Domestic Study Tours: Much More than a Local Field Trip

Abstract

Like international study tours, domestic tours offer students the opportunity to integrate academic learning with their career aspirations. The University of Georgia’s Washington D.C. Summer Study Tour is centered around site visits and presentations by numerous agencies and firms; thus, giving students the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge from the classroom to a valuable experiential learning opportunity. However, not much is known about the pedagogies' relative effectiveness. To that end, based on an N of 42 study tour participants and their combined 210 daily logs, this study used a double blind analysis to develop a course assessment framework. This research highlights a specific pedagogical tool, namely study tours and analyzes the benefits and potential impact on participants. In particular, the study identified some common themes of how participants benefited from this cultural experience and how this experience enhanced their academic learning back on campus. Given the direct exposure of participants to agencies and firms in our nation’s capital and the opportunities to practice and receive feedback in realistic settings, we discovered that study tour participants improved their motivational and behavioral intelligences. Results can be used as justification for comparable study tours at similar universities.