Benefits of Fieldwork – why you should start doing it too

Benefits of Fieldwork

Fieldwork is a crucial part of studying geography. It offers a great opportunity to see the world firsthand and experience education in a new light. Fieldwork is normally conducted outside the laboratory and it can make a huge difference in your future career and life.

1. Promotes better understanding

Fieldwork is highly beneficial as it helps to promote better understanding of geography. It improves a person’s knowledge by providing a more practical approach to learning. Furthermore, fieldwork helps to bring out geography theories to life. This makes geography simpler to understand.

2. Develops skills

Fieldwork helps to develop vital skills in the students. These skills include things like map work, investigative, data collection, analysis and computer skills. It also improves communication skills as students have to interact with people during fieldwork. Students take more responsibility for their learning and gain confidence. Life skills like teamwork, communication and leadership.

3. Promotes cultural understanding

The observation or interviewing of people so as to gain knowledge of their languages, social structures and folklore constitutes fieldwork. This is particularly important when people themselves are part of the study. Hence, fieldwork helps students to better understand other cultures and people. It also helps to open up people to their views about environmental, political or social issues.

4. Enjoyable experience

Fieldwork is an enjoyable experience that gives people the chance to appreciate new environments. In laboratory research, students are usually stuck in one place during the entire experiment. However, fieldwork offers the chance of enjoying a great range of landscapes and environments. Besides being enjoyable, fieldwork also helps to build creativity. It develops learners into independent people by having them depend on their own creativity and skills.

People who undertake fieldwork must honor the beliefs and privacy of the informants since trust results in better results.

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