The sustainable building field trip - Real vs. Virtual

Abstract

When studying sustainable building techniques, the question arises: can virtual field trips be a substitute for real field trips? Field trips have long been used to supplement coursework, offer students firsthand knowledge and provide them an opportunity to gather data "in the field." Albert Einstein said, "The only source of knowledge is experience." Faculty routinely share their experience and knowledge with students through in-class activities such as lectures and discussions, but out-of-classroom activities such as field trips offer new dimensions in learning. By visiting a sustainable building, students can see sustainable construction techniques, building materials and equipment that may not be otherwise available to them. Students learning about the construction and design fields today need sustainable building knowledge. This is necessary to meet the increased public interest in saving money in building lifecycle costs, preserving the environment and meeting sustainable/energy conserving requirements as set by many permitting agencies and codes. Although there are increasing numbers of sustainable buildings completed and being built, a real field trip to one may not be an option. Factors such as the building's proximity to the students' campus, access to the building, cost of travel, and time constraints may be deterrents to going on a field trip to a sustainable building. An emerging alternate to the real field trip is the virtual field trip, where students can take a virtual tour of a sustainable building online and learn the information that would be given to participants on a real tour of the facility. The goal of this paper is to quantitatively examine students' learning from a real field trip to the Queens Botanical Garden Visitor and Administrative Center, Flushing, New York, an awardwinning, sustainable building, and compare it to students' learning from a virtual field trip on the Queens Botanical Garden website. Two groups of Fall 2012 Architecture and Construction Management students were pre-tested on their knowledge of basic sustainable construction techniques found at the Visitor and Administrative Center sustainable building on the field trip, then either taken on a real field trip of the sustainable building or instructed to take a virtual tour of the same facility. Following their field trips, both groups of students were given the same post-test and their respective learning assessed and compared. Students were also given a qualitative survey to assess their assigned field trip type. The results of this study will provide faculty with an understanding of the relative benefits of integrating a field trip, real or virtual, into their courses. ©American Society for Engineering education, 2013.