Trip Week / Experiential Learning /
Field Journal

On this trip, you will be developing your own field journal. Its contents will not only be a nice souvenir of the trip but will also serve as the input for your interdisciplinary learning in Design and Individuals & Society. Being able to take effective notes and reflect 'in the moment' or 'for later' are important AtL skills.

Field research

Both designers and authors often do research 'in the field'. They observe people and systems in the real world to build their understanding of what motivates humans to behave or create in a certain way. In order to remember observations in detail later a field journal can be kept - a notebook containing dated descriptions of observations, annotated drawings, photographs and even material found in the field.

What should go in my journal?

We will use the journal when practically preparing before the trip, to note observations and reflections during the trip, and to synthesize our learning after the trip. 

At many moments during the trip, you will be asked questions like:

What system do you observe? How does it work? What are the strengths of this system? What might be the problems with how this currently works? Why does it nevertheless work this way?

After thinking about these questions, you will be asked to privately record your thoughts and observations with: 

The materials you need to reflect in your field journal will be provided on location. You only have to bring your journal on the trip.  At each location of an activity a blue box will be present with in it all the stationary and other attributes you might need in order to respond to the reflection prompts

Do I purchase my own journal?

You are welcome to purchase your own field journal to use on this trip. If you don't purchase a field journal, one will be provided for you. Your journal must:

It is important to know that the journal is yours. It is not to be shared with other students and you should take care to protect it.