Transforming an Exposure Trip into a Botanical Expedition: Introducing Ecological Research through an Eco-Tourism Site Visit

Fieldtrips can be considered as one of the three avenues through which science can be taught - through formal classroom teaching, practical work and field trips. An exposure trip at Bangkong Kahoy Valley Field Study Center was arranged for a class of BS Biology and BS Education students enrolled in Ecology Course. This approach purposefully transformed the usual exposure trip from being a casual site visit into a focused and productive learning experience. This transformation from exposure trip to a botanical expedition has exceeded the initial activity goals. Rather than a day off from learning, the time spent at the study center has been a meaningful opportunity to engage students in an active ecological research project while delivering valuable science content. Employing the descriptive survey design, the learning gains of the students were assessed and students were directed to do a guided reflection writing using the ORID Model of Focused Conversation. The learning gains and reflections of the students confirmed that students can collaboratively develop focused research questions, make meaning from a variety of sources, carry out a vegetation analysis and conduct surveys on socio-economic status, plant resource utilization and ecotourism assessment of the host community. As students prepared for their trip and synthesized their learning afterward, they were able to come up with very impressive and scientifically sound research outputs.