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Why Include Friday Field Trips in UG studies?

Course field trips are a unique and important component of DKU undergraduate study. A field trip is a course-related activity that serves the educational purposes of the course. By participating in field trips, students have the opportunity to receive practical information that is difficult to be conveyed in the classroom. Faculty are strongly encouraged to consider activities that allow students to interact with people in the local community or expose them to local culture. In particular, faculty may wish to consider field trips that include some kind of service or experiential learning, volunteer work, and more.

Field trip guidelines

What UG studies can do to help you with field trip planning:

Budget

  1. Round-trip transportation within a maximum of 2 hours’ drive from DKU (for
    example, Kunshan, Suzhou, Changshu, Taicang, Zhangjiagang, and Shanghai).
  2. Entrance tickets (Please note: many sites are on a reservation system and do not
    support temporary increases in the number of visitors.)
  3. No meals, snacks and water will be provided. Students should bring their own or
    pay for their own on-site. We are working with the canteen to see if we can arrange
    for students to pre-order packed meals at their own expense. We will share
    information with faculty sponsors as it becomes available.
  4. Gift package for the host organization if needed.
  5. Excluding transportation and gift package, the maximum budget for all field trips is
    100 CNY per student, including but not limited to entrance tickets, tour guide,
    sightseeing, activities, etc. (Please note that this cap is a maximum, not a target. We
    only have limited funding, and by keeping costs down for each trip, we can support a
    larger number of field trips.)

Guidelines

Application

  1. The UG Academic Activities Coordinators are available for consultation to help faculty identify a suitable location for their field trip. They can also help faculty identify virtual field trips that might work particularly well in spring 2023. If any questions, please contact
  1. Faculty should consider whether there are options for remote students to participate in the field trip or whether alternate arrangements might be possible for remote students.
  2. The UG office will send out a survey to collect field trip requests 3 weeks before the session starts. Faculty who wish to have a field trip should take the survey as early as possible. All requests are due no later than 1 week before the start of the session in which the field trip is scheduled.  A schedule of field trips supported by the UG Office will be made available before the start of the session. 
  3. Fridays are reserved on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please note that due to changes in class scheduling in spring 2023, there are fewer Fridays available, and there are a small number of classes scheduled on Fridays. 
  4. Requests should include an explanation of how the field trip will enhance the learning objectives of the course.

The field trip database is designed to help both professors and students to learn more about local resources, how other courses design field trips, and how to make them more integrative. Field trips are an essential part of the DKU experience as we encourage everyone to enrich their lives both inside and outside of the classroom. From exploring local museums, to trekking through forests, to investigating the latest advancements in biotechnology, the variety of experiences that can be offered are an invaluable aid to students in learning how to practically apply what they learn in class. Here, you can find information on past field trip locations, courses they were for, and activities on each trip to guide future planning.

 

These excursions not only bring to life DKU’s core educational principles, but also will inspire students to delve further into their fields of study and possible job options. All classes can be enriched by these opportunities to explore China, connect with local communities, and bring the course to life, and it is our mission to support this. This database will be constantly expanding with resources as more field trips are taken each session!

 

Please visit here for more details on past field trip locations and courses they were taken for.

Learn more about what goes on during Friday Field Trips here! Student-written stories of field trip experiences detail the types of trips that can be taken and learning objectives.

Contact

Jiawen Cai (Division of Natural Sciences and Language and Culture Center)

jiawen.cai@dukekunshan.edu.cn

T: (+86) 0512 3665 7528 

Isaac Zhu (Division of Social Sciences and Division of Arts and Humanities)

yongyu.zhu@dukekunshan.edu.cn

T: (+86) 0512 3665 7393