Geographical Field Trips During University Studies. Whereto

Abstract

For the professional training of university students in the field of Geography, at the Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the curricula in all years of study, at the Bachelor's level, include two field trips organised by the faculty, where professors coordinate the activities. The aim of our paper is to realise proposals for improving these activities. Therefore, we chose to find out the opinions of a sample which was represented by university students in their 3 rd year of study, at all specialisations within the field of Geography (Geography, Geography of Tourism, Cartography, Hydrology-Meteorology, and Territorial Planning). We collected the data (students' answers) using an online questionnaire. They informed us about the reasons they had for taking part at the respective field trips, about the efficiency of diverse activities, about students' diverse roles during fieldwork and the usefulness for their learning and training, about what they recommended and preferred. They also realised a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the field trips they participated at. Taking into account the findings, we concluded that students considered field trips relevant for their professional training and we were able to provide a series of recommendations for improving them, based on students' opinions and suggestions.

Geographical Field Trips During University Studies. Whereto? (Ii)

“…In the Faculty of Geography, during 2014 and 2017, two compulsory field trips (in the first two years of study) were organised annually for each course of study, completed with transferable grades and credits, as well as optional or mandatory field trips for some subjects in the curriculum (Dulamă et al, 2018). In the third year of study, the students individually carry out field trips for the preparation of their Bachelor's theses.…”

“…Some of the field trips are optional, longer lasting, targeting an international route, so the high costs are fully paid by the participating students. The field trips attended by students were grouped by duration and degree of complexity in three main categories (Dulamă et al, 2018) (Table 3). Most respondents (84%) claimed to have participated at 25-hour, occasional field trips.…”

“…In terms of the responding students' reasons to participate in field trips, the first places in the hierarchy are intrinsic reasons, such as: learning new things, achieving field research skills, visiting touristic objectives and places, clarifying some problems, etc. (Dulamă et al, 2018). However, the second place in the hierarchy is an extrinsic reason: obtaining the grade related to the field trip (Dulamă et al, 2018).…”

“…(Dulamă et al, 2018). However, the second place in the hierarchy is an extrinsic reason: obtaining the grade related to the field trip (Dulamă et al, 2018). We investigated, as well, the relationship between the roles that students have during field trips and their perception about learning efficiency in those contexts (Table 4).…”

“…In a previous research paper (Dulamă et al, 2018), the authors of the present study investigated the students' motivation and roles in field trips organised by the Faculty of Geography of Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the efficiency and utility of these activities, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as the improvements proposed by their students. In this paper, with a view to finalising that research on field trips, we will present other results not published in the 2018 article due to limited space considerations: the number of field trips that the students participated in, duration, sources of funding, types of activities, students' learning process and its efficiency, the places where the activities were organised, portraying at the same time the SWOT analysis.…”