Friday, June 8, 2012

Individualized Instruction Strategy


What is individualized instruction strategy?
Individualized instruction is also known as differentiated instruction.
Individualized instruction strategy refers to those classroom practices of teaching which recognize the uniqueness of each student learner and thus provide for adequate tutorial guidance, and other support services suited to bring about a wholesome development in the person (mind, body, and spirit).
Individualized instruction is about using teaching strategies that connect with individual student’s learning strategies. The ultimate goal is to provide a learning environment that will maximize the potential for student success.
Differentiated instruction is an instructional theory that allows teachers to face this challenge by taking diverse student factors into account when planning and delivering instruction. Based on this theory, teachers can structure learning environments that address the variety of learning styles, interests, and abilities found within a classroom.
In this strategy the teacher shouldn’t always stick to the same pattern of teaching rather they should adapt new ways such as teaching through audio, video, field trip, etc. so that students have multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas.
To differentiate or to individualize instruction is to recognize students varying background knowledge, readiness, language, preferences in learning, interests, and to react responsively. The intent of individualizing instruction is to maximize each student’s growth and individual success by meeting each student where he or she is, and assisting in the learning process. It provides the opportunity for students to learn at their own pace, in their own way, and be successful.

Purposes of individualized strategy
      To enhance and develop listening habit
Since most of the teaching is done through lecturing, the role of students are to listen and if felt necessary take note of them. The learning of the leaners greatly dependent on their listening habit and sense of hearing, thus helping them in enhancing their listening habit.
      Enables the teachers to explain a lesson or demonstrate a technique to small groups of students at a time.
Here the smaller the number of students are the greater is the advantage of the teachers in teaching or explaining a lesson  or to demonstrate a technique to their students. In short smaller the number of students , more efficient the teaching or demonstration  will be.
      Individualizing instruction allows each student to progress through the curriculum at his or her own pace.
It aims at how much the learner learn and pace at which they learn. Less important is given to covering the topics in the cirrcullum. Viatl importances is given to the progress the learner are making in the field of learner at his or her own pace(the rate and speed at which they learn).
      Long term retention as they note down what they usually understand.
While the teacher is teaching in the class, students are acitvely engage in taking note of what they really understand instead of what the teacher explain. They usually note down what thay undarstand and are usually listed in their own words. So, this help them to retain the information for a longer period of time.
      Importance is given to a child as a individual not as group, class and so on.
The  strategy is more concern about how much a single child is able to learn, retain and his oa her progress not as a group, class and team. As the current phase of children education says ‘no child is left behind’ .  so, the focus is on a child as an individual.

Principles of Individualized Instruction Strategy.
1.     Make the students clear about the key points and generalization to make sure that all learners gain a powerful and strong understanding so that they can have a good foundation for their future learning. Teachers are encouraged to identify essential concepts and instructional focuses to ensure all learners understand.
2.    Use assessment as a teaching tool to extend versus merely measure instruction. Assessment should occur before, during, and following the instructional episode. The assessment carried out before and during can be incorporated into classroom practice; it provides information needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are happening. E.g. Observation, questioning strategies, self and peer assessment, student’s record keeping. The assessment carried out before and during instructional episode is called formative assessment. And the assessment evaluated after instruction is called summative assessment. It is carried out every few weeks, months, or chapter tests. E.g. End of unit or chapter tests, end of term or semester exams.
3.    Emphasize and stress more on critical and creative thinking while designing a lesson. What ever task and activities that we provide to the students should be up to the student’s level and understanding, so that they can understand easily and will apply meaning. Instruction may require supports, additional motivation, varied tasks, materials, or equipment for different students in the classroom.
4.    Engaging all learners is essential. We should engage and make the students participate in class activities. For that teachers should develop their lesson to engage and motivate the students.
5.    Provide a balance between teacher-assigned and student-selected tasks. If there is a balance between the task and activities that are assigned by the teachers and the tasks selected by the students, the learning will be most favorable and desirable.

Requirements of individualize Instructions.
1.  Each students learn differently
ü  Some students are kinesthetic learners, requiring a hands-on approach to learning. Some students learn visually, excelling when they can read or see photographs of the material. Finally, some students learn best through listening, learning best when they can hear and talk through a problem.
2.  All students are talented in different ways.
ü  While one student may be creative, another student may be analytical. While one student may be mechanical, another student may excel at writing. Teaching requires differentiated and individualized instruction in order to reach all students.
3.  Educating children with special needs.
    • Special Education is a specialized area of education which uses unique instructional methods, materials, learning aids, and equipment to meet the educational needs of children with learning disabilities.
    • Remedial instruction aims to improve a skill or ability in each student. Using various techniques, such a more practice or explanation, repeating the information and devoting more time to working on the skills, the teachers guide each student through the educational process. A student that might, for example, have a low reading level might be given remediation.
4.   It is to meet the unique educational needs of the child.
ü  The IEP is intended to help children reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise would and  must especially help teachers and related service providers  understand the student's disability and how the disability affects the learning process.
5.  Teaching requires differentiated and individualized instruction in order to reach all students.
ü   Differentiating does not mean providing separate, unrelated activities for each student but does mean providing interrelated activities that are based on student needs for the purpose of ensuring that all students come to a similar grasp of a skill or idea.
6.  Careful and continuous assessment of individual progress can be carried out.

Ways of Individualizing/Differentiating Instruction.

Several key elements guide individualized instruction. Tomlinson (2001) identifies three elements of the curriculum that can be individualized or differentiated: Content, Process, and Products.

Content

Content can be described as the knowledge, skills and attitudes we want children to learn. Individualizing content requires that students are pre-tested so the teacher can identify the students who do not require direct instruction. Students demonstrating understanding of the concept can skip the instruction step and proceed to apply the concepts to the task of solving a problem. This strategy is often referred to as compacting the curriculum. Another way to individualize of differentiate content is simply to permit the apt student to accelerate their rate of progress. They can work ahead independently on some projects, i.e. they cover the content faster than their peers.
·         Several elements and materials are used to support instructional content.
These include acts, concepts, generalizations or principles, attitudes, and skills. The variation seen in an individualized classroom is most frequently the manner in which students gain access to important learning. Access to the content is seen as key.
·         Align tasks and objectives to learning goals.
Designers of individualized instruction determine as essential the alignment of tasks with instructional goals and objectives. An objectives-driven menu makes it easier to find the next instructional step for learners entering at varying levels.
·         Instruction is concept-focused and principle-driven.
The instructional concepts should be broad based and not focused on minute details or unlimited facts. Teachers must focus on the concepts, principles and skills that students should learn. The content of instruction should address the same concepts with all students but be adjusted by degree of complexity for the diversity of learners in the classroom.

Process

Individualizing or differentiating the processes means varying learning activities or strategies to provide appropriate methods for students to explore the concepts. It is important to give students alternative paths to manipulate the ideas embedded within the concept. For example students may use graphic organizers, maps, diagrams or charts to display their comprehension of concepts covered. Varying the complexity of the graphic organizer can very effectively facilitate differing levels of cognitive processing for students of differing ability.

·         Flexible grouping is consistently used.
Strategies for flexible grouping are essential. Learners are expected to interact and work together as they develop knowledge of new content. Teachers may conduct whole-class introductory discussions of content big ideas followed by small group or pair work. Student groups may be coached from within or by the teacher to complete assigned tasks. Grouping of students is not fixed. Based on the content, project, and on-going evaluations, grouping and regrouping must be a dynamic process as one of the foundations of individualized instruction.
·         Classroom management benefits students and teachers.
Teachers must consider organization and instructional delivery strategies to effectively operate a classroom using individualized instruction.
Products
Individualizing or differentiating the product means varying the complexity of the product that students create to demonstrate mastery of the concepts. Students working below grade level may have reduced performance expectations, while students above grade level may be asked to produce work that requires more complex or more advanced thinking. There are many sources of alternative product ideas available to teachers. However sometimes it is motivating for students to be offered choice of product.
·         Initial and on-going assessment of student readiness and growth are essential.
Meaningful pre-assessment naturally leads to functional and successful differentiation or individualization. Assessments may be formal or informal, including interviews, surveys, performance assessments, and more formal evaluation procedures. Incorporating pre and on-going assessment informs teachers to better provide a menu of approaches, choices, and scaffolds for the varying needs, interests and abilities that exist in classrooms of diverse students.
·         Students are active and responsible explorers.
Teacher’s respect that each task put before the learner will be interesting, engaging, and accessible to essential understanding and skills. Each child should feel challenged most of the time.
·         Vary expectations and requirements for student responses.
 Items to which students respond may be differentiated or individualized for students to demonstrate or express their knowledge and understanding. A well-designed student product allows varied means of expression, alternative procedures, and provides varying degrees of difficulty, types of evaluation, and scoring.
Advantages and disadvantages of Individualized instruction strategy.
Advantages:
1.  Student-Centric
  • Differentiated instruction focuses on the academic needs and learning abilities of every individual student. By changing the methods of teaching to suit students, teachers are able to adjust the content of the syllabus. This encourages critical thinking in students, and gives them a chance to come forward and demonstrate what they have learned. It also creates a sense of equality among students, including the ones with a learning disability. Differentiated learning provides ample opportunity for students to aim and attain academic success with aplomb.
2.  Raises The Bar
  • Advocates of this teaching approach believe differentiated learning raises the standards of learning in a big way. The true essence of this practice lies in the realization that learners and their abilities, readiness and interests vary. Educators have the liberty to set up classrooms and devise methods that would aid all students in thinking, analyzing and comprehending the teaching contents easily. Differentiation does not have hard and fast rules; it is all about options.
3.    Meeting the needs and interests of diverse learners.
4.    Provides the opportunity for students to learn at their own pace, in their own way, and be successful.
  1. Recognizes students’ varying background knowledge, readiness, language, preferences in learning, interests, and to react responsively.
  2. Maximizes each student’s growth and individual success by meeting each student where he or she is, and assisting in the learning process.
  3. Helps in providing for the uniqueness of each child in terms of his/her particular learning style, talents and potential, handicaps and deficiencies, etc.

Disadvantages:
1.     Time constraints and chopped-up schedules are an obstacle.
Teachers could work better if they had longer blocks of time with students. At the elementary level, kids have to go somewhere or someone comes in to do something every 15–30 minutes; at the secondary level, kids rotate in and out every 37 or 42 minutes. It makes teachers crazy.
2.     Class size and teaching load are two of the biggest constraints.
 A teacher who works with150 kids a day gets glassy-eyed when told he needs to get to know those kids better. It's doable, but we would be far more efficient by arranging schedules so teachers had fewer students to get to know or kept them over longer periods of time.
3.    Teacher Preparedness.
 Sometimes, the teacher’s lack of adequate knowledge on individualizing instruction could also serve as a serious obstacle in individualizing instruction in the classroom. The teacher’s lack of knowledge and ignorance could be further aggravated when the school does not have the essential resources to support individualized or differentiated instruction.

PLANNING FOR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION
A planning model can be used to help teachers make decisions about differentiated instruction and assessment. Each phase of the planning model will be explained.  Throughout this book, the strategies are clarified using examples.
1.     Established what needs to be taught. First, consider the standards, benchmarks, essential questions, or expectation to be taught. It should be clear what the students should know, to be able to do, or be like after the learning experience. Determine which assessment strategies will be used to collect data (logs, checklists, journals, observations, portfolios, rubrics).
Essential questions may be developed that will be visible and posted throughout the unit so that the students can consider the questions as they work on tasks.
2.    Identify the content, including facts, vocabulary, and essential skills.
3.    Activate. Determine what students know and what they need to learn next. This may be done 1 to 3 weeks prior to the unit to allow plenty of time for planning learning activities, grouping activities, and raising anticipation about the new topic. “Emotional hooks” can be used to engage and to capture the attention of the students through challenge, novelty, and unique experiences.
A strong pre-assessment determines what the students know. The pre-assessment is sometimes formal and other times informal. It is essential to select an assessment tool that best shows student’s prior knowledge, background experience and attitudes and preferences toward the information.
4.    Acquire. Decide what new information and skills students need to learn and how they will acquire the knowledge. Also decide whether the acquisition will take place in a total group setting or in small groups.
Now it is time to lay out the plan. Determine how the information is the best taught to this particular group of students. In this step, weed through the resources available and find the materials that will best meet the needs of these students. Focus on quality materials and remember that what works for one group does not always work for another group.
5.    Apply and adjust. Students need the opportunities to practice and become actively engaged with the new learning in order to understand and retain it. Determine how the students will be grouped and what tasks will be assigned to challenge them at the appropriate levels.

Field Trip Strategy


Concepts of Field Trip strategy.

It was introduced in 1827 by George Shillibeer for a Quaker school at Abney Park in Stoke Newington, London, United Kingdom.

A field trip is a visit to a place outside the regular classroom which is designed to achieve certain objectives, which cannot be achieved as well by using other means.  For example if the lesson is on “making cheese”, and if there is no hand on experience it is very difficult to achieve the objectives. In such a lesson this strategy is required. Field trips give opportunity for a students a  to get out of the classroom and experience something new. The located place for field trip can be zoos, collages, museums, theater and schools.

Features of field trip
1.     Facilitate the learning of abstract concepts. Taking students on a field trip makes learning more effective as they will be able to gain vast ideas on the topic.

2.    Motivate students through increased interest and curiosity. Field trips can add variety to the regular classroom instructional program and they tend to be special and enjoyable learning experiences. As a result, students will develop positive attitudes in students toward related classroom activities.

3.    Increases student-student and student-teacher social interaction. Field trips provide an opportunity to involve students, parents, and the teachers in the instructional program. Students can select the place to be visited, developing questions to ask, writing reports or thank you letters after the trip, or evaluating the experiences. Since parents must give their permission, a letter sent home with the permission form explaining purpose of the trip is a good way to arouse their curiosity and encourage them to ask the student or teacher about the trip. The parent guides their child in order to make sure that they do not come to any harm. This role allows the parent and teacher to establish a much closer relationship. The interaction between students within themselves will also be increased when they work in groups. Moreover, the interaction between the students and teacher will enhance as the students will have to discuss to the teachers when they have doubts.
4.    Develops social awareness. Field trips make students aware of learning activities in everyday life. For instance, visits to supermarkets or shopping malls are typical field experiences, which teachers may fail to notice. A well-organized trip to a "normal" place is an excellent method of teaching students to observe, ask questions, and learn in the large classroom. 

Purpose of Field Trip
1.               It enhance the curriculum. Field trips are rich in educational possibilities as students learn from actual hands-on experiences, rather than by simply reading or hearing about something. Involvement in a real world experience makes learning more meaningful and memorable comparing to regular classroom instructional programs.
2.              Give students experiential learning experiences. Involvement in a real world experience makes learning more meaningful and memorable. As a result the students will have more concept of the topic as they have learnt through their hand-on experiences.
3.              Concrete skills such as note taking. Students have to develop questions to be asked, write reports or thank you letters after the trip, or evaluate their experiences. By doing such activities, students will develop various skills such as note taking skills, speaking skills, writing skills will enhance.
4.              Involvement in a real world experience makes learning more meaningful and memorable.
5.              Field trips can add variety to the regular instructional program; they tend to be special and enjoyable learning experiences, ones which develop positive attitudes in students toward related classroom activities.  Field trips are rich in educational possibilities because students learn from actual firsthand experiences, rather than by simply reading or hearing about something
6.              Field trips help the students appreciate the relevance and importance of what they learn in the classroom. For e.g. determining blood type is a skill, which can be learned in a school laboratory setting, but students may not learn the importance of this skill until they observe what goes on in a real hospital where life and death of real patients may depend on this skill. 

Types of field trip strategy

  1. Instructional trips  
An instructional trip is a visit by a class or group of classes to a location outside the regular classroom, which is designed to allow the students to achieve specific course objectives, which cannot be achieved as efficiently by other means.  An example of an instructional field trip is a visit to botanical garden to study about different kind of flower.
2. School contests or festivals      
A school contest is an extra campus activity, which provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate knowledge and skills developed through subject area instruction. Contests, competitions, festivals, or evaluations may involve teams of students from more than one class or subject.  An example of a school contest, festival, or evaluation is the school level essay competition. 
3. Motivational trips 
A motivational trip is an extra-campus activity, which is not a part of a scheduled class. It provides a motivational incentive for the school, club, group, or class and is related to improving the school climate. The procedures in this guide are for instructional field trips. If you are planning a motivational trip, please note that this requires approval from the General Area Director.
An example of a motivational trip is an end of year visit to Buddha point by a student body. First a teacher must choose the kind of trip to take and then decide on a general location for the trip.

Step involved in conducting field trip.
1.  Trip Selection.
      Identify objectives and plan of evaluation for the field trip.
      Select site to be visited and arrange date and time.
      Conduct pre-visit to familiarize yourself with the major features of the field and obtain address, directions, contact person and mobile numbers.

2.  Logistics Planning
      Apply for administrative approval and file requisition for transportation.
      Make arrangement for meals and develop schedule for the day.
       Arrange special equipments like cameras and collect money for admission fees if the site demands.
      Inform parents about the trips.
      Create a list of student names and home phone number for emergency.

3.  Field Trip Preparation/Pre-trip discussion
       Discuss the purpose of the field trip.
      Show photographs or posters of the site.
      Set a standard conduct and discuss money usage, lunch plans, dress code and other necessary things.
      Discuss how to ask good questions and make a list of open-ended observation questions to gather information.
      Overview the field trip schedule.

4.  The Field Trip
      Let students to sketch if it is necessary.
      Ask prepared questions and note the answers.
      Do things that you have planned.

5.  Post-field Trip
      Let student to share their observations and reactions to field trip experiences.
      Create classroom bulletin board displaying materials collected while on field trip.
      Let class to compose thank-you letter to those who helped during the field trip. Include special information learned.

6.  Evaluating Field trip
      What was the unique educational value in this trip?
      Did students meet the objectives?
      Was there adequate time?
       Was there adequate staff and adult supervision?
      What might be done differently to be better?
      What points to be emphasized next time?
       What problems should be addressed in the future?

Advantages

Real-world experience. It allows students to have a real-world experience. For example, a textbook lesson on the domestic animals can be enhanced by a trip to a local farm where the students can clearly see the domestic animals.

Increase in quality of education. For example, a biology field trip could take kids on a hunt for bugs or certain types of flowers. In this case students can learn more. Hence it improves the quality of education. 

Improvement of the social relations. It is a way to bring the students closer together. Many field trips combine educational content with team-building activities, such as working together to clean a stream that has been polluted. In fact, it is often a good idea to go on a field trip to help create a bond between the students.

Disadvantages of field trip

Time considerations. Difficultly in preparation (getting approval from various head of administration) and fitting the trip as per the school timetable which takes more time.

 Lack of support from school administrations for field trips. It means school can’t afford the materials and sometime can’t provide financial also where student have to search their own ways.

Poor student behavior and attitudes. Means loss over students like sometime some students they don’t listen to the teacher showing their ego attitudes and doing the things on their own ways which cause trip to be unsuccessful where it affects the other students and the relation between teacher and students because of the bad attitude.

Shortage of resources and choice of venue. Means sometimes school can’t provide the materials and teacher also can’t have the correct materials for the trip which causes shortage of resources. And some time student can’t have the choice to pick their own place and they have to agree with the teacher choice which shows student doesn’t have the choice to select the venue.

Medical risk. For example like while travelling via vehicle some children gets motion sickness.

Planning a Field Trip
Good planning must precede field trips. Careful attention should be given to trip selection, previsit preparation, the trip itself, appropriate follow up, and evaluation. When considering a field trip, teachers are advised to first consult with their administrator regarding existing school policies and follow those recommended procedures in planning a field trip.
1.  Trip Selection
  • Identify the rationale, objectives and plan of evaluation for the field trip.
  • Select the site to be visited. Contact the educational coordinator for the site and arrange the date and time. Obtain the pre-trip information package if one is available. Record addresses, directions, contact persons, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
  • Conduct a pre-visit to familiarize yourself with the major features of the field trip. Purchase postcards and posters. Take photographs to share with students prior to the visit. Explore the exhibition(s) you plan to visit to get ideas for pre field trip activities.
2.  Logistics Planning
a.    Apply for administrative approval from the head of the school.
b.    File requisition for bus transportation if the school has any or seek administrative support for arranging transportation if the school does not have the facility
c.    Make arrangements for meal or sack (pack) lunch if needed
d.    Develop schedule for the day
e.    Arrange for special equipment -supplies, film, video camera, digital camera if needed
f.    Collect money for admission fees if the visit site demands
g.    Inform the parents (in case of day school) about the following things:
·         Date and location of field trip and transportation arrangements
·         Educational purpose of field trip
·         Provision for special needs students
·         Cost
·         Clothing for the trip
·         Lunch arrangements
·         Money needed
·         Trip schedule
·         Whether a child will need prescribed medication administered
h.    Provide alternative arrangements for pupils who will not be going on the trip.
i.     Submit a list of students who will be attending the field trip to other teachers if their schedules will be affected.
j.     Create a list of all student names and home phone numbers for use in an emergency.


3.  Preparing Students before the Trip / Field Trip Preparation/Pre-trip discussion
  1. Discuss the purpose of the field trip and how it relates to the current unit of study.
  2. Introduce vocabulary words that will be used by field people during the tour.
  3. Show photographs or posters of the field trip site or related to exhibits that will be viewed.
  4. Assign students "specialists" roles in one aspect of the topic that they will be studying during the field trip. Students could be grouped in different subject areas related to the field trip topic to research (e.g., history, art, religion, science, environment, etc).
  5. As a class brainstorm a set of standards of conduct for the trip and discuss suggested spending money, lunch plans, appropriate clothing to wear for the trip including gear for rainy weather.
  6. Discuss with students how to ask good questions and brainstorm a list of open-ended observation questions to gather information during the visit. Record questions on chart paper or in student field trip journals.
  7. Overview the field trip schedule. 
4.  Final Planning / the field trip
Check all permission slips the day before the field trip.

Activities that will occur during the Field Trip
Plan activities that allow students to work alone, in pairs or small groups. Activities might include:
  • Sketch pages with partial drawings of objects found in the exhibits for students to complete the drawings based on their observations
  • Peepholes in construction paper - cut different sized round holes in construction paper and have students view a part of the exhibition through the peepholes. Ask them to describe what they see, what they notice now that they missed before, and how their perspective changes with each new view
  • Field notebooks for recording answers to prepared questions based on clues
  • Hand drawn postcards to write near the end of the tour that will summarize the field trip visit
Provide time for students to observe, ask questions, and record key words, ideas and phrases as journal entries in their Field book after viewing each exhibit
Ask follow-up questions as students make observations and listen to presentations.
  • How are these two objects different from one another?
  • What clues does this artifact provide about the topic?
  • In what ways do these two objects relate to one another?
  • If you could change one thing in this exhibit, what would it be?
  • Pretend you are an archaeologist in the future who is observing this object. What would you be able to conclude about the culture of the past?
  • Describe the setting in which you might have found this object.
  • Which object will be of greatest value in a hundred years? Why?
  • Which object took the most time and effort to produce?
  • Pretend you are a character in this exhibit. Tell us as much as you can about your life.
  • What does this object tell us about the person's attitude toward...?
Schedule a particular segment of the field trip for a scavenger hunt where students look for particular objects and record them in their Field book or on an observation sheet.
Provide time for students to work in their Field Book writing questions, describing favorite displays or making sketches of artifacts, structures, scenery, etc. If they cannot complete their sketches, encourage them to label them for future completion as to color, detail, etc.

5.  Post-Field Trip Activities
Just as quality pre-planning is essential to the success of a field trip, planning for appropriate follow-up activities will facilitate student learning and multiply the value of hands-on experiences outside the classroom. The following activities provide a general guide when planning for post-field trip classroom experiences.
  • Provide time for students to share general observations and reactions to field trip experiences
  • Share specific assignments students completed while on the field trip.
  • Create a classroom bulletin board displaying materials developed or collected while on the field trip.
  • Develop a classroom museum that replicates and extends displays students observed on the field trip. For example, if the field trip involved an art museum, develop a classroom art museum containing student artwork.
  • Link field trip activities to multiple curricular areas. For example, students can develop vocabulary lists based on field trip observations; record field trip observations in a classroom journal; complete math problems related to actual field trip budget planning; etc.
  • Share and evaluate student assignments/activities from the Field Book.
  • Have the class compose and send thank-you letters to the field trip site host, school administrators and other persons that supported the field trip. Include favorite objects or special information learned during the field trip.
  • Create a short news report about what happened on the field trip. Publicize the trip via an article in your local newspaper, school bulletin board, trip presentation for parent's night, or school web page.
6.  Evaluating the Trip
Complete a "Teacher Journal" regarding the field trip. This will provide a good reference for future field trips.
  • What was of unique educational value in this field trip?
  • Did the students meet the objectives/expectations?
  • Was there adequate time?
  • Was there adequate staff and adult supervision?
  • What might be done differently to make this an even better experience in the future?
  • What special points should be emphasized next time?
  • What special problems should be addressed in the future?
  • What would improve a visit to this site in the future?
Share the evaluation with the students, volunteers, hosts from the field trip site, and school administrators.