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| Hydropowered mountain lift at CAT |
We are currently tearing around North Wales on our annual three-day MSc field trip to Bangor and Anglesey. From the student perspective they are driven to North Wales, get to look as some wind turbines close-up, visit the Center of Alternative Technology, get to see the stunning North Wales coastline, get a guided tour of a copper mine site with a tour from an expert from a national government environment agency, see some historic and cultural sites, visit the underground "Electric Mountain" hydroelectric facility at Llanberis and see the impact of slate mining. From our perspective this is a lot of organising and lots of driving. There is no exam, no module credits for this trip and no course-work or compulsory field experiments, formative assessment or feedback. If students want to test soil, or pH levels of acid minewater run-off out of curiosity they can...and they do. That's the point.
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| At Carnot Wind Farm |
Space to breathe and learn
The Bangor field course, called the "Road Trip" is the highlight of the course for many students who remember the trip as a chance to reflect, think, talk and connect with their subject and what it really means. I wonder if we maybe over-assess our students, demanding essays, posters, presentations and exams to test them and to get them to evidence their learning. I worry that, without an opportunity to properly reflect, from the student perspective this pressure to prolifically produce may lead to a shallow experience, producing lots but retaining little and having little or no chance to put information and learning into context, let alone practice anything. Carefully timed, this trip allows students this space allows space to put things into perspective and context before they embark on their independent research project and put it into practice. A real boost at just the right time.
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| MSc Road Trip 2016 begins in Wild Wild Wales |
Students come out of their shells on this trip and really get to know each other. They really start to debate and discuss, deeply, the ideas and thoughts they have developed during the course. As I drive the bus I smile as I overhear conversions. Between disturbing debates that begin "Would you rather...." followed by some impossible and hideous dilemma, there are snippets of informed, mature and fascinating discussion on social and cultural differences the students have and wider important issues, like public engagement, policy, technology, climate change, etc., etc. sparked by the various visits. I'm reassured that it is well worth the effort of doing informal things like this just for the hell of learning.
For more on this course click
here
