Bringing Adam Smith’s pin factory to life: Field trips and discussions as forms of experiential learning

Abstract

Educators are often aware of the need to implement a variety of teaching techniques to reach out to students with different learning styles. I describe an attempt to target multimodal learners by bringing classical economic texts and concepts to life through discussions, field visits and role playing exercises.In my Labor Economics class I analyze the relationship existing between demand for labor, technological advances, and trade. As a foundation for such analysis, I assign the reading of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations chapters regarding the division of labor. To increase students’ interest toward the topics, I precede the text discussion with a field visit to a museum of industrial revolution. Here students are asked to participate also as “factory workers” to an assembly line exercise that brings Smith’s description of a pin factory to life. They are then asked to reflect on this experience and to use it as a foundation to inform the following class discussions about Smith’s chapters.In this paper I describe the main learning and retention objectives of this exercise, its implementation, challenges, and students’ learning outcomes and feedback about enjoyment and recollection. Field trip participants performed significantly better when tested on the relevant concepts. I also discuss the rewards and institutional challenges associated with making use of community resources to increase the understanding of the concrete applications of the economics concept we teach.

Active Learning in a Child Psychology Course: Observing Play Behavior at a Children’s Museum

“…One unanticipated result was a change in class dynamics, with students feeling more comfortable with each other and participating more frequently in class discussions after the trip. This observation is consistent with Galizzi (2014), who reported stronger classroom camaraderie and a sense of “belonging” among classmates following an undergraduate economics class field trip that fostered increased interaction with the teacher and peers. For instructors who do not have access to a children’s museum, other possible activities include inviting children to class, having students host a child-friendly event on campus (e.g., carnival for children/families), or incorporating a service-learning component with children in the community.…”

A practitioner framework for blended learning classroom inquiry-based virtual reality lessons

“…Research suggests that experiential learning has both positive motivational and learning impacts (McManus and Thiamwong, 2015; Smeds et al., 2015). Among these impacts, active authentic experiences that involve more than merely the minds of students have been shown to impact memory on a level beyond that of passive learning modalities (Galizzi, 2014). Experiential learning also has the potential to increase motivation when compared to more passive learning modalities because of the immersive experiences and comradery students and instructors build through these experiences together (Di Blas and Paolini, 2014; Mayrose, 2012).…”

“…A combination of factors has phased out the authentic experiences—often referred to as experiential learning—that students of past generations have enjoyed through field trips and similar excursions. Experiential learning transpires when students visit locations outside their classrooms or take part in experiences that link to the content they are learning in their courses (Galizzi, 2014; Kolb, 1984). Not only are field trips costly, consequently making them an addition to the chopping block of shrinking school district budgets, but they present genuine safety and logistical concerns for educators, as well (Whitmeyer and Mogk, 2013).…”

Shaping Student Activists: Discursive Sensemaking of Activism and Participation Research

“…Teachers eager to instill positive changes in students disseminate lessons on activism in a multitude of creative service learning techniques that extend beyond traditional classrooms. Studies indicate long-term positive response from students exposed through guided hands-on scientific methods (Mueller et al, 2014;Willermet, et al, 2011), through music (Levy & Byrd, 2001), and through faculty-led field trips (Galizzi, 2014).…”