Isla Mar Research Expeditions How to Plan Your Field Course | Page 2

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DEVELOPYOURFIELDCOURSEPLAN
Befor e appr oach in g th e depar tm en t h ead,
you wil l wan t to h ave you r con cept fu l l y
devel oped. Th is wil l al so in cl u de m en tion in g an y
pr e-r equ isites for stu den ts. Con sider wh at you r
depar tm en t wil l wan t to k n ow: 1) h ow wil l you
m easu r e stu den t par ticipation an d distr ibu te
gr ades 2) wh at do you expect th e stu den ts to l ear n
3) h ow wil l th is cou r se offer som eth in g differ en t
fr om a cl assr oom settin g 4) h ow m an y stu den ts
ar e in ter ested 5) wh at is th e pr oposed bu dget an d
6) h ow ar e you qu al ified to pr ovide th e cou r se at
th e l ocation an d do you h ave on -site assistan ce?
Th is l ast par t wil l be cr itical to assu r in g you r
depar tm en t an d cu r r icu l u m com m ittee th at you
ar e pr epar ed to h an dl e a gr ou p of stu den ts wh il e
abr oad. Reach ou t to th e poten tial fiel d cou r se
h ost to get an idea of r en tal car costs, fl igh ts, visa
r equ ir em en ts, food an d accom m odation costs.
Al ways bu dget for at l east 20% m or e th an wh at is
qu oted.

Next, you wil l wan t to
pr epar e a ten tative sch edu l e
of you r l esson s an d
activities. Be su r e to accou n t
for weath er ,as th is is al ways
a factor for an y fiel d cou r se.
If you r sch edu l e wil l in cl u de
divin g, do n ot pl an a dive th e
day befor e you r fl igh t

depar ts th e site. Al on g with
th e sch edu l e, pr esen t a
su itabl e bu dget an d th e
br eak down of th e cost per
stu den t as it r el ates to you r
sch ool 's tu ition . W e al so
su ggest to in tr odu ce th e
h ost or gan ization to you r
depar tm en t. Discu ss th e

option s with you r
depar tm en t.

For divin g pr ocedu r es
an d safety pr ecau tion s
to be pr esen ted to you r
depar tm en t, pl ease see
ou r addition al h an dou t.