Educational Tours and Academic Credit

Foreign and Domestic Trips Linked to Enrichment Opportunities

Feb 15, 2009

Whether participating in accredited programs that offer academic credits in conjunction with tours, or simple enrichment activities, student tours can be educational.

Education tours, both foreign and domestic, allow teachers to expand on classroom taught units by providing first hand, “hands on” experiences. These experiences can be enhanced with lesson plans and correlating student enrichment activities or even formal educational programs that award earned credit for participation by both students and teachers. Broadening the trip experience through academic enrichment and for-credit programs adds a higher level of participation to the educational component of a trip.

The College Board, which administers the Advanced Placement Tests, offers “AP Enrichment” tours in conjunction with EF Educational Tours and EF Smithsonian Tours, the domestic tour provider. As an academically accredited institution, EF also grants high school credit to students that complete an academic program in conjunction with a tour and provides a program granting teachers certification renewal credits.

Other student tour companies have also begun to incorporate learning experiences into tours such as NETC’s “LEAP” program that provides fun and creative on-tour learning activities. In every case, student tour companies provide on-line educational activities for traveling students and some offer lesson plans to teachers interested in expanding the academic scope of student tours.

Developing Tour-Related Academic Programs

Student foreign or domestic tours sponsored by individual academic institutions and directly related to a particular course of study present an excellent opportunity for educational activities that can be mandated as a prerequisite for acceptance on a tour or tied to course credit. Such activities can include:

Additionally, if the tour is in conjunction with a particular class, on-tour research in correlation to specific sites can be tied to a final course project. A history class that includes the French Revolution can explore various historical sites in Paris or at Versailles to obtain first hand information. Students visiting St. Petersburg, Russia can explore the many palaces and museums dedicated to the Imperial period. Planning ahead will enable both students and teachers to identify specific historical sites, museums, and even “off-the-beaten-path” destinations like cemeteries and non-tourist neighborhoods.

For the best tour experience directly related to course credit, teachers can opt to customize tours, i.e., creating their own tours with the professional help of student tour companies. Ideas for themed tours are limitless, whether basing the tour around World War II sites, the Holocaust, Gothic cathedrals, or Renaissance Art. Michael Barone, whose weekly radio show “Pipe Dreams” is dedicated to the pipe organ, annually hosts a tour solely devoted to visiting churches and monasteries in order to explore old organs.

The same can be done with domestic tours. Tours of American sites can be themed to reflect such areas of focus as:

Academic Enrichment Tours for all Disciplines

Combining a fun tour experience with academics can be a part of all disciplines. Biology majors may benefit by participating in Costa Rica tours. History, language, and English can fit into almost any tour. Art and Music themed tours provide enrichment in those disciplines. Including some level of academic enrichment turns a student tour into a true educational experience.

The copyright of the article Educational Tours and Academic Credit in High School Lesson Plans is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish Educational Tours and Academic Credit in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.