Study finds field trips bring learning to life

A small group of students who saw a live performance better understood the content of a play than those who watched a movie version or read the play, researchers from the University of Arkansas found in a recent study.

The study, titled "Learning From Live Theater," involved 670 students and appeared in the winter edition of Education Next, a quarterly publication of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Many educators think field trips are worthwhile without really knowing why, said Jay Greene, professor and chairman of education reform at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

"Not all learning occurs most effectively within the walls of a school building," Greene said.

A similar study of Greene's looked at the effect of culturally enriching field trips to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

Greene used money he receives for research from his endowed chair for the theater study. The research team partnered with TheatreSquared in Fayetteville to offer free tickets to matinee performances of A Christmas Carol and Hamlet last school year to groups in grades seven through 12.

The research team found that live performances increased students' knowledge and led students to be more accepting of people and ideas and increased their ability to interpret characters' emotions, Greene said.

Greene took an interest in studying field trips because of the idea that schools nationally are cutting back because of costs and pressure to improve math and reading scores. Greene isn't aware of Arkansas schools cutting back on field trips.

For Karen Endel, principal of Butterfield Trail Middle School in Van Buren, a high-poverty school of 700 students, field trips give students from low-income families experiences they might not otherwise have, she said.

The cost and educational value are considered, she said. The entire student body from Butterfield Middle School in Van Buren goes every year to see theater productions at Van Buren High School at a cost of $400. In addition, all sixth-graders attend the Earquake Educational Concert Series at the Fort Smith Symphony each year, she said.

In the Pulaski County Special School District, with more than 17,000 students, field trips are a challenge because of cost, transportation and other content teachers must cover each year, said Laura Bednar, deputy superintendent and chief academic officer. Elementary students still make trips to places like the zoo, while middle and high school students' trips often are for extracurricular activities and competitions.

As an alternative, many schools have brought in programs from museums or science groups to provide different types of learning experiences, Bednar said.

"Many of our students don't have those opportunities unless they are provided through the school," Bednar said.

For the live theater study, 22 school groups with 330 students were selected to attend a performance. The research team surveyed those students and 340 students in a control group, with the team receiving responses from close to 80 percent of each group. The surveys included 40 questions that focused on knowledge of the plots and vocabulary, tolerance and empathy.

NW News on 10/23/2014

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