I can use this presentation to
teach the different learning
styles to the teachers at my
school.
Joelyn Gies-Redmond
Students with learning disabilities
only exposed to conventional
teaching styles will most likely not
reach their full potential.
Textbooks and Worksheets
(Brigham, Scruggs & Mastropieri, 2011)
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
&Tactile
(Noel, 2007)
Auditory Learning
Visual Learning
Kinesthetic & Tactile Learning
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
&Tactile
Field trips that reinforce
curriculum allow teachers the
opportunity to engage all
learning styles.

In one case study researchers looked at a group of at risk high
school students in rural Texas. All of the students in the study had
not met one of the high school graduate requirements even though
it was previously taught to them. The objective was for students to
identify a science discipline and how it related to a career.
Researchers planned a field trip to a local technical/vocational
training campus with pre, during and post lessons. Students toured
the campus and conducted interviews. Researchers interviewed
participants 10 days later and found all had met the learning
requirement. Researchers concluded that when students are put
into the correct context students are able to make the learning
connection from the classroom to the world around them.
(Hutson, Cooper & Talbert, 2011)
 Another
study focused on the memory
retention of students from a field trip that
relied heavily on primary sources. Students
from a fourth grade class traveled to Carver
National Monument. Students took part in an
interactive walking trail and onsite lab
activities. Researchers interviewed students
one year later and found that the students
memory was mostly based on lessons that
required their active participation.
Farmer, Knapp & Benton, 2007

A second case also focused on the memory retention of
field trip goers. A group of fifth grade students traveled
to the Shenandoah National Park. Students took part in an
interactive hike up the mountain collecting rocks and
dirt, examining soil and identifying trees. Researchers
interviewed students one year later and found that all
students had some degree of memory and all the
memories relied heavily on the actions the students had
participated in. Researches concluded that episodic
memory aided in semantic memory.
Farmer, Knapp &
Benton, 2007
•Episodic Memory-Stores the memory of events in our
lives
•Semantic Memory-Stores the memory of knowledge
and concepts
•Field trips provide an "episodic" or experiential
context that can help achieve semantic information.
Farmer, Knapp & Benton, 2007
In a collaboration project done with
district teachers, a local university
professor and museum educators
worked together to develop a study of
unit that involved a local historical site of a one room
schoolhouse The group worked together to create pre-, during
and post lessons that hit the state standards and a variety of
learning styles. The pre-lessons engaged students in hands on
exploratory time of artifacts from the one room school house.
Students put together a timeline with premade visuals to
represent important events. The onsite lessons had participants
take part in a day in the life of a one room school house student.
Back in their own classroom students reflected on their
experience in discussion and wrote in their journals comparing
(Coughlin, 2010).
and contrasting school life then and now.
Teachers should

Conduct in class lessons that build prior knowledge

Visit the site beforehand

Know the exhibits and artifacts that support the in class
curriculum

Collaborate with site’s educator

Share the learning objective with students

Prepare the students for the logistics of the day(Share the
agenda, map)

Specific Rules
(Nabors, Edwards &
Murray, 2009).
 Avoid
relying heavily on the texts in the
exhibits
 Less is more
 Keep students cognitively engaged
 Bring clipboards
 Encourage observation, group work and
discussions
 Be wary of students energy level
(Nabors, Edwards &
Murray, 2009).
 Students
should share their experiences and
report learning back to the classroom
 Lessons
 Assess
should continue to build off the topic
student learning
(Nabors, Edwards &
Murray, 2009).
Day One
Museum educators
explain how to make pre,
during and post lesson
plans.
 Museum educators model
teaching a lesson using
museum exhibits
 Teachers get time to walk
the museum in order to
be familiar with the
layout of the museum

Day Two
Each teacher picks an
exhibit that supports
one of their
curriculum units and
writes a lesson for it.
 Teachers demonstrate
their lessons for each
other.

Teachers learn how to plan field trips that
align with curriculum
Teachers become AMNH experts
Teachers use more multisensory learning
activities
Students with learning disabilities will be
more engaged in class and on field trips
Teachers incorporate field trips into their
future curriculum
Questions?
Comments?
Suggestions?

Brigham, F. J., Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (2011). Science education and
students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 26(4),
223-232.

Coughlin, P. K. (2010). Making field trips count: Collaborating for meaningful
experiences. The Social Studies (Washington, D.C.), 101(5), 200-210.

Farmer, J., Knapp, D., & Benton, G. M. (2007). The effects of primary sources and
field trip experience on the knowledge retention of multicultural content.
Multicultural Education, 14(3), 27-31.

Fisher, Douglas1,2, dfisher@mail.sdsu.edu, Frey, Nancy1,2, nfrey@mail.sdsu.edu, &
Lapp, Diane2,3, lapp@mail.sdsu.edu. (2012). Building and activating students'
background knowledge: It's what they already know that counts. Middle School
Journal, 43(3), 22-31.

Gillett, J. (2011). The use of experiential education and field trips for learning.
Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 20(2), 173-177.

Gupta, P., Adams, J., Kisiel, J., & Dewitt, J. (2010). Examining the complexities of schoolmuseum partnerships. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 5(3), 685-699.

Hutson, T., Cooper, S., & Talbert, T. (2011). Describing connections between science content
and future careers: Implementing texas curriculum for rural at-risk high school students using
purposefully-designed field trips. Rural Educator, 33(1), 37-47.

Knapp, D. (2007). A longitudinal analysis of an out-of-school science experience. School
Science and Mathematics, 107(2), 44-51.

Nabors, M. L., Edwards, L. C., & Murray, R. K. (2009). Making the case for field trips: What
research tells us and what site coordinators have to say. Education, 129(4), 661-667.

Noel, A. M. (2007). Elements of a winning field trip. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 44(1), 42-44.