making field trips count: collaborating for meaningful experiences

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This article was downloaded by: [Florida Atlantic University] On: 18 November 2014, At: 14:46 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The Social Studies Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vtss20 Making Field Trips Count: Collaborating for Meaningful Experiences Patricia K. Coughlin a a Elementary Education , DeSales University , Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USA Published online: 04 Sep 2010. To cite this article: Patricia K. Coughlin (2010) Making Field Trips Count: Collaborating for Meaningful Experiences, The Social Studies, 101:5, 200-210, DOI: 10.1080/00377990903498431 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00377990903498431 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http:// www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Page 1: Making Field Trips Count: Collaborating for Meaningful Experiences

This article was downloaded by: [Florida Atlantic University]On: 18 November 2014, At: 14:46Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

The Social StudiesPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vtss20

Making Field Trips Count: Collaborating for MeaningfulExperiencesPatricia K. Coughlin aa Elementary Education , DeSales University , Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USAPublished online: 04 Sep 2010.

To cite this article: Patricia K. Coughlin (2010) Making Field Trips Count: Collaborating for Meaningful Experiences, The SocialStudies, 101:5, 200-210, DOI: 10.1080/00377990903498431

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00377990903498431

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) containedin the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon andshould be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable forany losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use ofthe Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Making Field Trips Count: Collaborating for Meaningful Experiences

The Social Studies (2010) 101, 200–210Copyright C© Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 0037-7996 print / 2152-405X onlineDOI: 10.1080/00377990903498431

Making Field Trips Count: Collaborating for MeaningfulExperiences

PATRICIA K. COUGHLIN

Elementary Education, DeSales University, Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USA

Recent studies advocate careful selection of local historic sites and recommend collaboration between stakeholders to create mean-ingful learning experiences for students. The author describes the efforts of a historical society, a university professor, and a localschool district to develop an integrative field trip to a one-room schoolhouse. Discussion includes how content was determined andhow the social studies curriculum module provides a hands-on approach to teaching about the past. During pre-visit lessons, a fieldtrip, and postvisit activities third-grade students handle primary sources, listen to oral histories, role-play, and construct a timeline.The author explains how evaluation played an important role in the development and refinement of the module. Teacher and studentinterviews as well as teacher questionnaires revealed that the field trip effectively connected third-grade curriculum with the history ofthe Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse, helping students to develop chronological thinking and to learn the basics about historical research.

Keywords: collaboration, field trip, feedback, primary sources

Field Trips

As a teaching pedagogy, field trips are lived learning. Stu-dents actively learn through the field experience and the in-teraction generated among the students as well as betweenteachers and students. In the current climate of accountabil-ity, many school districts are pressed to have their studentsreach ever-increasing percentages of proficiency in read-ing and math. Field trips have been put aside because oftime and fiscal constraints. However, learning experiencesconfined to the classroom itself limit the opportunities forstudents to explore firsthand and to connect what they havebeen learning in the classroom to a particular place, object,or person.

Many elementary school teachers plan field trips to en-hance social studies learning, but according to Andrea M.Noel (2007, 43) learning “is optimized only when teach-ers actively integrate the content of the field trip with thecurriculum.” In their study of historic sites frequented byschools, Noel and Mary Ann Colopy (2006, 562) observedthat making field trips meaningful and effective learningexperiences requires careful planning and collaboration onthe part of teachers and the sites they visit.

Deborah Hopkinson (2001, 8), who encouraged a hands-on approach to learning social studies, advocated the use of

Address correspondence to Patricia K. Coughlin, Director ofElementary Education, DeSales University, 2755 Station Av-enue, Center Valley, PA 18034, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

local historic sites for learning. She stated, “But to see his-tory we don’t have to travel halfway across the country to doresearch, or take an expensive field trip to a major museum.All we need to begin is to know we make history every day,and that the stories of the past are all around us, whereverwe live.” Across the country, teachers have found field tripsto a one-room schoolhouse helpful for teaching about ourpast (Morris 2002; Smith 2000), but the programs and theeducational materials offered to teachers vary. Some sitesoffer a simple tour given by a docent; others offer teachersand students the chance to spend one to three days at thesite, learning about the past while wearing period clothing.Some one-room schoolhouses are simply an alternative lo-cation to conduct daily lessons for the day, and one schooldistrict in Pennsylvania actually constructed a schoolhouseon-site to promote reading. To make the trips worthwhile,teachers should look carefully for local historic sites that of-fer integrative materials, which address state standards andallow for purposeful yet flexible integration of the contentto meet curricular needs.

Creating a Meaningful Program

Four years ago, the president of the Lower Saucon Town-ship Historical Society in Pennsylvania asked me to collab-orate with the society to create a program for local schools.The centerpiece of the program was the one-room school-house that the historical society had been renovating. Their

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Making Field Trips Count 201

Fig. 1. The Lutz-Franklin schoolhouse.

goal was to transform this one-room schoolhouse into a dy-namic learning environment (see Figure 1).

The Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse is the third schoolhouseon a one-acre property in Lower Saucon Township thatBenedict and Anna Mariah Lutz deeded for the educationof their children before the Revolutionary War. A polyg-onal building replaced the first log schoolhouse in 1827.Second-generation, Pennsylvania German residents calledthe schoolhouse the Lutz School, in remembrance of thedonors of the land. Stones from the second building wereused to construct the third and current school building,which opened in 1880 and was called Franklin School.First- through eighth-grade students attended FranklinSchool until the district closed the one-room schoolhousein 1942. The building remained closed until 1952, when thedistrict reopened it for fourth grade students. Althoughelectric lights were added in 1952, children still had tocarry water from the spring and walk outside to use theouthouses. The Franklin School closed in 1958. In recentyears, the Lower Saucon Township Historical Society hasbeen dedicated to the restoration and preservation of theLutz-Franklin Schoolhouse, which the National Park Ser-vice has listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

My interest in the project was not only as a teacher edu-cator at the university but also as an administrator havingpreviously served as a principal for nineteen years. I amwell aware that “school administrators demand that fieldtrips have a curricular connection” (Polochanin 2008, 25). Ihave taught elementary education students how to developintegrated arts field-trip plans and how to provide strongrationales for such field trips in my creative arts methodscourse. This particular project gave me the opportunity tomodel how to develop curriculum materials, addressing so-cial studies content standards and best practices. I arrangedwith a colleague for my students in her social studies meth-ods course to learn firsthand about the development ofthe project and my collaboration with the historical soci-ety. They met with site educators, viewed learning materials,

toured the schoolhouse, and learned how site evaluation byvisiting schools became an integral part of the project. Con-tact with the local school district was imperative in gauginginterest in a field-trip program and later in piloting and eval-uating the module. Both the principal and the third-gradeteachers were instrumental in the progress of the project.The result of the collaboration between the historical soci-ety, the university, and the local school district has been acurriculum module that integrates a field trip to the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse with the third-grade social studiescurriculum and addresses Pennsylvania Academic Stan-dards. Student and teacher interviews and teacher ques-tionnaires have provided feedback to all parties so that theone-room schoolhouse materials and field-trip programscan continue to be a meaningful learning experience.

The Curriculum Module: Its Development

The curriculum module for the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouseis strongly rooted in research-based practices for the teach-ing of social studies and constructivist theories. All threecomponents of the curriculum module: pre-visit lessons, thefield trip, and postvisit assessments are engaging and inte-grative. Students can investigate primary sources, use theirimaginations, place events in time, play games, and listento stories about students who attended the schoolhouse along time ago. As observed by Martha L. Nabors, LindaCarol Edwards, and R. Kent Murray (2009, 664) site coor-dinators consider participation and discussion “importantto the success of a field trip,” and these are evident in thiscurriculum module.

Four sources helped to create the focus and content forthe Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse curriculum module: thegraduates of the one-room schoolhouse, powerful ideas,academic standards, and students. The enthusiasm of thegraduates working on the renovation of the schoolhousebrought to mind the relationship between grandparentsand grandchildren; the children would make an easy con-nection between the people sharing their oral histories andtheir own grandparents. Children like to hear stories aboutthe past and grandparents like to share those stories. Thesegraduates from the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse were no ex-ception. As they began telling their stories, they continuedto recall events and routines they had experienced at theschoolhouse between 1930 and 1958. “Oral histories turnordinary people, their lives, and their stories into crediblehistorical resources” (Huerta and Flemmer 2000, 105). Theneed to record these oral histories became a complementaryproject for the historical society.

Traditionally, social studies curriculum has focused onever-expanding communities, so the concept of communityis a significant historical strand for third graders. Anotherapproach for selecting content focuses on basic understand-ings about the human condition and the structuring of thatcontent around powerful ideas, which are fundamental to

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social studies. In this curriculum module, the powerful ideawas change. Change as a generative idea connects withother powerful ideas such as culture, citizenship, and ed-ucation. It is also a concept that is addressed within thePennsylvania Academic Standards for History: “how con-tinuity and change have influenced history” (PennsylvaniaDepartment of Education 2009). Through a focus on a cul-tural universal such as education, children can learn howvaluable education was to the local community and con-template whether education has changed and, if so, how ithas changed. In addition, third-grade students are expectedto “identify the difference between past, present, and fu-ture using timelines and/or other graphic representations”(Pennsylvania Department of Education 2009, 8.1.3 A, 5)and “identify fact, opinion, multiple points of view, andprimary sources as related to historical events” (Pennsyl-vania Department of Education 2009, 8.1.3 B, 5). The thirdstandard within the Historical Analysis and Skills Develop-ment section asks third-grade teachers to “conduct guidedinquiry on assigned topics using specific historical sources”(Pennsylvania Department of Education 2009, 8.1.3 C, 6).Thus, state standards indicate that students should haveopportunities to explore primary documents, artifacts, andhistorical sites. This curriculum module allows the childrento handle a collection of artifacts and experience a typicalday at the schoolhouse and, in turn, become acquaintedwith the work of the Lower Saucon Township HistoricalSociety: the work of historians.

Students’ age-related capacities and interests were signif-icant in planning the module. Because we know that chil-dren have a difficult time empathizing with periods of timefar removed from them, we chose the period 1930 through1958, the last period in which students attended the school-house. Because children could view this period as a timewhen their own grandparents and great-grandparents wentto school, we felt students could touch this time in historymore easily than an earlier period. In teaching history con-tent and making it more meaningful, we included the use ofchildren’s literature, artifacts, a timeline, oral histories, andnumerous pictures and materials from the time period, in-cluding teacher magazines and a student scrapbook. Hav-ing the opportunity to relate lessons and experiences oftheir own lives to those of the graduates could make thelearning relevant and motivating.

The Pre-Visit

To build background knowledge and provide visitingclasses with a focus for their learning, there are two lessonplans to be used prior to the field trip. Included with thelessons are corresponding materials as well as a children’sbook: A Country Schoolhouse, by Lynne Barasch (2004)that tells the story of a child and his grandfather’s countryschoolhouse. A docent from the historical society deliversthese materials in a coal bucket (Figure 2) to the teachers

Fig. 2. The Lutz-Franklin coal bucket of history.

in advance of the visit. The Lutz-Franklin Coal Bucket ofHistory is sturdy, adequate, and reminiscent of the largecoal stove the students will find at the schoolhouse.

The two lessons acquaint the students with the history ofthe schoolhouse and engage them in handling artifacts andin acquiring an understanding of the period 1930 through1958. The teachers can begin the study with either lessonand can adjust the number of activities with the lessons asneeded.

During the artifacts lesson, children have the opportu-nity to handle objects such as jacks, marbles, and the coalbucket; they can also view scrapbook pages (Figure 3), areport card, a diploma from 1937, a class photograph, anda picture study from an old teacher magazine. Studentsdiscuss whether the scrapbook page, the diploma, and thepicture study worksheet are accurate and reliable sourcesof information about the past. Teachers can use the scrap-book page to model how historians look at a document,thinking aloud and posing questions to the whole group.

In the second lesson, an interactive timeline engagesstudents in sequencing events (something third gradersare familiar with doing in reading). The dates of the firstschoolhouse, the second schoolhouse, and the currentschoolhouse are printed on the timeline. Teachers havenumerous pictures or photographs of objects (e.g., a Barbiedoll) and events (e.g., World War II and the invention ofthe computer), which students can place on the timeline.Teachers then help the students see relationships betweenthe chosen events through discussion.

There are several suggested activities within each lesson.One activity in this timeline lesson includes the use of a pho-tograph of the Hellertown Skating Rink. Students look atthe differences in the clothing of the boy and the old style ofthe bicycle pictured. The teacher can further develop a senseof the historical period by modeling how to examine a letterto the skating rink from the Chicago Roller Skating Rink

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Fig. 3. The Historical Society found out when lights were installed in the school house by reading Sterling’s scrapbook.

Company dated June 26, 1942, in which the writer refers toUncle Sam. Referring back to the timeline, students learnthat some businesses were asked to change what they wereproducing to help make ammunition and other war mate-rials during World War II and that the schoolhouse wasclosed for a period starting in 1942 because the school dis-trict had a teacher shortage.

Another activity within this lesson is the use of a book werecommend to our preservice teachers in their social studiesmethods course, America’s History through Young Voices:Using Primary Sources in the K-12 Classroom written byRichard M. Wyman, Jr. A copy of the book is includedin each coal bucket. This auxiliary textbook emphasizesthe value of using primary sources with children “to makehistory come alive” (Wyman 2005, 1). By reading a fewletters written to Eleanor Roosevelt from children duringthe Great Depression in chapter 10, teachers continue todevelop a sense of time and place for their students.

Visit to the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse

The second component of the curriculum module is the fieldtrip itself, typically scheduled in early fall or late spring. Thevisit includes time to take in the physical surroundings anda shortened, typical daily schedule. The docent pulls therope to ring the big school bell as the bus pulls up. Studentsenter the large room with ten tall windows and a massiveBuffalo stove (Figure 4). They are typically wide-eyed asthey enter, taking note of the simplicity of the classroom:the different-sized desks, a recitation bench, a piano, onelong blackboard, and bookcases filled with artifacts. Thestudents do not immediately notice that there is no running

water or bathroom facility. When the docent draws theirattention to the fact that students had to carry water dailyfrom the creek, they are surprised to learn that students atthe schoolhouse drank from the same spigot of the ceramic

Fig. 4. Students ask questions about the Buffalo Stove.

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Fig. 5. Dorothy’s Story.

jug kept in the back of the classroom. After students exploremore during a brief scavenger hunt, the docent discusseswith the whole group what they think is old and what theythink is more current. To begin a condensed version of theschool day, the docent gives each child a personal story toread and asks the children to take on that person’s role forthe day. These true, personal stories reflect the experiencesof several graduates of the school (see Figure 5). The docentproceeds with the typical school opening ceremony: a shortprayer, The Pledge of Allegiance, and a song. (The docentsimply describes the inclusion of a short prayer if the visit-ing school is a public school.) The docent then groups thestudents by the personal stories they read, some represent-ing different grade levels. The groups go to various partsof the room to engage in different academic activities. De-pending on the group, students read a story together, workon solving math problems and copy spelling words from theboard, or try to memorize the lines of a poem (Figure 6).After experiencing the assigned tasks, students discuss withthe docent how one teacher taught all the grades during theschool day. Since recitation has become popular with ourvisitors, students have an opportunity to chorally recite apoem that they had just learned at the recitation bench.No school day is complete without recess or lunch, so stu-dents (who were previously instructed to bring a brown-baglunch) eat outside if the weather is nice. Teachers and chap-erones as well as the docent all work with the groups toplay a game. Indoor recess offers students several options:marbles, pick-up sticks, jacks, huckle buckle beanstalk, and

drawing. Outdoor recess might include the games nose &toe tag, Red Rover tag, jack rabbit relay, and drop the hand-kerchief. After recess, students learn about the escapadesof former students and graduates of the schoolhouse bywatching a short DVD created by the historical society aspart of an oral history project. The school day ends as stu-dents take one last look at the Buffalo stove where studentshad heated their milk and bologna sandwiches in the past,

Fig. 6. Docent practices recitation of poem with a group of“Peggys.”

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and they depart to board the buses and return to their ownclassrooms.

The Postvisit

Back in their own classrooms, teachers have severalpostvisit options for activities and assessments. Allowingstudents to reflect on what they experienced and learned isimportant within the module. Teachers may assign a jour-nal entry or an essay comparing and contrasting the stu-dents’ education with that of a third grader who attendedLutz-Franklin Schoolhouse between 1930 and 1958. Dis-cussions and reports allow students to demonstrate theirknowledge of how the families lived and provided for theirchildren; what students in the past learned at the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse; what materials were available forinstruction and use; and what children did before and afterschool, including both games and chores. Students may alsointerview a grandparent or other senior citizen who recallsthe same period. Those oral histories would be a personalextension of the oral histories viewed at the schoolhouse.

Another optional activity at the conclusion of this mod-ule is “Who is Rose Kish?” Like the historians who haverenovated the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse, students exam-ine primary sources—two report cards, a photograph ofRose, her diploma, a family portrait, and newspaper pho-tos from the period—and try to construct a profile of RoseKish, who attended the school in the 1930s.

Teachers have flexibility in their postvisit activities andassessments. These options can further connect the fieldtrip to classroom curriculum and provide evidence that willjustify the time and finances involved in the field trip.

Feedback: The Teachers

Because field trips take up a lot of instructional time and theresources extended by historical sites are substantial, theymust be meaningful and productive. In their study of countyhistoric sites, Noel and Colopy (2006, 555) found that therewas “a large and high quality collection of curriculum ma-terials available to teachers,” but none of the sites engagedin any evaluation of its materials. They suggested, “A long-term aim should be to test the effectiveness of differentmaterials in helping teachers achieve social studies instruc-tional goals” (2006, 555). In the Lutz-Franklin School-house case, evaluation has been a part of the collaborativeprocess since the program’s inception. Evaluative feedbackhas been helpful to all parties: the historical society, theuniversity professor, and the school district teachers.

In the first year of the program (2007–2008), the histori-cal society asked the local school district to pilot the mod-ule. Two classes participated in October. After the visit, thelead teacher responded to a series of open-ended questionsabout the quality of the pre-visit materials, the activities at

the schoolhouse, and the visit schedule. The teacher com-mented that the lessons and primary source materials inthe coal bucket were very helpful and creative. Althoughshe did not have time to do the timeline lesson, she felt thatthe artifacts lesson and materials prepared the students forthe visit. The teacher shared that one highlight of the fieldtrip was the special guest who, students said, “made theschoolhouse real, not like a museum.” The teacher alsoobserved that the condensed schedule and personal storieswere other highlights of the field trip: “They especially lovedthe games we played and when they were able to recite thepoem.” In response to a question about time allotted forthe visit, the teacher said, “The only part of the experiencethat would save some time would be during the teaching ofthe different grades and bringing them up to the bench toread.” The site educators used her suggestions to restruc-ture those activities for the five third-grade classes in thespring. In addition, they prepared another coal bucket tofacilitate use among the grade partners.

The remaining five third-grade classes from the localschool district visited the schoolhouse in April 2008. Allfive teachers completed a questionnaire, which included aseries of statements with a Lickert scale and open-endedquestions. The questions addressed themes such as rele-vance and organization of materials, use of the materials,quality of the activities, length of time for the visit, and theassessment of learning outcomes.

On the questionnaires, all the teachers strongly agreedthat they were able to make effective and appropriate cur-ricular connections between what they were teaching in theclassroom and the curriculum offered in the module. Theyalso indicated that the materials in the coal bucket werewell organized. Four of the five teachers strongly agreedthat the lessons provided several suggestions for helpingchildren develop an accurate sense of time and culture ofthe local community. Three teachers strongly agreed andtwo teachers agreed that the lessons provided several sug-gestions for helping children learn about the work of a his-torian. The teachers used both lessons or they used partsof both lessons. One teacher indicated that she pulled ac-tivities from both lessons but “I did not teach them in theirentirety due to time constraints.” She attributed this herschool’s (internal) curriculum demands.

In response to questions about the quality of the activ-ities, teachers indicated that the students enjoyed readingthe personal stories of the former students: “They loved itbecause it made it more real.” Another teacher concurredthat the best aspect of the learning experience was “beingin the classroom and hearing real stories of real people.”The best aspect mentioned by another teacher was “‘Livingin a one-room school house and getting its true feelings.”Three teachers shared that they felt that the visit could belonger. Two of the three teachers mentioned that they didnot have enough time for the outdoor games. One teachersuggested that the DVD be shortened: “Actually eliminateit when an alum can speak!”

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Table 1. Five teachers’ responses to statements about the module and visit in the first-year questionnaire.

Strongly StronglyStatements agree Agree Disagree disagree

1. I found the third grade curriculum module to be thorough, providing useful pre-visitand postvisit materials and offering a well-planned experience at the schoolhouse onthe day of the visit.

4 1

2. I was able to make effective and appropriate curricular connections between what Iwas teaching as part of our district curriculum with the curriculum offered in theLutz Franklin Schoolhouse curriculum module.

5

3. I found the materials within the Coal Bucket of History well organized and useful inteaching the curriculum module.

5

4. I found that the docents and the Lower Saucon Township Historical Society werehelpful in conducting the visit.

5

5. I thought that the lesson plans were purposefully laid out and provided severalsuggestions for helping children learn about the work of an historian.

3 2

6. I thought that the lesson plans were purposefully laid out and provided severalsuggestions for helping children develop an accurate sense of time and culture of thelocal community in 1930–1958.

4 1

7. The visit schedule of a “typical day” effectively placed students in the time andculture of the one-room schoolhouse.

5

8. The students benefitted from the experience as observed and measured in theircomments and post visit assessments.

4 1

9. The students were able to discern the differences and similarities in education,accurately comparing their present classroom with the one-room schoolhouse of1930–1958.

5

10. I would plan to take my future third grade classes. 4 1*

*Teacher was retiring and noted she would be interested in becoming a docent.

Teachers assessed their classes differently. Three teach-ers stated that they engaged students in discussions. Oneof the three teachers observed that she assessed the stu-dents orally “based on the questions they asked anotherFranklin School alumni who visited our classroom that af-ternoon after the visit.” She also had the students writejournal entries in which students had to incorporate de-tails about the visit and the schoolhouse. Another teachershared that during class discussion she “verbally assessedthe actual factual information and noted the enthusiasm,interest, and connections the class made.” One of the fiveteachers indicated that she used a “test, written response.”One teacher did not respond to the question. All the teach-ers strongly agreed that students were able to discern thedifferences and similarities between the one-room school-house and their present-day classrooms accurately.

Using feedback from the questionnaires, the site educa-tors extended the visit to two-and-one-half hours. In addi-tion, they produced another, shorter version of the DVDand created two more coal buckets since all the third-gradeclasses from the district would be attending the schoolhousethe next spring.

In April 2009, during the second year of operation, ninethird-grade classes visited the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse.Some teachers were first-time participants due to staffingchanges and the addition of two classrooms. At the close ofthe 2008–2009 school year, the historical society sent ques-tionnaires to the nine third-grade teachers. Six teachersreturned their evaluations. The questionnaires, which had

the same format as those used previously, indicated strongagreement that the curriculum module was thorough, pro-viding useful pre-visit and postvisit materials, as well as of-fering a well-planned experience at the schoolhouse. Teach-ers agreed that they were able to make effective and appro-priate curricular connections between the district curricu-lum and the curriculum offered in the module. Four teach-ers strongly agreed and two agreed that the materials in thecoal bucket were well organized and useful in teaching themodule. With one exception, they felt that they had a suf-ficient amount of time with the materials prior to the visit.One teacher taught both lessons; five teachers felt their owncurriculum schedules made it difficult to use both lessons.

In looking at the field-trip schedule, all six teachers feltthat there was enough time allotted for the visit. In com-menting on the activities, teachers felt that the firsthand ex-perience of being a student in a one-room schoolhouse wasespecially appealing. One teacher noted that the best aspectwas “allowing students to experience a typical day and ar-tifacts.” When asked about students’ reaction to the role-playing, teachers observed that the students enjoyed theactivity. One teacher commented that the students “likedassuming the role of a real person and continued to referto their assigned name and role in follow-up discussions.”

As seen in the feedback from the 2007–2008 schoolyear, most postvisit assessments were discussions and writ-ten responses contrasting the one-room schoolhouse withpresent-day classrooms. Four teachers strongly agreed andtwo teachers agreed that the materials helped the students

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Table 2. Six teachers’ responses to statements about the module and visit in the second year.

Strongly StronglyStatements agree Agree Disagree disagree

1. I found the third grade curriculum module to be thorough, providing useful pre-visitand postvisit materials and offering a well-planned experience at the schoolhouse onthe day of the visit.

5 1

2. I was able to make effective and appropriate curricular connections between what Iwas teaching as part of our district curriculum with the curriculum offered in theLutz Franklin Schoolhouse curriculum module.

2 4

3. I found the materials within the Coal Bucket of History well organized and useful inteaching the curriculum module.

4 2

4. I found that the docents and the Lower Saucon Township Historical Society werehelpful in conducting the visit.

5 1

5. I thought that the lesson plans were purposefully laid out and provided severalsuggestions for helping children learn about the work of an historian.

3 1 1

6. I thought that the lesson plans were purposefully laid out and provided severalsuggestions for helping children develop an accurate sense of time and culture of thelocal community in 1930–1958.

4 2

7. The visit schedule of a “typical day” effectively placed students in the time andculture of the one-room schoolhouse.

6

8. The students benefitted from the experience as observed and measured in theircomments and post visit assessments.

6

9. The students were able to discern the differences and similarities in education,accurately comparing their present classroom with the one-room schoolhouse of1930–1958.

5 1

10. I would plan to take my future third grade classes. 6

develop an accurate sense of time and culture of the localcommunity as it existed from 1930 through 1958. Teach-ers differed in their conclusions about the students’ abilityto articulate the role of an historian after handling theprimary sources. Four teachers felt students could do so,but two disagreed. The three teacher interviews and sub-sequent student interviews confirmed flexibility in the useof the lessons and materials, which may have contributedto the different conclusions. For instance, some teachersfocused on the timeline lesson, but not all the teachers readthe letters written to Eleanor Roosevelt.

In the interviews, the teachers expressed gratitude forthe docents’ expertise in conveying schoolhouse contentin an appealing and effective manner, convincing studentsthat they were “back in time.” One teacher indicated inthe interview that she would be willing to look throughthe coal bucket at the beginning of the school year to be-come more acquainted with the curriculum module. Then,she and her colleagues could make stronger instructionaldecisions. Another teacher remarked, “I think it’s wonder-ful and wouldn’t change much. The things the students docouldn’t be more perfect.”

Feedback: The Students

Dierking and Falk (1997, 4), through their interviews aboutfield trips with children and adults, concluded, “[T]he vastmajority of recollections were embedded within descrip-

tions of the physical and social setting, often in relationshipto some statement of feeling or attitude.” This was also trueof the statements shared by a sampling of students who hadvisited the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse. Two hundred third-grade students from the district had visited the schoolhouseduring its second year of operation, 2008–2009. Teachersrandomly selected thirty-one students for follow-up inter-views, which occurred seven to eight weeks after the visit.Three to four students from each of the nine third-gradeclasses participated. Seventeen girls and fourteen boys an-swered the following questions:

1. What do you remember about your visit to the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse?

2. What did you do in your classroom to prepare to visitthe Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse?

3. How does someone learn about the past?

In response to the first question, students recalled thephysical characteristics of the schoolhouse, rememberedstories they had heard, and described their participation invarious activities: the scavenger hunt, the games at recess,and the lessons. Students described a number of items, in-cluding such items as the Buffalo stove, the bell, the coalbucket, the steriopticon, and the desks. (See table 3.) Thedesks fascinated some students. “I saw small desks in onerow and they got bigger as they went to the next row.” An-other remarked, “Some of the desks had like holes in theside . . . and they had an ink bowl.”

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Table 3. Number of students who mentioned an item inanswer to question #1: What do you remember about yourvisit to the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse?

Item mentioned No. of students

Baseball bat and glove 1Basement (coal storage) 2Bell 7Buffalo stove 12Chalkboard 2Coal bucket 8Creek/water jug 8Desks 15Dictionary 148-star flag 7Lights 7Outhouse 6Piano 1Report card 1Steriopticon 12

Students also remembered the activities they did. (SeeTable 4.) Twenty-seven students shared the stories that thedocent and former students told them. The one escapademost often mentioned was the bell-flipping story, which wastold on the DVD. Mischievous students would forcefullypull the rope so that the bell would flip over and not ring.One of the boys would then volunteer to run home to get aladder, bring it back to the schoolhouse to release the bell,then take the ladder home, and finally return to school forlessons, having missed much of the school day.

Seventeen students or 55 percent described the gamesthey played while at the schoolhouse, some naming aspecific game (drop the handkerchief or huckle, buckle,beanstalk), many explaining how it was similar to a gamethey currently play at school (duck, duck, goose). Twenty-five students or 80 percent described going back in timeand taking on the role of one of the former students. Four-teen students recalled facts about that person: how manybrothers the student had, what chores he or she did beforeand after school, and what subjects they most enjoyed at

the time. Students mentioned that a special guest, a formerstudent, came and shared his or her feelings about experi-ences in a one-room schoolhouse as a student. A couple ofstudents mentioned that the guest made it clear just howmany former students felt their school was like a family.In recalling stories from the DVD, one student observed,“I think they felt like it was family.” She also comparedthe one-room schoolhouse experience to the size of herschool: “All their brothers and sisters were there. And, itwas kind of all together. Usually in this school it doesn’tfeel like a family because you are separated in differentgrades.”

Stefanie Pace and Roger Tesi (2004) determined thathands-on activities during field trips enabled students to re-call information. The interview statements by the studentsconfirmed that fact. In addition, the teacher evaluationsand interviews revealed that the students were able to dis-tinguish between the past, present, and future events. Stu-dents accurately compared and contrasted educational ex-periences of students attending the schoolhouse from 1930through 1958 with their own learning experiences in the in-terviews, as well as in postvisit assessments and later lessons.Teachers referred to a current unit of study and noted thatsome students were using their knowledge about the school-house and the local community from 1930 through 1958 tocompare and contrast what they had learned with the ex-periences of pioneers.

The purpose of the second question (What did you doin your classroom to prepare to visit the Lutz-FranklinSchoolhouse?) was to find out what materials the teachershad used prior to the visit and to ascertain what materialsand lessons affected the students’ learning. Interviews withthe students disclosed that the teachers had used a varietyof the pre-visit materials and that they had most oftenused the interactive timeline, games, and the storybook.(See Table 5.) Students from six classes talked about thetimeline, and students from one class in particular recalledspending quite a bit of time with the timeline, specificallyremembering the placement of the Internet and the firsthelicopter. Students from seven of the nine classes recalledlistening to the storybook, A Country Schoolhouse; a few

Table 4. Activities at schoolhouse recalled by students in answer to question #1: What do you remember about your visit to theLutz-Franklin Schoolhouse?

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 Class 9

Stories told by docent/formerstudents

B A,C, D A,B,C A,B,C A,B,C,D A,B,C B,C A,B,C A,B,C, D,E

Games played at schoolhouse B,C A,B,C,D A,B,C D A,B A,C C B,CRole playing A,B,C,D B,C A,B,C A,B,C A,C A,B,C A,B,C A,B,C,D,ESpecial guest B B,C B B,C * A,C B,C A,B BScavenger hunt A,D A CSnacks B,C A,D C A,B A C CLessons at the schoolhouse A,B A,C,D B,C A,B,C A,B,C A,B A,B,C A,B,C C,D,E

*No special guest visited the schoolhouse on the day this class visited.

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Making Field Trips Count 209

Table 5. Elements of the pre-visit lessons and materials students recalled being used in answer to question #2: What did you do inyour classroom to prepare for the visit to the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse?

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 Class 9

Timeline X X X X X XStorybook X X X X X X XCoal Bucket X X X X X XReport cards, photos X X X X X X X XPlaying games X X X X X X

individual students specifically mentioned the spelling beeduring which the boy’s grandfather competed with the newgirl. Seven classes recalled looking at the artifacts in thecoal bucket, and six classes remembered trying to play newgames, especially pick-up sticks and jacks.

The purpose of the third question (How does someonelearn about the past?) was to discern whether students haddeveloped a sense of how historical research is conducted(Pennsylvania Department of Education 2009, 8.1.3 B &8.1.3 C, 5–6). Hopkinson (2001, 6), who writes historicalfiction, stated that she tries to get students to “think beyondthe obvious.” When she asks them how they do research,they typically respond, “the library, the Internet, encyclo-pedias, books” (2001, 6). Several students who had visitedthe Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse responded with a broaderrange of avenues they research to learn about the past. (SeeTable 6.) Seven students explained how a building with itscontents could have been found and provide informationabout its past. Ten students felt that particular items such asdiaries, journals, diplomas, report cards, and artifacts likethe steriopticon could help construct what occurred duringthe school day. Twenty-two students felt that former stu-dents and grandparents would be a valuable resource; eightstudents suggested they would look at books or encyclope-dias; eight students said they would use computers or theInternet. Three students said they would find out about thepast from a teacher or a docent. One student suggested thatpeople should rely on an expert, and another suggested thatwe should rely on the historical society to help learn what

occurred in the past. Two students concluded that it wouldtake a “lot of research” to construct what happened a longtime ago.

Evaluative feedback from the questionnaires and the in-terviews was not simply a means of assessing what factsthe students could recall about the schoolhouse and thehistorical period; it was a means of assessing the personal,affective way in which the learning took place. Feedbackallowed site educators to learn how module activities andinstructional methods affected both the students’ compre-hension of chronological time and the concept of changeand how the use of primary sources facilitated their learn-ing about the past and about the work of historians. It wasalso important for the stakeholders to use the feedback toensure that the third-grade curriculum module is relevantand that the field trip is worthwhile.

Conclusion

Through collaboration and evaluation the historical soci-ety, the university professor, and the school district teachershave developed an effective social studies curriculum mod-ule for the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse. Feedback showedthat the teachers thought the curriculum module and thefield trip were relevant to students’ learning in the third-grade classrooms of the local school district. Teachersfound the quality and number of materials helpful intheir instructional planning. The integrated field trip, as

Table 6. Resources students would use to learn about the past in answer to question #3: How does someone learn about the past?

Resource Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 Class 9

Internet B,C B D C A,C AEncyclopedia BBooks C C B,C D B,CBuilding C C A A A,B CPrimary sources: Diaries, journals,

diplomas, report cards, and photosA B,D B B A,B

Primary sources: Old newspapers CDigging up artifacts A A,D A C C,D,EFormer students and grandparents B C,D A,C A,B,C A,B,C,D B A,B,C A,B,C BTeacher /docent B B C C,DExpert CHistorical society B B

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210 Coughlin

described and reported here, helped students increase theirknowledge and develop an appreciation for their local com-munity and its history. The feedback also revealed that thesite educators might need to improve the introduction ofmaterials to teachers. Despite the fact that the teachershad received the Lutz-Franklin Coal Bucket of Historyin advance of the visit, teachers could make stronger in-structional decisions if they were more acquainted with thematerials.

Feedback also raised questions for the site educators.How much of the pre-visit preparation depends solely onthe initiative and instructional expertise of a classroomteacher? How can the Lower Saucon Township HistoricalSociety ensure that other visiting schools benefit as much asthe partnering school district? What long-term effect willthe one-room schoolhouse experience have on students’learning?

The following suggestions may be beneficial in address-ing these questions:

1. Heed the request by one district teacher to allow previewof the materials at the beginning of the school year.This would allow more familiarity with the materialsand more collaboration to ensure the achievement oflearning outcomes by all students.

2. Develop a guidebook that fully describes the compo-nents of the curriculum module and the options embed-ded in the program. Make this available to the teacheras soon as the visit is scheduled and before delivery ofmaterials to the school prior to a visit. This will facilitateimplementation of the module components.

3. Conduct a study to follow the students in order to con-tribute to research on the long-term impact of field tripson students’ learning.

What we teach and how we teach are very important.Lynn D. Dierking and John H. Falk (1997, 218) concludedthat field trips are not trivial experiences. Field trips are a

valuable teaching tool. What strengthens the use of that toolis careful, purposeful planning and evaluation by teach-ers and site educators. While field trips can be enjoyable,they must be educational, engaging, integrative, and worth-while. Collaboration and the use of evaluative feedbackhave helped to make the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse a dy-namic learning environment.

References

Barasch, L. 2004. A country schoolhouse. New York: Farrar, Straus, andGiroux.

Dierking, L. D., and J. H. Falk. 1997. School field trips: Assessing theirlong-term impact. Curator 40 (3): 211–218.

Hopkinson, D. History must be seen. Library Talk 14: 6–8.Huerta, G. C., and L. A. Flemmer. 2000. Using student-generated oral

history research in the secondary classroom. Social Studies 91 (3):110–115.

Morris, R. V. 2002. Third grade at Simmons Elementary School, ca. 1900.Social Studies and the Young Learner 14 (4): 6–10.

Nabors, M. L., L. C. Edwards, and R. K. Murray. 2009. Making the casefor field trips: What research tells us and what site coordinators haveto say. Education 129 (4): 661–667.

Noel, A. M. 2007. Elements of a winning field trip. Kappa Delta Pi Record44 (1): 42–44.

Noel, A. M., and M. A. Colopy. 2006. Making history field trips meaning-ful: Teachers’ and site educators’ perspectives on teaching materials.Theory and Research in Social Education 34 (3): 553–568.

Pace, S., and R. Tesi. 2004. Adult’s perception of field trips taken withingrades K-12: Eight case studies in the New York metropolitan area.Education 125 (1): 30.

Pennsylvania Department of Education. 2009. Academic standards forhistory. http://www.pdesas.org/Standard/StandardsDownloads(accessed July 2, 2010).

Polochanin, D. 2008. The disappearing field trip. Education Week 27 (29):25.

Smith, C. P. 2000. School bells in 1840: A field trip for third graders.Social Studies and the Young Learner 13 (2): 6–8.

Wyman, R. M., Jr. 2005. America’s history through young voices: Us-ing primary sources in the K-12 social studies classroom. Boston:Pearson.

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