Research shows that field trips can improve grades, reduce absences, and awaken passion in students across the board.
The number of field trips taken by K-12 classes dropped off precipitously during COVID. Even after normalcy returned to schools, the number of such outings remained low. In 2023, Wilkening Consulting and the American Alliance of Museums ran a survey of 340 museum directors in the United States, and 40 percent of the respondents said they were still seeing fewer visits from K-12 teachers and students compared to before the lockdowns,
according to Education Week.
Why should this concern teachers and parents? Because field trips provide an exceptional and indispensable educational opportunity. In addition to breaking up the routine and enlivening students who’ve become enervated from sitting at a desk all day, field trips afford students the chance to learn experientially instead of just from books and videos.
Too often, educators limit the scope of education to textbooks, lectures, chalkboards, and written exercises. While this type of learning is very important, it’s not the only type of learning a student needs in order to fully and healthily develop mind and body. European pedagogy traditionally distinguished between two types of learning or knowing: “wissenschaft” and “kenntnis.” Wissenschaft is the type of knowledge we typically associate with school: bookish, abstract, theoretical, intellectual, and measurable. Kenntnis, on the other hand, describes another kind of learning: intuitive, first-hand, experiential, and sensory. Students know about the Revolutionary War through wissenschaft. But they know about their parents’ love for them or the contours of their backyard through kenntnis. Both types of learning are important. Yet the American educational model tends to overemphasize wissenschaft. There’s a profound difference between a student reading about the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly and a student actually going on a field trip, collecting caterpillars, observing their chrysalises, and witnessing the transformation into a butterfly firsthand. The latter engages the senses, imagination, curiosity, and emotions more deeply.
Field trips—with their sensory-based and immersive environment—are an important way to introduce more kenntnis and balance out a youngster’s education. Research has amply demonstrated this.
A 2022 study authored by Heidi H. Erickson, Angela R. Watson, and Jay P. Greene divided fourth and fifth graders from 15 elementary schools in Atlanta into two groups: a control group, and a group exposed to three field trips during the school year. The field trips were culturally enriching experiences at an art museum, live theater performance, and symphony concert. The study found that the students who attended the field trips were absent from school less frequently, achieved higher grades, and had fewer behavioral issues. They were also more likely to express a desire to engage with the arts in the future, according to
a report on the study from “Science Daily.”
In the report, Erickson, the lead author of the study and professor at BYU, explained that “It’s possible to expose students to a broader world and have culturally enriching curriculum without sacrificing academic outcomes. ... We anticipated that field trips wouldn’t harm test scores. However, we started seeing academic improvements and realized that students who participated in these field trips were doing better in class.”
Another author of the study, Greene, observed in
an op-ed for the “New York Daily News” that such excursions give students a rare opportunity to experience priceless cultural events and institutions. “If schools make culturally-enriching field trips an integral part of the education experience, all students—especially those whose parents have a harder time accessing these experiences on their own—would benefit,” he wrote.
Another paper from 2014 by Marc Behrendt and Teresa Franklin of Ohio University summarized multiple studies on the benefits of field trips for students. In looking at the literature, the researchers found that field trip outings
increase student motivation and deepen their interest in and knowledge of the subject matter at hand. The benefits weren’t limited to enhanced curiosity and learning excitement, either. In looking at the results of field trips, Behrendt and Franklin noted: “Observation skills improve. Social skills develop as the students share perceptions and knowledge with others. Students may begin to look forward to classes and connect previous knowledge and experiences with the new concepts.” Referring to the unique advantages of outdoor field trips, the paper added, “Outdoor field trips provide an opportunity for students to develop increased perception, a greater vocabulary, and an increased interest in the outdoors.” Trips to a park or other outdoor area often include the chance to develop new skills as well, such as orienteering or rock climbing.
Field trips can be the key that unlocks a previously unrecognized passion in a student. They can open new worlds to be explored and discovered. The right experience could even change a student’s life. The eighth grader who visits an aquarium for the first time might go on to become a marine biologist. The fifth grader who’s thrilled by a symphony orchestra performance might start to take her violin lessons more seriously and later choose to major in music. In short, an immersive experience like a field trip can awaken the mind and ignite the heart in a way that book learning alone cannot.
