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Field Trip Strategy in Enhancing Writing Descriptive Text Rugaiyah
Field Trip Strategy in Enhancing Writing Descriptive Text Rugaiyah
DESCRIPTIVE TEXT
Rugaiyah
Islamic University of Riau, Pekanbaru, Indonesia
email: ruqaiyah@edu.uir.ac.id
Abstract
Field-based learning has long been used by teachers to enhance students
learning. Futher, Field trips are recognized as important moments in learning; a
shared social experience that provides the opportunity for students to encounter
and explore novel things in an authentic setting. The need to develop an effective
environmental education program ranks as one of the major challenges facing
education in the next decade. This paper is focused on analyzing the effectiveness
of field trips strategy on students’ writing descriptive text for a group of 30
students of second semester of FKIP UIR Pekanbaru in academic year 2016/2017
who were selected by using random sampling. The data were collected by giving
test (pre-test and post-test) This study used experimental reseacrch, used by the
Mann-Whitney U t-test. The normality of the test was analysed through
Kolmogorov-Smirnova..The instruments used in this study were lesson plans and
writing descriptive text tests. Regarding the data analysis, mean, percentage and
Mann-Whitney U test scores for the dependent sample were employed. The result
of statistc indicated that the asymptotic significance of less than 0.05 (p = 0.00 <
0.05). it means the students’ ability in writing descriptive text increased
significantly after learning with fild trip strategy.
Abstrak
Field-based learning telah lama digunakan oleh guru untuk meningkatkan
pembelajaran para siswa. Selanjutnya, strategi field trip diakui sebagai momen
penting dalam pembelajaran; Pengalaman bersosialisasi bersama yang
memberikan kesempatan bagi siswa untuk menemukan dan mengeksplorasi hal-
hal baru dalam suasana otentik. Kebutuhan untuk mengembangkan program
pendidikan lingkungan yang efektif merupakan salah satu tantangan utama yang
dihadapi pendidikan pada dekade berikutnya. Makalah ini difokuskan untuk
menganalisis keefektifan strategi field trip pada penulisan teks deskriptif terhadap
30 mahasiswa semester dua FKIP UIR Pekanbaru pada tahun akademik
2016/2017 yang dipilih dengan menggunakan random sampling. Data diperoleh
melalui tes (pre-test dan post-test) Penelitian ini menggunakan penelitian
eksperimental, yang menggunakan uji Mann-Whitney U. Normalitas tes dianalisis
melalui Kolmogorov-Smirnova. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini
adalah rencana pelajaran dan penulisan teks deskriptif. Analisis data, mean,
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1. INTRODUCTION
Teaching English as a second purpose of teaching descriptive text is
or foreign language has been a to give information, the context of
constant challenge due to the this text is description of particular
interference of the first language. thing, person, animal, place, and
Efforts to motivate learners must first other.
look into the teaching methods among Morever, The importance of
others, as implementing the teaching how to write descriptive
conventional way of teaching English paragraphs can be analyzed from to
was found to be unmotivating. viewpoints: inside the classroom and
Especially when they are restricted to outside the classroom. The freshmen
classroom learning which would are faced with the need of descriing
expose them to a limited scope of events, experiences, areas, and objects
knowledge, the situation does not inside the language classroom. No
reflect a positive trend in teaching and matter what the level is, students
learning English. always ask about what they did
One of the core subjects during vacation, last night, in the
taught at schools up to universities is morning or about their plans. They
English Language. The Curriculum are also requested to provide a
Specifications prescribed by the physical description of themselves
Ministry of Education specify the four and others. Outside the c1assroom,
skills which need to be mastered by most freshmen supposed to put into
the learners, namely listening, practice all the knowledge that they
speaking, reading and writing. have acquired in the English lessons.
Writing is one of the skills which Nowadays, knowing how to write in
need to be mastered by the learners. English has become a transcendental
Students learn different genres of feature of a 21 - century citizen.
writing like descriptive, expository, Students have to express themselves
recount narrative, and others based on in English in writing to establish
the prescribed syllabus of the relationships with foreigners and
Ministry of Education. There are people outside the country. Most of
many methods adopted by the the time, students have to to describe
teachers in teaching writing in the events, experiences and so forth in
classrooms. One of the methods or their writing. Therefore, In writing
strategies recommended in teaching that text, students need to observe
writing descriptip text is field strip. things, place, and animals in their
As stated in the syllabus that the natural habitats.
that field trips should be weaved into trip is the act of taking pupils out of
the teaching schedule as this will the classroom into the community for
provide an opportunity for students the purpose of learning. Nabors,
to view information for themselves Edwards and Murray (2009) share the
and use their own senses to touch, same view with the aforementioned
or feel materials that they had authors that field trip is a type of
previously only heard about (Patrick, experiential learning that gets
2010). This immediacy and children away from the traditional
accessibility is a key feature of field classroom setting and into a new
trips and one of its redeeming mode of learning. Tal and Morag
features. Leaving the school premises (2009) opinion is not differ from that
is a social experience and one, which of other scholars, they describe field
provides a change of tempo and trips as student experiences outside of
scenery for students. learn through the classroom at interactive locations
their experiences and reflections. The designed for educational purposes. In
fact that everything and every event view of this, the general perception of
of life provide information for people as regard field trip is any
education, justify teacher’s effort to teaching and learning process carried
take student outside the four wall of out by a group of people outside of
the classroom for effective learning. the classroom environment.
This could be better explained in the The purpose of the trip is
values that educators attached to the usually observation for education,
relevant of field trip instructional experimental research or to provide
strategy in the teaching and learning students with experiences outside
process. The traditional practice of their everyday activities, such as
field trip as an instructional strategy going camping with teachers and their
takes the students outside of the classmates.. Field trips are also used
school environment. Thus field trip to produce civilized young men and
becomes a form of community women who appreciate culture and
contact instructional strategy adopted the arts. It is seen that more-
in the formal school system for the advantaged children may have
purpose of education. already experienced cultural
Field trips are recognized as institutions outside of school, and
important moments in learning; a field trips provide a common ground
shared social experience that provides with more-advantaged and less-
the opportunity for students to advantaged children to have some of
encounter and explore novel things in the same cultural experiences in
an authentic setting. Krepel and writing descriptive text.
Durrall (1981) describe field trip as a Field trips cannot replace
school or class trip with an school-based education but they
educational intent, in which students should not have to compete to
interact with the setting, displays, and demonstrate their pedagogical worth.
exhibits to gain an experiential In formal education, learning
connection to the ideas, concepts, and outcomes are customarily pre-decided
subject matter. According to Oloyede, independently of the learner, for
Ajibade and Bamidele (2006) field example through curricula and
have learnt through their hand- under the teacher’s supervision. When
on experiences. planning and organizing a successful
3. Concrete skills such as note field trip, three important stages
taking. Students have to should be included i.e. the pre-trip
develop questions to be asked, stage of a field trip involves two
write reports or thank you major components: administration
letters after the trip, or evaluate and instruction. The second stage of a
their experiences. By doing successful field trip is the trip itself. It
such activities, students will has also two components: the role of
develop various skills such as the student and the role of the teacher.
note taking skills, speaking The third and final stage of a
skills, writing skills will successful field trip is the post-trip
enhance. stage which also consists of two
4. Involvement in a real world components: debriefing and
experience makes learning culminating activity.
more meaningful and
memorable 2. METHOD
5. Field trips can add variety to The population of this study
the regular instructional was 180 second-year English mayor
program; they tend to be students in the fourth semester of
special and enjoyable learning academic year 2016/2017 at Islamic
experiences, ones which University of Riau Pekanbaru. The
develop positive attitudes in study sample consisted of two
students toward related classes each consisting of 30
classroom activities. Field students selected by simple random
trips are rich in educational sampling from seven classes.
possibilities because students Therefore, The researcher took the
learn from actual firsthand experimental group on two separate
experiences, rather than by field trips to the zoo and a museum.
simply reading or hearing The field trips were each a day in
about something length. The students in this group
6. Field trips help the students were also given writing materials
appreciate the relevance and and supplementary material prior to
importance of what each trip. While, the control group
they learn in the classroom. of students (30 students) was not
taken on these trips. This reseach
The procedure of field trip consists of two variables, those are
Myers and Jones (2009) independent variable: field trips
describe that educational field trips strategy and the dependent variable:
should be designed around specific the students’ writing descriptive text.
educational objectives. If a field trip Data were collected from the
not planned well in advance will end students’ scores of the pre-test and
in confusion and will be a waste of post-test of writing descriptive text.
time and money. So field trip should The data obtained from this method
be planned as a cooperative activity of teaching in the study was analyzed
involving full pupil participation and interpreted through quantitative
Table 1 shows that only the hypothesis (H0) is rejected if the value
data of experimental class is normally of sig. (2-sided) is less that 0.05. the
distributed 0.117 > 0.05. Therefore, to assence of the hypothesis is to
determine whether the hypothesis determine the effectiveness of field
shoud be rejected or not. This was trip strategy on tudents’ writing
tested at 0.05 level of significance. descriptive text.
The decision role is such that null
Table 3 shows results from the field trip strategy on students’ writing
pre- and post-trip students, descriptive text with 0.00 < 0.05.
respectively. The asymptotic, two- Futhermore, field trip enhance
tailed significance (also known as the learners mental development through
―p‖ value) generated from the Mann- observation and offer opportunities to
Whitney U test. The asymptotic, two- students to explore their ideas based
tailed significance is an indication of on their own experience. In other
probability that the ―null hypothesis‖ research Mhgoub M Yassir (2014)
cannot be rejected. The null agreed that field trips to natural and
hypothesis here is that the data from industrial locations were a beneficial
the independent samples come from learning aid and a means of fostering
the same population; in other words, students’ creativity and practices in
the samples are not different from art education. Obadiro (2016) virtual
each other. Thus, a low value of the field trip and real field trip are
significance indicates that the null effective strategies in enhancing
hypothesis can be rejected and the students’ knowledge in Social
two samples are different from each Studies. Haw-Jan “John” Wu (2009)
other. The statements with the Field trips do increase student interest
asymptotic significance of less than in OM among other positive feelings
0.05 (p = 0.00 < 0.05). of the students.When students have an
From table 3 the result shows interest, they tend to learn the subject
that there is a significant effect of materials better.
Nabors, M.L., Edwards, L.C., & Tal, T., & Morag, O., (2009).
Murray, R. K., (2009). Making Reflective practice as a means
the case for field trips:What for preparing to teach outdoors
research tells us and what site in an ecological garden. Journal
coordinators have to say. of Science Teacher Education,
Education 129(4), 661-667. 20(3), 245-262.