- Before the field trip and as part of pre-field activities, ask each student to (a) reflect on indigenous knowledge or cultural practices and beliefs associated with the topic or concept for the field trip. Students should be made aware that such reflections are to be shared with others at the beginning of the trip; and (b) using their mobile phones or other internet-enabled devices, search the web for resources relating to the subject of the field trip. (First technology flavour of the approach).
- At the start of the field trip, and after the preliminary briefing by the teacher, students are grouped into mixed-ability, mixed-sex groups to share individual reflections on (a) the indigenous knowledge and cultural practices and beliefs associated with the topic; and (b) summaries of ideas obtained from web resources. All such cultural and web-based reflections are documented and presented to the whole class by the group leaders. The teacher wraps up by sharing his/her indigenous knowledge and cultural practices associated with the topic.
- At the field trip site, students progress with their investigations as instructed by the teacher, drawing practical examples from the immediate surroundings of the field trip ste. Such examples can be physically observed by students to make science real. This is one of the “context” flavours of the approach. The teacher should sprinkle interactions during the practical session with some content-specific humour.
- Throughout the duration of the field trip, the class is reminded of the relevance of the indigenous knowledge and cultural practices documented by the groups for meaningful understanding of the concepts. If misconceptions are associated with cultural beliefs, they are cleared by the teacher.
- At the close of the field trip, the teacher sends a maximum 320-character summary of the lesson (two pages) via SMS or WhatsApp to all students. After the first lesson, student group leaders are to send such messages. This is another of the technology flavours of the approach.
