Hamburg Area High School students from the woodworking and guitar music classes toured CF Martin Guitar in Nazareth on Jan. 10.
The purpose of the trip was to expose the 26 students, in grades 9 through 12, real world experiences, said Hamburg technology education teacher Fred Yoder who teaches woodworking.
“Students are energized by the excitement and anticipation of leaving the school environment. The transportation to and from the site is often a pleasant open-social time,” said Yoder. “Students have the opportunity to see new things and learn about them in a more unstructured way. Students have the opportunity to determine what they learn and how they learn it. Said differently, student learning can be interest-driven, not teacher and curriculum driven.”
Yoder explained that students experienced a more holistic, integrated picture of the information that, in the classroom, may have only been presented in a textual and abstract way.
“Field trips are multi-media experiences; therefore, learning is enriched and reinforced with superimposing sensory and intellectual inputs,” he said. “Most field experiences stimulate curiosity and engage the visitor, helping the students learn.”
Yoder said that on most field experiences, student tours are led by company employees who share intimate knowledge about the company, products and their work. The tour guides facilitate directed learning and provide question-answer sessions before, during and after the tour.
“It’s been said that travel opens the mind more than any book ever can. Many veteran teachers already know, field trips aren’t hooky from school, they are critical to the development of our youth, providing a learning and enrichment program outside the classroom,” concluded Yoder.
