A Helsinki University field course 'Forest and peatland ecology', organised in June 2017, was studied using qualitative text analysis of students' learning diaries as a main source of data. Students' self-regulative knowledge was explored and found rather limited which is in line with some earlier literature. Teaching methods during the course were evaluated very positively by students. One of the main results was that the more activating teaching methods were perceived more positively. Learning diaries included a few negative evaluations and these can be seen as a valuable source of feedback. lt is concluded that the field course is an extremely relevant method in order to achieve professional knowledge in forest sciences. The recommendations for future teaching planning are that more emphasis should be put on communicating learning aims, modern learning technology, and finally, critical self-regulation knowledge.