Abstract:

A Field Trip should allow students and other participants to learn, in a practical way, the subject they have started studying in class. Besides, it means a bridge between formal and non-formal education, as it is an on-going process that flows between the two. The main goal of the field trips is to make students aware of the importance of their education as social and cultural beings, since field trips enhance the contact with cultural heritage, the knowledge of museums, theatres, historical sites, even some UNESCO World Heritage Sites ̶ and also the communication in a foreign language. Once students are engaged in the trip, they should prepare themselves to explore the matters intended during the visits and, consequently, acquire more knowledge and different abilities and competences.

The experience of some years and the results of a questionnaire presented to those involved in some field trips (N=119) have shown positive results, by revealing that field trips are not understood simply as trips that indulge visits but as something that involves a strategy that permits the production and consolidation of contents addressed within the context of class. Field trips are tools that, alongside with classes, facilitate and improve new scientific, linguistic and cultural knowledge.

Keywords:

Field trips, non-formal education, Polytechnic Institute.