I believe it can help students more clearly clarify their goals and visualize where they are headed. It also helps to reinforce in-class lessons once students see real world applications.
If it is allowed at the field trip site, I think that it would be useful for students to take photos of various equipment and/or locations during the visit. Then, they can generate a PowerPoint Presentation related to the images, describing what the photo represents. I believe this would be an excellent way to reinforce what was seen/learned and if they need to "brush up" on what they saw they can research the photo to make it an "active learning" experience.
The opportunity for a student to see the classrooms principles in actual use in irreplaceable. The amount of information that one receives in a classroom can easily be lost. During a field trip or a quest speaker it can give the student the opportunity to re-enforce the concepts to see what actually happens. A field trip and guest speakers will give the students a great opportunity to hear and see real life experiences and stories to help form their opinions and attitudes towards the field as they get ready to embark on their new career.
In field trips, students can see their future careers in action. As for guest speakers, they will be a way to show how successful one can be in the career they have chosen.
Seeing people working gives students a chance to see themeselves in that role.
It helps them see how what they are learning is really used in the real world. It gives them an idea of what their options are upon graduation.
Field trips and guest speakers can help make a theory of a course come to life. I have previous students tell me that what they learned in class is being used on the job. It is one of my teaching goals to related course objective's to students' career objectives.
They get to hear about real-life experiences and see the results of the information they are learning first-hand. It will be fun to think up a field trip activity. Right now i don't know how it would fit because of the vast amount of material the students need to fit in and a lot of them rush in from jobs that they have during the day. we only get them for 4-5 hours. In that setting, a speaker might be better.
Attending field trips will help students see how that industry works on a day-to-day basis. Classroom learning is totally different from practical learning. Guest speakers are able to share their experiences in the field and let students know exactly how the industry operates.
It is one thing to talk about a career it is another thing to actually see people working in that field. The one on one experience is very beneficial to the students.
