| 1. |
- Schmidinger, Helen, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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Excursions in school – past and present from Swedish and Anglo-Saxon perspectives
- 2014
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Ingår i: European Journal of Geography. - : European Association of Geographers. - 1792-1341. ; 5:4, s. 87-101
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this article is to present the results from a review of literature on geography excursions and field studies and to discuss their development over time, focusing on purpose, content, method, and execution. The scope was limited to Swedish and Anglo-Saxon literature, produced after the year 1900. The results show that excursions and field studies have since long been important methods in school teaching, not only in the subject geography. One of the purposes of using excursions and field studies in teaching is to facilitate the learning process of pupils and students. Several authors arguing that learning improved when the objects are studied in the real world. We can see that a continuous process of change has altered contents as well as conduction of the excursions. The previous instrumental orientation has moved toward more pupil-participating work methods. Today preparation is a keyword in most texts on excursions, and the perspectives have been broadened.
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| 2. |
- Schmidinger, Helen, 1955-
(författare)
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Exkursioner i gymnasieskolan : Lärande, motivation och plats
- 2015
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present licentiate thesis comprises a review of Swedish and Anglo-Saxon literature on excursions and their history, followed by a study on three one-day excursions and two neighbourhood excursions, conducted by pupils at upper secondary school. The primary purpose of the thesis was to highlight the development of excursion procedures, aiming at increasing the interest of the pupils, improving their inner motivation, but also to develop the learning process. Thus, the work also attempted to identify learning models and excursion methods, furnishing pupils with a positive attitude during excursions and field studies.Article no 1 consists of a survey of Swedish (particularly in Geographical Notices) and Anglo-Saxon literature, describing and discussing how the excursion procedures have been developed, influenced, and designed. Excursions became a practiced teaching method at the beginning of the last century. The urbanization and instigation of a public school are described as incitements for arranging excursions. British as well as Swedish teaching authorities emphasized excursions in school activities in different curricula or school documents. The present study shows that arranging excursions and other activities in the field was in the interests of the teaching authorities and a number of different society instances. Excursion methods and their extent and incorporation into the school activities have been amply discussed in the excursion literature.Qualitative interviews with 50 pupils from five upper secondary schools were conducted after excursions. Observations were carried out during four of these excursions. Article II comprises one-day excursions in geography or biology, conducted by pupils in the social and natural science programs at three upper secondary schools. The methods applied in this study were group interviews and observations during two of the excursions. Two neighbourhood excursions in geography and science, performed by two upper secondary schools, were investigated, and form the foundation for article II. The neighbourhood excursions were examined by observations, 25 individual interviews, and a smaller questionnaire. The interviews generated information about how pupils perceive, experience, and interpret the applied excursion methods. Pupils have in interviews and in their questionnaire answers reported their motivation, which ranged from non-existent to a deep inner motivation. Preparations were identified as a key factor for pupils as well as teachers.The observations yielded knowledge about the focus of pupils, their attitudes and concentration level, and also how they use digital media in the field. Furthermore, the relevance of location, along with pupils’ comprehensions and experiences, created an applicable backdrop for future excursions. Careful selection of excursion locations, where pupils are able to discern correlations, was identified as important to their capability of interpreting their observations, which they afterwards might be able to transform into knowledge, inner motivation, or even flow.
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| 3. |
- Schmidinger, Helen, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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Närområdesexkursioner och inre motivation för bättre lärande : en studie i svenska gymnasieskolan
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nordidactica. - Karlstad : CSD Karlstad. - 2000-9879. ; 2015:1, s. 22-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports results from two locally based geography excursions at two secondary schools in Sweden, in order to study how the pupils’ own experience from the local neighborhood, intrinsic motivation, and flow interact during the learning process to see if these parameters affect their understanding and knowledge of the studied objects. The methods used were observations during the excursions, as well as interviews and questionnaires afterwards. The results show that the pupils believe that they learn more when studying objects in their natural environment, i.e. outside their classroom. Furthermore, the results show that intrinsic motivation may be difficult, but not impossible, to achieve, and also that there are good opportunities for attaining flow. If the pupils can see patterns and structures of the objects and processes studied, they will start understand and gain knowledge. This process will increase chances for intrinsic motivation, which will further increase understanding and knowledge, and attaining flow. Once achieved, a spiral process of continued flow, continued intrinsic motivation, and increasing knowledge may be maintained.
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