Field Trips Have Quantifiable Benefits

Nov 6, 2018, 1:06 PM

(from Education Next) School field trips have been on the decline, and the learning benefits associated with them are at stake. For example, the Field Museum in Chicago once welcomed more than 300,000 students every year, but more recently just 200,000. More than half of schools eliminated planned field trips in 2010–11, according to a survey by the American Association of School Administrators. The first major study on the outcomes of museum field trips tracked student visits to Crystal Bridges art museum in Arkansas. Students retained factual information, improved critical thinking and increased historical empathy (understanding of life in the past) among other benefits. The researchers urge schools and districts to devote resources to field trips.