STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF REAL AND VIRTUAL FIELD WORK IN BIOLOGY

Abstract

The outdoor education is a method of learning with the exposure to (not exclusively) the natural environment that combines all human senses. Students tend to acknowledge a very positive effect of this kind of learning. It is easier and more memorable to connect the theory with practice, when they see things in nature, rather than to just hear about them in the classroom. Despite its popularity, teachers face various obstacles when they take their students outdoors. Although the outdoor education is included in the Slovenian primary and lower secondary school curriculum, the percentage is not high enough, which depends on various reasons. Teachers defined lack of time, suitability of area around the school, not enough instruments for field work and to expanded curriculum as the main reasons for not including field work in the classes. Some of these obstacles could be solved by implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) into the biology and ecology classes. In this research the results of 192 students’ point of view on the importance of field work, obstacles of that kind of work and the ICT as a solution to support or replace the real field works are presented. All questioned students were prospective teachers, so sooner or later majority of them will face issues connected to the field work and possibilities to solve them with the help of ICT. Key words: biology education, field work, ICT, obstacles, virtual field trips.