It was the purpose of this study to determine the effect of study trips and subsequent discussion on the vocabulary of kindergarten pupils from three social groups in Madora County. Seventy-nine pupils, selected from three classrooms in three rural school districts, were classified as middle-class Anglo-American, lower-class Anglo-American, and lower-class Mexican-American. Two of the three classes were designated as experimental and one as the control class. The instructional design, twelve study trips (one each week) and ensuing discussions, encourage pupils to use new words and develop and expand the meanings of words. The major source of data was the Watts Vocabulary Test for Young Children administered prior to and following the experimental instruction. To provide a basis for interpreting the vocabulary data, the language skills of the pupils were rated by their teachers. Nineteen pupils, selected as high, average, and low verbal responders, were observed in the classroom to determine the effect of the instruction on their verbal behavior. Data also were collected, by the use of observation techniques, to find the extent the instructional plan was implemented and its effect on the verbal behavior of all pupils. An analysis of variance technique was applied to the means obtained on the Watts test to determine the statistical relationship of the experimental and control groups and of the social-class groups. Significant differences, at the .05 level, were located by using post hoc tests. The t test was used to find differences between means. A correlation technique was used to compare vocabulary scores and the language ratings. Language ratings and social-class placements were compared with the quartile distribution of scores for the nineteen pupils selected for more intensive observation. The conclusions from the study include the following: (1) the vocabularies of the pupils in each of the social groups in the experimental classes were effectively stimulated by the instruction; (2) the instruction was most effective for the middle-class pupils, and the least effective for the lower-class Mexican-American pupils; (3) in the distribution of language ratings and vocabulary scores the Mexican-American pupils usually placed low, middle-class Anglo pupils high, and lower-class Anglo pupils in the middle. The findings suggest the needs for further research to: (1) validate the instructional plan by replicating the study in the same school districts; (2) evaluate the effect of the instruction on vocabulary skill after an interval of two years; (3) measure the results of similar curricula administered to the same pupils for at least three years; (4) determine the gain in English vocabulary when the discussions include the use of the native language of the Mexican-American pupils; (5) evaluate the effects of the plan when used with younger pupils.

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abstract: Education through field exploration is fundamental in geoscience. But not all students enjoy equal access to field-based learning because of time, cost, distance, ability, and safety constraints. At the same time, technological advances afford ever more immersive, rich, and student-centered virtual field experiences. Virtual field trips may be the only practical options for most students to explore pedagogically rich but inaccessible places. A mixed-methods research project was conducted on an introductory and an advanced geology class to explore the implications of learning outcomes of in-person and virtual field-based instruction at Grand Canyon National Park. The study incorporated the Great Unconformity in the Grand Canyon, a 1.2 billion year break in the rock record; the Trail of Time, an interpretive walking timeline; and two immersive, interactive virtual field trips (iVFTs). The in-person field trip (ipFT) groups collectively explored the canyon and took an instructor-guided inquiry hike along the interpretive Trail of Time from rim level, while iVFT students individually explored the canyon and took a guided-inquiry virtual tour of Grand Canyon geology from river level. High-resolution 360° spherical images anchor the iVFTs and serve as a framework for programmed overlays that enable interactivity and allow the iVFT to provide feedback in response to student actions. Students in both modalities received pre- and post-trip Positive and Negative Affect Schedules (PANAS). The iVFT students recorded pre- to post-trip increases in positive affect (PA) scores and decreases in negative (NA) affect scores, representing an affective state conducive to learning. Pre- to post-trip mean scores on concept sketches used to assess visualization and geological knowledge increased for both classes and modalities. However, the iVFT pre- to post-trip increases were three times greater (statistically significant) than the ipFT gains. Both iVFT and ipFT students scored 92-98% on guided-inquiry worksheets completed during the trips, signifying both met learning outcomes. Virtual field trips do not trump traditional in-person field work, but they can meet and/or exceed similar learning objectives and may replace an inaccessible or impractical in-person field trip. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Geological Sciences 2018

Nya teknologier utvecklas hela tiden och ett fåtal av dessa har möjligheten att revolutionera tillvägagångssättet av hur vi gör saker. Utbildningsområdet är ett av de äldsta områdena som finns kvar även idag och som återkommande har dragit nytta av ny teknologi för att förbättra kärnkonceptet.Vår forskning täcker fenomenet virtual reality som ett supplement i utbildningen. Vi undersöker hur studenter vid Högskolan i Borås uppfattar introduceringen av denna moderna teknologi som ett hjälpmedel till deras studier. Vi använder oss utav enkäter för att samla in information, och vi fick svar från 143 studenter. Vår slutats anser att den övergripande attityden är positiv hos studenterna, samtidigt som vi behåller en viss skepticism för att detta resultat ska ligga till grund som fakta för framtida beslutstaganden. / There is a constant development of new technologies happening in the world. A handful of these are deemed to have the potential of truly revolutionizing the way we do things. The field of education is one of the oldest fields that continue to be present even today and has time and time again come to make use of new technologies that streamlines and improves upon its core concept.The research we put forward covers the case of virtual reality as an improvement into the field of education. We research how students at the University of Borås perceive the introduction of this novel technology as an aid in their studies. We utilize questionnaires in order to receive this information and received a total of 143 respondents’ answers. We conclude that the general attitude of the students is positive, while maintaining skepticism in terms of this result as a piece of document for proving the results as facts.

The thesis is focused on falconry lessons in primary and secondary schools in the Czech Republic. It introduces the theory of falconry: Past and Present, legislation, falconer and ethics, anatomy and physiology birds of prey, falconry equipment, protection of birds of prey and falconry contemporary significance. Suggests the possibilities that mediate falconry lessons in schools both within lessons and excursions. The thesis is the preparation and implementation of the above proposed teaching methods: Power Point presentations and worksheets aimed at training students in primary and secondary schools filled with falconry, falconer conversation and exemplary school excursion. Key words: falconry, field trips, power point, birds of prey

The thesis is focused on summer programmes for field trips for primary school pupils. The theoretical part of the thesis contains important information about the organisation of the field trips and ideas for activities for this stay. In the practical part, I find out whether schools in the Czech Republic organize the field trips and the way of the realization. Then, in the practical part, I realize my own one-week project.

Este trabalho se baseia em dados obtidos a partir do registro das interações comunicativas entre monitor e alunos de sexta série do ensino fundamental envolvidos em atividades conjuntas realizadas em de três viagens de estudo de ecossistemas litorâneos realizadas no Parque Estadual da Ilha do Cardoso (SP). Dentre as várias atividades de campo que se realizam nas viagens de estudo, investigamos o que chamamos, neste trabalho, de aula de campo: momentos em que os monitores protagonizam uma interação em que se fornece, de forma dialogada e com participação variável dos alunos, explicações relativas ao ambiente que se visita. Nosso objetivo foi investigar as interações comunicativas entre monitores e alunos durante as aulas de campo, procurando revelar quais modos semióticos são utilizados nas explicações, bem como investigar as funções que esses modos desempenham em tais atividades. Procuramos ainda explorar algumas especificidades no uso dos modos semióticos nas aulas de campo, em comparação ao seu uso em sala de aula descrito na literatura. Nosso referencial teórico é construído a partir de duas linhas principais: uma delas traz aportes das abordagens sócio-culturais aos processos educacionais e a outra vem de trabalhos que procuram investigar tais processos do ponto de vista da multimodalidade da comunicação. Nas comparações que tecemos com o ensino em sala de aula, dialogamos especialmente com o trabalho de C. Márquez (2002), que investiga aspectos do ensino de ciências na sala de aula por meio de uma abordagem multimodal. Nossos dados são de natureza discursiva, embora estejam incluídas aqui formas verbais e não verbais de discurso: foram registrados a fala e os gestos produzidos nas aulas de campo. A análise se dá em vários níveis, partindo da produção de enunciados pelos participantes e chegando na estrutura da atividade como um todo. Monitores e alunos utilizaram apenas duas modalidades semióticas: a fala e os gestos. É o monitor que conduz a aula de campo: ele é quem produz a maior parte das mensagens durante as sessões de trabalho. A fala dos monitores é predominantemente temática e tem uma função secundária de gerir e controlar a construção da narrativa científica. A fala e os gestos da aula de campo têm muitas funções em comum com as desempenhadas por esses modos na sala de aula. No entanto, existem algumas diferenças: no campo, por falta de suporte material para imagens e textos escritos, fala e gestos têm que cumprir funções que em sala são realizadas por esses modos. A principal diferença está na participação do mundo empírico na aula de campo, na forma de base referencial para a construção conjunta de uma representação, dentro do que denominamos marco referencial empírico. Esta construção se dá por meio do uso dos modos da fala e do gestual, que regulam as ações de observação feitas pelos alunos e a negociação dos significados. / This research work is based on data collected from the observation of communicative interaction between field teacher and 6th grade students participating in joint activities during three field trips studying coastal environments at Cardoso Island State Park (SP). Amongst several field activities that take place in field trips, we investigated what we call here field classes: the moments when the field teacher provides, in a dialogic manner, and with variable participation of the pupils, explanations regarding to the ecosystems they are visiting. Our aim was to investigate the communicative interactions during the field classes trying to reveal which semiotic modes are used in the explanation, as well as to find out which roles this modes play in such activities. We also tried to study some possible specific features of the use of semiotic modes in field classes compared to their use in the classroom described in the literature. Our theoretical background has two main sources: the sociocultural approaches to the educational processes, and the research that investigates such processes from a multimodal communication point of view. In our comparisson with classroom teaching, we were based on C. Márquez (2002) who researched science teaching in classroom from a multimodal perspective. Our data are of discoursive nature, including verbal and non verbal means of discourse: we recorded speech and gestures produced in the field classes. We made a multilevel analysis, from the utterance production by the participants, to the level of activity structure as a whole. Field teachers and pupils used only two semiotic modes: speech and gestures. It is the field teacher that conducts the field class, being responsible for the production of most of the messages during the sessions. Field teacher\'s speech in mostly thematic, and has a secondary function of organizing and controlling the construction of the scientific narrative. In the field classes, speech and gestures have many functions in commom with the ones they have in classroom teaching. However, there are some differences: in the field classes, due to the lack of material support for the use of images and written text, speech and gestures have to play the roles that those modes play in classrom. The main difference seems to be the part that the empirical world takes in a field class, as referencial aids to the construction of a representation, within what we called empirical referencial frame. The construction of this representation takes place with the use of the semiotic modes of speech and gestures, which regulates the student\'s action of observation and the negociated meaning making.

This thesis examines the ways in which outdoor environmental education can be understood in the context of relational-environmental encounters. The study focuses on residential learning programmes with secondary school students in the UK. The research aims to explore the extent to which current educational practices, structures and pedagogies in two case study locations can be said to occur as continuous lived experiences; invoking relational ontologies. Furthermore, this research examines the environmental encounters of students and considers how these encounters shape and challenge environmental narratives consisting social and cultural norms. Making use of developments within behaviour change theory, ecological ethics and environmental pedagogy, this thesis brings together ways of understanding environmental and sustainability education, notions of relational ways of being, and models for transformative societal change. The research methodology makes use of ethnographic encounters in two case locations comprising residential education centers in South Devon, UK, chosen for their representation of instrumental and emancipatory pedagogies. Participating in fifteen outdoor environmental education programmes over ten months, participant observation, focus groups, interviews and photo elicitation were deployed. In-field and subsequent thematic analysis, using structured coding elicited four central themes: structure, choice, relationships and discomfort. These themes formed the core empirical analysis and enabled an exploration of relational practices occurring across the spectrum of contemporary environmental education. The research therefore provides a narrative of residential experiences in a subjective, emergent and reciprocal environment, whereby both lived and learning experiences provide space for instrumental and emancipatory learning. Consequently, contributions are made to geography and education in four key areas; firstly, the articulation of a pedagogy of discomfort deployed explicitly and implicitly within environmental education; secondly, an advancement of relational connotations of place-making within environmental education as being emergent of agency, structure and the setting itself; thirdly, through the ecotheraputic ‘performance’ of other-than-human material and ecological environments in education discourses; and finally, through an advancement of a blended approach to environmental education, understood from an ecological-ethical, as well as a behavioural-practice perspective.

The Field Trip Study was conducted in direct response to the emergence of scientific thinking as it relates to children’s cognitive abilities. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of nature-based, experiential activities on children’s acquisition of science knowledge. A multiple treatments and controls with pretest research design was utilized to compare science knowledge acquisition between kindergarten children in four instructional conditions: 1) nature-based field trip plus extension activities from an environmental education curriculum, and corresponding book reading and activities, 2) nature-based field trips plus extension activities from an environmental education curriculum, 3) nature-based field trips plus corresponding book reading and book-related activities, and 4) nature-based field trip with business as usual instruction. Study teachers implemented activities from the Growing Up WILD curriculum and National Science Teacher Association children’s books. An age-appropriate science assessment and accompanying scoring rubric were created in correspondence with Next Generation Science Standards and piloted prior to use as the pretest and posttest for kindergarten children enrolled in the study. Children were interviewed in small groups to elaborate on assessment responses. Kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of using environmental education curricula as a part of field trip extension activities were assessed during a group interview. Gender, treatment condition, and pretest scores were predictors of children’s posttest scores. Children in condition 1 scored significantly higher on posttest mean scores than children in other groups. Teachers enjoyed using the environmental education curriculum and believed it made teaching NGSS accessible.

This thesis is a qualitative case study of a 5th grade field trip program at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, Georgia. The value – educational, social, and otherwise – of direct experiences with artworks in the museum setting has been demonstrated in numerous studies (Adams & Sibille, 2005; Burchenal & Grohe, 2007; Burchenal & Lasser, 2007; Henry, 1992; Hubard, 2007), and the single-visit field trip program has been a staple of educational programming at many art museums across the United States. However, much of the recent literature in art education focuses on the benefits of multiple-visit field trip programming (Burchenal & Grohe, 2007; Burchenal & Lasser, 2007), in effect “abandoning” the single-visit program. Given that the single-visit field trip remains a standard in the field, this study sought to explore the ways museum educators can maximize the value of the one-shot field trip model in art museums. Through observations of a 5th grade class on their field trip to the Georgia Museum of Art, interviews with program stakeholders (including museum educators, museum director, the school art teacher, and program donor), and collecting the students’ perspective through written questionnaires, this study revealed insight into the one-visit field trip. An analysis of the various issues and perspectives involved with this type of programming substantiated the hypothesis that there is valuable information to be learned from looking closer at the single-visit program. The findings suggest that by situating itself authentically in its own community, the art museum can make single-visit field trip programs more relevant to students’ lives by employing culturally responsive teaching practices. / text