Texas Education Agency
Guidelines for Instructional Field Experiences
The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science require teachers at all grade levels to be provided with a wide range of materials and instruments for facilitating student investigations. They also require that students, at every grade level and in every high school course, have field experiences and do field work. At the secondary level, a minimum of 40% of instructional time must be spent in laboratory and field work. [19 TAC, Chap. 74.3.]
Purpose
The purpose of these guidelines is to address the need for field investigations and for curriculum-based field trips for the students of Texas. In order to prepare citizens who understand natural and cultural phenomena, students must gain first-hand knowledge of the world.
Rationale
Science learning activities occur in the classroom, in the laboratory, and in the field. Through these experiences, students discover facts, concepts, and laws of science, much as scientists do in their professional lives. Field investigations provide students with first-hand experience by allowing them to explore, observe, and investigate natural-world phenomena that cannot be brought into the classroom learning environment. Direct observation in a field setting can provide a stimulating and rewarding experience for the students and the teacher. However, field experiences require materials and procedures in order for students to experience various facets of the natural world. In addition, safety guidelines must be maintained to ensure a productive experience for all participants.
Guidelines for Instructional Field ExperiencesI. TEKS Correlation
The field experience needs to be an integral part of a State Board of Education (SBOE) approved course and must assist students in acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in mastering the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
- The field experience should have clearly stated instructional goals based on the TEKS.
- The field experience should have three components: pre-visit, on-site, and post-visit TEKS-based instructional activities that are clearly developed in lesson plans.
II. Opportunities for Learning
Like all instructional experiences, the field experience should provide equitable learning opportunities for all students.
- The field experience should not be used as incentive for specific behavior.
- Comparable learning experiences should be available for students who are not able to participate in the field experience. These alternative learning experiences should introduce, develop, or reinforce the same TEKS as the original field experience and would preferably be laboratory and/or field-based.
- The field experience should include formative and summative assessments of student expectations.
- Field experiences should occur during the time that concepts are presented or developed in the classroom.
III. Complies with Texas Safety Standards
In order to ensure a productive learning experience in a field setting for all participants, safety guidelines must be established and maintained.
- School districts should develop and implement safety procedures for laboratory investigations and field trips.
- Teachers should learn safe procedures for laboratory activities and field trips and follow them as a matter of policy. NSTA: Field and Laboratory Liability, 1984.
Research
By providing an active learning environment, well structured field trips promote various aspects of student development. Some major benefits of field trips/investigations are as follows:
Resources
Texas Safety Standards: Available from the Texas Education Agency, Publications Distribution & Sales, P.O.Box 13817, Austin, TX 78711-3817 or from the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin at: http://www.tenet.edu/teks/science/stacks/safety/safetymain.html
Texas Environmental Education Advisory Committee (TEEAC) Sites and Programs: http://www.tenet.edu/teks/science/stacks/resources/teeac_sites.html
Directory of Texas Environmental Education and Interpretive Facilities at: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/edu/edu.html
The Texas Science Center for Professional Development in Curriculum and Assessment: http://www.texassciencecenter.org
Teaching Should Extend Beyond the School
“Good science programs require access to the world beyond the classroom. District and school leaders must allocate financial support to provide opportunities for students to investigate the world outside the classroom. This may mean budgeting for trips to nearby points of interest, such as a river, archeological site, or nature preserve; it could include contracting with local science centers, museums, zoos, and horticulture centers for visits and programs. Relationships should be developed with local businesses and industry to allow students and teachers access to people and the institutions, and students must be given access to scientists and other professionals in higher education and the medical establishment to gain access to their expertise and the laboratory setting in which they work.”National Science Education Standards
Published by the National Academy Press of the National Academy of Sciences
“Science teachers should exploit the rich resources of the larger community and involve parents and other concerned adults in useful ways.”
Science For All Americans, Published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science
To contact the Texas Education Agency Science Staff call (512) 463-9556
Publication # BR02 210 02 Spring 2002
To obtain copies of this document contact:
Texas Education Agency Publication Distribution & Sales P.O. Box 13817 Austin, TX 78711-3817