Eureka College has many different learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
According to Lafayette there are many benefits to learning outside the classroom such as it can help students engage more beyond the four walls of a classroom.
Dr. Annie Kelvie is an Associate Professor of English and is originally from Denver Colorado. She has taught at Eureka College for seven years.
Kelvie teaches ENG 264 every other year during the fall semester where she takes her students on field trips every Thursday. This is a Nature Writing class that she has been teaching since 2020. It is a writing based class with a combination of creative nonfiction and poetry. All of their readings and what the students write about in some form relate to creative writing about nature.
The class meets at Eureka Lake Park every Thursday and takes one trip out to Letcher Basin. This area belongs to Parklands Foundations. At the park students are given writing prompts to write in their Nature Journal each week. Students are asked to closely pay attention to what is happening in nature. To identify animals and plants at the park, and to write different writing techniques such as metaphors and personification.
Within this classes curriculum, they also take a trip to Letcher Basin where students can earn the Sustainable Practices capability that is one of the required 10 essentials. On this trip, students perform a service project by volunteering alongside others to remove invasive species that should not be growing there. By doing this, it helps native prairie plants to re-establish themselves and grow better.
Kelvie states that by taking her classes on field trips and college students learning outside of the classroom in general is good for learning.
“Field trips are a great way to find out how the world works, kind of like Richard Scarry’s BusyTown. I love being in the classroom, but there is also a lot to learn out in the world, whether it is the natural world or from an organization like Parklands that helps improve Central Illinois for all who live there,” said Kelvie through email.
Kelvie also teaches ENG 274, American Nature Writers, that is also a Sustainable Practices capability class.
Bailey Newhouse is a senior at Eureka College. She is majoring in psychology. This semester she is taking Kelvie’s Nature Writing class, ENG 264. Newhouse chose this elective because from the description of the class, they would be spending time out in nature.
Newhouse stated that she enjoyed spending time with her grandpa in nature when she was younger.
“I picked specifically this class, because I’ve always enjoyed writing, and when I was younger, my grandpa and I spent a lot of time in nature,” said Newhouse.
By the description of the class, Newhouse felt connected to it and reminded her of some good memories.
Newhouse also states that taking this class it helps her to unplug when the class goes on their weekly field trips.
“It’s just nice to get out in nature and really connect, especially nowadays with everyone being plugged in,” said Newhouse.
She also states that field trips in general in college are beneficial for students learning depending on the class.
Lydia Clark is a junior at Eureka College. She is majoring as a child life specialist. Clark is also in the nature writing class and is taking it this semester to fulfill a requirement for the ten essentials. She also took it because she enjoys nature and writing.
Clark states that she really enjoys going on the weekly field trips, and it does not feel like class.
“It’s always really fun to incorporate your class assignments with being able to go outside and actually apply that. Also being able to see real life examples of what you’re supposed to be looking at is always helpful,” said Clark.
She also says that it is a good time for her to move around and be active because typically college students get wrapped up in classes and homework.
Clark states that she would love to see more classes in college take field trips.
“It’d be really cool to have field trips with the psychology courses…I feel like if you have more hands-on demonstrations learning that is going to want to make you learn more,” said Clark.
Dr. Kate Harlin is an Assistant Professor in Post Colonial Literature. Harlin started in the Fall semester of 2020, and this is her sixth-year teaching at Eureka College.
Last year Harlin taught a new seminar class called Literature and the Environment. This class focused on the Literature of the Mississippi River and reading poetry about the Mississippi Delta and Hurricane Katrina. They also read the novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Gone Girl.
Towards the end of the semester, Harlin took her class on a field trip to Hannibal, Missouri. There the class visited an interactive museum about Mark Twain and his life growing up in the town.
Harlin states that one of her favorite things about the trip was the root beer.
“The Mark Twain Diner in Hannibal has amazing homemade root beer!” said Harlin through email.
Harlin states that she hoped this field trip helped her students to understand the role of the environment played in the books that were read in class.
“I hope that actually seeing the environment we had talked about all semester helped students to understand the role the river played in the books we read more vividly. Until you hear the sound of moving water, see all the cargo barges and the steep bluffs, you may not fully understand the strength and bravery of Huck and Jim,” said Harlin through email.
Harlin hopes to teach this class again in the future.
Just like Kelvie and Harlin’s classes, Eureka College offers multiple opportunities for students to learn outside the classroom to enrich their learning.
