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10
Journal of College Science Teaching
Point of View
The Need for Fieldwork in Science
By Casey D. Allen
A
recent special section in
Science addressed “Grand
Challenges of Science
Education” (Hines, Mer-
vis, McCartney, & Wible, 2013).
Yet aside from one article focused
on sexual harassment, each author
left out a powerful component in sci-
ence pedagogy: eldwork. Though
not necessarily the crux of learning or
pedagogy at the undergraduate level,
eldwork can, nonetheless, span the
gamut of STEM (science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics) disci-
plines like biology, ecology, Earth
sciences, engineering, and health sci-
ences. And many instructors in these
disciplines include eld experiences
as integral pieces of their teaching. In
two recent articles that analyzed eld-
based versus in-class performance of
over 300 undergraduates, I demon-
strated that eldwork has a strong ca-
pacity for increasing both science and
nonscience majors’ abilities to learn
complex concepts, with the added
benet of actively engaging minority
and female students in science (Allen,
2011; Allen & Lukinbeal, 2011).
Although grand field explora-
tions certainly occurred in science’s
past (think Humboldt and Powell),
eldwork was often a way to validate
(or not) and/or test hypotheses and
laboratory-based models. In the 21st
century, our grand discoveries now
stretch beyond these early endeavors,
encompassing deep ocean to deep
space. We use amazing technology
to conduct experiments like peering
into the electromagnetic spectrum,
mapping the human genome, studying
mineralogy using scanning electron
microscopy, and identifying new
universes with powerful telescopes.
These data and subsequent ndings
lead to astounding breakthroughs in
science. So why, with all this technol-
ogy at our ngertips, would we want to
potentially put ourselves in harm’s way
by gathering data “in the eld” and/or
using it in our classrooms?
In nearly every instance just listed,
no matter the data’s frequency, amount,
or resolution, some sort of ground
truthing occurred. This is as it should
be, as a lack of ground truthing often
results in errors and inaccuracies.
Many a scientist has been caught in
the midst of data misrepresentation,
which could have been avoided by
ground truthing. How much longer, for
example, would the authorities have
spent hypothesizing about potential
causes and vectors during the London
cholera outbreak had John Snow not
went into the eld and gathered data?
What effect did that straightforward
act of performing eldwork have on
London’s—and the world’s—health?
In fact, the more I engage students
in eldwork, the more convinced I
become that it remains a necessity for
science teaching and learning. From a
student perspective, based on my own
classes and from swapping anecdotes
with colleagues inside and outside
my department, something changes
when a student is actively engaged in
eldwork. They inevitably broaden
their worldview, realize they can
handle stressful situations, and gain
valuable professional skills while si-
multaneously enhancing their ability
to understand their place—not just in
science, but the world at large.
Keeping students engaged and en-
thusiastic when it comes to eldwork,
however, is not an easy task, especially
when both time and money are in short
supply. The economy is a shadow of
what it used to be, and that includes
funding agencies and monies available
for eldwork, whether part of a course
or not. Similarly, with more demand on
instructors to pursue research agendas,
how is time made for eldwork? When
budget shortfalls occur, eld trips are
often the rst cut from programs. But
most students relish the chance to not be
stuck in the classroom, and even a short
eld trip around campus can serve as a
strong recruiting tool. As stellar instruc-
tors know, teaching a subject increases
retention and understanding of it, and
few places offer the opportunity for stu-
dents to teach—themselves, classmates,
or even the instructor—than in the eld.
And the act of doing eldwork implies
going back to a site. While in the Ama-
zon with a geomorphologist, pedologist,
and botanist, for example, the philoso-
pher Bruno Latour (1999, p. 74, italics
in original) noticed that even as they
were preparing to leave the eld site,
his colleagues were “also preparing to
return.” Serendipitously, they concluded
it was necessary for an entomologist to
accompany them next time so that they
could pursue more in-depth research.
They simply had to return.
Social networks, formal or infor-
mal, are inherent in eldwork, and
there is a continued voicing of the
necessity to conduct inter/multi/trans-
disciplinary research while, rather
ironically, science seems to embrace
reductionism. Still, more and more
scientists from varying disciplines
are realizing the important role these
synthesis activities play in generat-
ing workable solutions to some of
11Vol. 43, No. 5, 2014
our greatest problems (Simon et al.,
2013). Indeed, the social nature of
eldwork remains a formidable and
positive force for science. Just as
when instructors engage students in
the eld, so may those students engage
their peers. When a team of scientists
ends up in the eld, usually produc-
tive discussions follow that can lead
to new considerations, learning new
methods, and eventually discovering
new information. In the process of do-
ing eldwork, learning often happens
without trying.
I put forth that one of the best
mechanisms for learning, teaching, and
doing science well rests in eldwork.
In the end, although those scientists
and instructors using and doing eld-
work might believe they have been
overlooked, the fact is that eldwork
continues to play just as vital a role now
and in the future as it has in the past.
So, when confronted with “grand chal-
lenges in science education,” integrat-
ing eldwork into STEM learning and
pedagogy seems like a winning com-
bination all around—and especially so
when it comes to female and minority
students engaging in science. n
References
Allen, C. D. (2011). Concept mapping
validates eldwork’s capacity to
deepen students’ cognitive linkages
of complex processes. Research in
Geographic Education, 13, 30–51.
Allen, C. D., & Lukinbeal, C. (2011).
Practicing physical geography: An
actor-network view of physical
geography exemplied by the Rock
Art Stability Index. Progress in
Physical Geography, 35, 227–248.
Hines, P. J., Mervis, J., McCartney, M.,
& Wible, B. (2013). Grand challenges
in science education. Science, 340,
291–323.
Latour, B. (1999). Pandora’s hope:
Essays on the reality of science
studies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Simon, G. L., Wee, B. S.-C., Chin,
A., Tindale, A. D., Guth, D., &
Mason, H. (2013). Synthesis for
the interdisciplinary environmental
sciences: Integrating systems
approaches and service learning.
Journal of College Science Teaching,
42(5), 42–49.
Casey D. Allen (casey.allen@uc denver.
edu) is an assistant professor in the De-
partment of Geography and Environ-
mental Sciences at the University of Colo-
rado, Denver.
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