ABSTRACT
For many young people, the impacts of fieldwork and outdoor learning are lifelong and life-changing experiences. Fieldwork is one of the distinctive attributes of geography and, in Britain, has a long tradition as an established component of geography education. Enquiry fieldwork involves pupils in exploring a range of geographical factors to investigate an issue or question. In terms of research methodologies, fieldwork gives pupils the scope to use a range of methods of finding out beyond those embedded in just the scientific model. While geography fieldwork makes significant contributions to pupil's intellectual development in a number of ways, when planned appropriately, good fieldwork also contributes to pupil's affective learning. The Geographical Association has published guidelines for geographical work outside the classroom and every school has a policy for the organisation and planning of visits and activities outside the school. Technology can make a valuable contribution to geographical fieldwork especially in supporting the collection and processing of accurate and reliable data.
