I've just returned from a week teaching 24 undergraduates on a fieldwork course (under the path of ex-hurricane Katia) and have yet again been reminded how rewarding teaching can be under the right circumstances. This course involves staff and students from two different universities and is residential in a remote place which has conditions very different to anything the students are used to. Days are long and intense - usually 7.30am to 9.30pm for students and longer for staff. Students complete several different exercises both outdoors (including a long hike) and indoors and hand in work for assessment before leaving to return home. The work to some extent depends on weather conditions and so there is always an element of "surprise" and crisis management. However, overwhelmingly the students and staff get a lot out of it, and I feel reconnected to teaching and to our undergraduates.
It is obvious that the staff/student ratio here is far better than you would ever get in ordinary teaching - approximately 1 to 6. Plus we use postgrad demonstrators and IT and technical support staff. We have to pay for board and lodging, transport and computers and field equipment. The students make a contribution but it is heavily subsidised by the department. I am increasingly conscious that it looks like a large amount for one module - and the less fieldwork based staff have sometimes questioned the use of resources. However, I will continue to defend field courses like this one because to staff they are refreshing and to students the requirement to combine knowledge across their other modules and the resulting revision ahead of the final year is a unique experience that cannot have a value placed upon it.
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