Evaluate Potential Field Trip with Cost vs. Compensation
One of the basic understandings taught by business schools is that your compensation should be higher than your costs. What does this have to do with class field trips? Not much, but the basic theory can be applied when determining what field trips a class should take. This is the third post in the series 4 Steps to Teach with Field Trips. In brief, the four steps are:
1. Brainstorm with a Partner-Plunge
Back to economics...schools are in the business of teaching and our product is education--not an easy commodity to measure. So, let's start a little simpler...with a definition of field trip. Field trips, by definition, are trips by students or workers to study something at first hand (Oxford Dictionary). Well, if students are studying something at first hand, shouldn't what they study be related to what they are doing in the classroom? I say, YES! Especially since we're in the business of educating students not entertaining students.
Now let's return to cost vs. compensation. The cost of a field trip is pretty easy to determine. There's bus costs and entrance fees. Most teachers need to provide that information in their travel request forms.
So now that we have a cost, how can we analyze compensation? Just like in an economic model the cost of the field trip should be lower than the product---knowledge gained by students. Now I won't go into the best way to measure educational gains by students. Instead let's look at the field trip itself. Teachers should ask and answer several questions about the trip such as:
1. Brainstorm with a Partner-Plunge
2. Research with a Try-Teach-Tour Mindset
3. Evaluate Cost vs. Compensation
4. Teach Kids to Explore & Explain
Back to economics...schools are in the business of teaching and our product is education--not an easy commodity to measure. So, let's start a little simpler...with a definition of field trip. Field trips, by definition, are trips by students or workers to study something at first hand (Oxford Dictionary). Well, if students are studying something at first hand, shouldn't what they study be related to what they are doing in the classroom? I say, YES! Especially since we're in the business of educating students not entertaining students.Now let's return to cost vs. compensation. The cost of a field trip is pretty easy to determine. There's bus costs and entrance fees. Most teachers need to provide that information in their travel request forms.
So now that we have a cost, how can we analyze compensation? Just like in an economic model the cost of the field trip should be lower than the product---knowledge gained by students. Now I won't go into the best way to measure educational gains by students. Instead let's look at the field trip itself. Teachers should ask and answer several questions about the trip such as:
How does this complement or enrich what I'm teaching?
Could this excursion potentially inspire a student?
Does this location offer enrichment activities for more than 1 area of study?
Would this trip be a great way to front load concepts before I teach?
Or would this be better suited as a culminating activity?
The answers to these questions will give you the information you need to determine the compensation or payback from taking this trip with your students. If you've been following this series of posts, you now have brainstormed and previewed with a personal visit to potential field trip locations. Now you have additional information on how to evaluate the compensation or payback of the trip. The final step, teach the kids to explore and explain their understanding coming in the next and final post of the series 4 Steps to Teach with Field Trips.
