ABSTRACT

Fieldwork is an important part of higher education programmes in geography, geology, environmental sciences and biosciences because it offers opportunities to enhance graduate employability alongside pedagogical and social benefits. However, not all students choose to participate in fieldwork and the reasons that some opt out are unknown. We used the expectancy-value theory of motivation to investigate why some students opt out of fieldwork. Data from six universities showed that students who opted out held lower fieldwork motivation than those who opted in. There was no effect of gender on fieldwork motivation but there was an effect of previous experience whereby students with previous fieldwork experience had higher motivation than those without. The reasons that students opted out related to pursuing alternative opportunities, barriers to their participation or a disinterest in fieldwork. Our findings suggest that alternative opportunities should offer similar pedagogical and professional and social development benefits to fieldwork and that further fieldwork opportunities are included in programmes to cater for students who have high fieldwork motivation but encounter barriers that prevent them from participating in field courses. Furthermore, programme design should eliminate structural barriers to fieldwork participation.

摘要

实地考察是地理学、地质学、环境科学和生物科学高等教育计划的重要组成部分，因为它提供了提高毕业生就业能力以及教学和社会效益的机会。然而，并非所有学生都选择参加实地考察，有些学生选择退出的原因尚不清楚。我们使用动机的期望值理论来调查为什么有些学生选择退出实地考察。来自六所大学的数据显示，选择退出的学生比选择加入的学生具有较低的实地考察动机。性别对实地考察动机没有影响，但有过往经验的影响，即有过实地考察经验的学生比没有参加过的学生有更高的动机。学生选择退出的原因与寻求替代机会有关，他们参与的障碍或对实地工作不感兴趣。我们的研究结果表明，替代机会应该为实地工作提供类似的教学、专业和社会发展益处，并且计划中包含更多的实地工作机会，以迎合那些具有高实地工作动机但遇到阻碍他们参加实地课程的障碍的学生。此外，项目设计应消除实地工作参与的结构性障碍。我们的研究结果表明，替代机会应该为实地工作提供类似的教学、专业和社会发展益处，并且计划中包含更多的实地工作机会，以迎合那些具有高实地工作动机但遇到阻碍他们参加实地课程的障碍的学生。此外，项目设计应消除实地工作参与的结构性障碍。我们的研究结果表明，替代机会应该为实地工作提供类似的教学、专业和社会发展益处，并且计划中包含更多的实地工作机会，以迎合那些具有高实地工作动机但遇到阻碍他们参加实地课程的障碍的学生。此外，项目设计应消除实地工作参与的结构性障碍。