Facilitating Field Trips and Guest Speaker Sessions for Effective Student Learning

By Heather Butler  -- 

Field trips and guest speakers are a wonderful tool for enhancing course content. They expose the students to real-world applications of the course, as well as introducing them to professionals in the field, which in turn creates informal networking opportunities between the students and the presenters (Ji et al., 2021). However, I have learned over the years through many, many field trips and guest speakers that the experience is only as valuable as the preparation invested before the event.

As much as I enjoy connecting students with guest speakers and organizing the events, the effectiveness in my earlier years was very hit-or-miss in terms of student responsiveness and the kinds of questions they asked. Some classes were very gregarious and asked the speakers meaningful, in-depth questions, while other classes were quite timid and unresponsive. In the latter situations, I felt badly for the speakers because it appeared my students were not interested in their presentation, and I was also confused by the students’ lack of engagement given that they were often genuinely looking forward to the visit beforehand.

I don’t remember exactly when I had my “Aha” moment that it was a “me” problem and not a student problem; but at some point, three years ago I started asking myself: “What if students are not asking questions because they are so overwhelmed and inexperienced going into a field trip or guest speaker that they don’t know what to ask?” So, I started strategizing how to improve the experience. I had always given the students a preliminary description of the event, but I had never given them an opportunity to think in-depth about it.

I decided to experiment two years ago with my Plant Science class before a trip to Red Sun Farms in Dublin VA. I had visited this large, 18-acre industrial tomato production facility two years prior, and had seen firsthand its high-tech, complicated environment. The students wouldn’t even know where to focus their eyes as they walked through all the infrastructure. I set aside the lecture before the trip to brainstorm what we might see. I pointed out to the class that they had been learning all semester what plants need for growth and development, so we brainstormed those on the board (sunlight, water, oxygen, nutrients, pollinators, pest control, correct temperature, etc.). I then pointed out that we would be touring a facility that creates an artificial habitat for plants; therefore, all these plant necessities must be artificially supplied through man-made materials. We then created categories out of each of these and developed questions for each category that we could ask the head grower on the tour. 

The brainstorming activity was a huge success and ended up taking up the entire lecture period. I was so impressed with the thought the students invested, and they came up with a long list of questions and equipment to look for. They started extending their thoughts beyond the growing to include harvesting, marketing, packaging, and distribution. They wanted to know what level and type of education Red Sun Farms wants to see when hiring, and if they try to hire local people or do they use migrant workers. They also wanted to know what happens to the rejected fruit — is it sent to local food pantries, or can the employees have them? The questions completely filled our classroom whiteboard.

I took a picture of the whiteboard and typed all the categories and questions into a notes packet for each student to have during the tour. The tour was fabulous! As the head grower led us through the greenhouses, the students were able to write down the information in an organized format and were quick to ask any questions that hadn’t been covered. They were training their eyes on and pointing out to each other all the details of the fertigation systems, roof vents, planting structures, and boxed pollinators — in other words, all the details they probably would have been too overwhelmed to notice if we had not brainstormed before the trip.

The head grower, who also happened to be very well-prepared and thorough, appreciated the students’ undivided attention and made the point at the end that we were the best student tour he had led in years. I was so proud of my students! I could also see they were equally proud of themselves and exuded a self-confidence that I had not seen in previous field trips. They each shook his hand, thanked him for the tour, and used the soft skills we’ve been trying to encourage in our agriculture classes.

I have used this strategy ever since that day, and it has made these events so much more engaging and enjoyable for all parties involved. The speakers appreciate the pre-prepared notes sheets because it helps guide them, especially those who are less practiced with student groups. We used this same strategy last year before a guest speaker from Mennel Milling, and with field trips to the Catawba Sustainability Center.

These preparation exercises tie in beautifully with our digital learning badges, which focus on soft skill development such as asking good questions, listening effectively, building professional relationships, and communicating effectively. Not only does it have the students step outside of themselves and understand the perspectives of the organizations these speakers represent, but it also helps them form valuable “weak ties” (Stanford Report, 2022), which can lead to future internship and job opportunities.

I will never go back to the lazy days of going into a guest speaker or tour blindly and hoping for the best. I now understand that the instructor is truly the facilitator, and lack of planning is not fair to either the students or the speaker. I think the best feedback I received was from our Animal Science professor, who was planning a farm field trip and one of my Plant Science students in her class asked, “Could we take some time before the trip and come up with questions?” That made me smile.

References

Ji, H., Jain, P., & Axinn, C. (2021). Student perceptions of guest speakers in strategic communication courses. Journal of Public Relations Education. 7(1), 40-79.  https://journalofpreducation.com/2021/05/29/student-perceptions-of-guest-speakers-in-strategic-communication-courses/

Stanford Report. (2022, September 15). The real strength of weak ties.  https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2022/09/real-strength-weak-ties