A new way of learning: fieldwork experience

If anyone is to mention a memorable lesson from the secondary school days, one would either remember a particular funny incident or the day when the lesson was carried somewhere else, outside the traditional day-to-day classroom.

Hands-on experiences prove to be more effective in the learning process and fieldwork is one of the finest outdoor learning experiences. Fieldwork, as the term suggests, involves carrying out work on the field - on site as though it was an 'open laboratory'.

Well-planned fieldwork stimulates the students' interest in the subject and develops various skills, knowledge and understanding through practical experience. Thus 'fieldwork' does not refer to the traditional outing to a place of interest, during which students are merely passive observers. It is not simply an extension of what is done in class, but it involves student participation.

Fieldwork is generally related to Geography and similarly, it resembles the experiments carried out in a chemistry lab. The aims of fieldwork are therefore to exercise the skills of data collection, ordering of results and drawing conclusions.

Environmental Studies, a subject very much related to Geography, presents a myriad of possible topics for fieldwork. Moreover, Environmental Studies tend to link with subjects such as Biology, History and Business Studies, offering the possibility for an inter-disciplinary approach to fieldwork.

Fieldwork is an excellent opportunity to put into practice the four learning patterns of the Let Me Learn model, whereby the collection of data by the precise, the ideas by the confluent, the order in scientific investigation by the sequential, while the hands-on solutions and preparation of apparatus by the technical.

Therefore, diversity is enhanced through a holistic approach. The Let Me Learn model, adopted on a whole school approach at St Albert the Great College, Valletta, helps provide a relevant, personal and team experience.

A group of Fifth Formers from St Albert the Great recently participated in fieldwork in northwest Malta, organised by Eman Vella and Victoria Caruana, Environmental Studies and Biology teachers respectively.

Before fieldwork actually started, the students visited a number of fields in Mgarr where the farmer described the processes involved in growing crops and maintaining his fields and the environs.

The students could ask questions related to agriculture covered in class and get first hand information from an expert in this line of work.

The students then proceeded to Ghajn Tuffieha Bay to learn about coastal processes and habitats, another theme. The session took place on the clay slopes backing the bay and on the sandy beach. Each student was given an information pack about the area under study and a set of worksheets to be completed on site.

Among the activities carried out, students recorded the human activities prominent in the area and discussed their impacts on the natural environment.

They also studied the area's geo-logy, especially the various rock types and features that are plentiful in the Ghajn Tuffieha and Gnejna area. Another exercise was to identify the variety of habitats and vegetation present.

Quadrants and transect lines were used to take samples as well as investigate the type of vegetation found on slopes and the shape of pebbles on the beach. Other apparatus used included measuring tapes, a trundle wheel, a clinometer and compasses. The latter were used to investigate the width, depth, length and orientation of a gully system found on the clay slopes backing the beach.

As a result of this fieldwork, students became aware of their newly acquired knowledge, research and investigating skills. All agreed that the morning was a wonderful and enriching experience useful not only for their scholastic life but also as a further appreciation of the need to protect such ecologically important areas.

As a Chinese proverb goes, "tell me and I will forget, show me and I might remember, let me do it and I will understand".