation of scientific field trip programmes has also been constructed to provide an in-depth analysis of the design of scientific field trip programmes.The survey finds that 83.60% of the bases have organised scientific field trips,mainly for primary and secondary school students.In terms of achieving the objectives of the courses,the bases self-assessed that the objectives of "helping students understand the practices of scientists" and "emphasising the norms of scientific research(e.g.ethics of science and technology)" were best achieved,while the objectives of "developing students’ interest in science" and "helping students understand the norms of science" were less well achieved.The curriculum resources are rich,including physical environments,facilities and interactive devices,curriculum materials,and interactive social resources,but there are fewer electronic information database resources.Tasks include recording learning experiences,completing learning sheets or task books,and producing handicrafts,but there are few research-based task.The evaluation focuses on the satisfaction of the subjects(e.g.students,teachers,parents)with the course and students’ acquisition of knowledge.Only very few site can track and evaluate the long-term learning effectiveness of students;more than 80% of the bases evaluate through verbal questions and observations.The main difficulties in curriculum development and implementation are: intellectual property rights need to be clarified and protected;lacking industry standards and systematization;lacking social promotion and recognition;lacking human and financial support for development and implementation.The evaluation of the course programmes reveals that: nearly half of the courses divide the participation groups,set tiered objectives and provide differentiated instruction.Almost all courses’ content includes interdisciplinary knowledge or skills,and is well-integrated.There is a rich variety of course resources and some bases are able to use advanced teaching and learning concepts.The shortcomings including: over30% of courses are less experiential,engaging or exploratory;over 80% of the programmes miss the safety and security part;over 80% of the programmes neglect to assess student performance or outcomes.Overall,the quality of the programmes are uneven and of poor quality.The author believes that equipping the programmes with sound safety and security measures as well as valuing and developing the evaluation of the course are two directions that could be improved.