Educational Benefits of Study Tours for the Students of Architecture

Among educational elements, the main element is study tours that are considered as a crucial instrument for learning. These tours are not only a source of providing valuable educational opportunities to the students but also give them pleasure. They benefit the entire life of students in different ways. The main focus of this research is to know how study tours are beneficial for students of architecture. This study explores the need and importance of study tours that add the learning experience throughout the life of students at the university level and in practical life. 
For collecting data, a qualitative research method is used. The study carried out by taking the architectural students of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology Karachi on study tours, because of being a part of the faculty of the Architecture department of this university. The research tool was a questionnaire that was filled online by the students who joined the tours, collected data was analyzed by a simple percentage method. 
The findings indicated that the majority of respondents get pleasure and knowledge from study tours. The tours provide education to students to explore things personally in an eloquent way. They not only boost collaboration among teachers and students but also support to cope with teaching problems that occurred in the classrooms. 
The study has demonstrated that study tours are essential in order to give practical tactics for the curriculum and are helpful in enhancing the learning experience and understanding of the students. Tours bring enjoyment and escapade to learning and trained students for getting success in the hardships of life.


I. INTRODUCTION
Many studies have been conducted to demonstrate the value of study tours in higher education, like spatial design [1], and in civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering [2]. Many researchers have also documented the long-term educational advantages of study tours [3] and [4]. A Study tour is an activity of any institute that takes students to different areas under the supervision of the teachers for one, two, or more days. Study tours are arranged to enhance the education of the students and provide knowledge and information about different places and make the students respond positively to learning, which motivates them to form relationships between theoretical concepts learned in the classroom and what they have experienced [5] and [6]. Outdoor tours allow students to develop greater perception, a larger vocabulary, and a strong involvement in the outdoor spaces [7]. Curiosity is stimulated by developed interest, allowing students to ask questions, describe observations, consider previous experiences, or simply analyze the topic [8]. These tours are either local visits to civic offices, historically significant sites, or any other places related to the curriculum. On a study tour, the location is not the only thing that influences the students; while traveling from campus to the field tour, they also learn about the regions and the communities [9]. Researcher, Walsh and his associates said that study tours boost the ability of students to not only understand the visiting communities but also help them to establish a learning community with their staff and colleagues and empower them to be effective learners in turn [10]. The main concept of study tours is related to human memory, which is pictorial based, not word-based, as sight is important to memory, not sound. The memories created by study tours are called "episodic memories" that help students retain information for a long time. The concept of remembering more information through visualization of events in the selected locations is supported by the proverb 'I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand' [11]. Study tours provide more than one learning style. A group of researchers demonstrated that students on study tours develop their observation and interpretation skills by using all of their senses [12]. For instance, tours provide visual and tactile learning experiences and are also an excellent teaching tool, especially for students of architecture. Classroom lectures are beneficial for students who are the best audio learners, and study tours provide opportunities for visual and tactile learners to execute hands-on experience. Students, after seeing and touching the historical relics and places, can take more interest in the subjects for which the tour is arranged because it delivers learning which the videos and textbooks cannot provide. If you consider the history of study tours, they are not a modern development. An author Kandel states: "In history, the students of the middle ages traveled and begged, which was related to school tours. In the early period before Christ, for the physical fitness of the children, the Greeks took them to different places. "Sparta", the state, was renowned for its physical exercise. In Athens, the same practice was adopted for the physical training of children. Most of the writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries accepted the discrete educational value of tours in education". The idea of tours began in the sixteenth century, when Montaigne in his struggle against what he called "book learning", wanted the whole world to be the book of his students. In the subcontinent Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was the first person who gave value to the educational field tours due to this reason, study tours were arranged at Muhammadan-Anglo Oriental School regularly along with studies". Therefore, it could be said that field tours were part of customs before the discovery of conventional education [13]. If taking about the field of architecture and one of its needs, like study tours, the goal of this education is to improve the awareness of the field, sensitivity to the built environment, and the ability of students to create a built environment. Therefore, it should not only be limited to the institute or textbooks but also exposure to the real world is required at this level. Architectural education is not only changing our world but also presenting things in new forms. The main users of education are students, who are a core part of the learning process. Therefore, it is necessary to train them practically through exposure to field knowledge that will be useful in their future lives. An author Pattacini in 2018 stated that tours, field trips, and on-site studies are all vital components of education and are extremely important in architectural learning because they help to shape people who are responsible for creating environments via design and strategic planning. On the other hand, being an architectural student, it is necessary to travel around the world, explore, learn, study, visualize, observe, and experience the built environment, art, culture, and architecture of ancient societies and their impact on present civilizations [14]. Exposure and observations of the surroundings and the built territory are an essential part of the architectural field that facilitates students to understand the concept and importance of their field and their responsibility towards designing the world for the survival of mankind because ALLAH creates the world and architects are responsible for shaping the world. Another important aspect related to the importance of tours for architectural students is that the spaces need to feel and experience physically to understand positive and negative aspects of built and unbuilt territory, which helps them to incorporate positive aspects into their work while eliminating negative aspects if any. Moreover, personal relationships are vital in environmental and architectural curricula, not just because pupils grasp the linkages, but also because they create emotional links. Raising knowledge and care leads to increased interest in the topic, whether environmental, ecological, or societal [15][16][17]. In Pakistan, 33 universities are offering bachelor of architecture education to students and many efforts, like lectures, seminars, workshops, local conferences, collaborative studios, and debates, are conducted at the university level to achieve the goals of architecture education. Along with all these activities, another major activity, educational tours, is required to be arranged at this level to provide an opportunity for students to experience things, learn and take inspiration from other work and have long-lasting learning through observation. Study tours and trips, as per researchers Hein and Dooren, are essential to understanding architecture [18]. However, sometimes it is very difficult to organize and manage study tours. Strict discipline needs to be maintained in terms of attendance and punctuality to mold the mob into the strength that they are expected to show. Still, tours give self-education that cannot be provided by classrooms. They allow students to debate about different areas of interest they observed and explore related to their field. Most of the ideas and topics are easily explained, understood, and integrated into practical work through tours that save time and energy of students and teachers wasted on clarification and understanding of these things. To sum up, the necessity of educational tours for architectural fields cannot be denied and needs to be a crucial section of the curriculum. This study, therefore, emphasizes the necessity of educational tours for architectural students as a targeted group to look at the value of study tours in the learning process. In addition, how field trips may stimulate students' interest and help them learn more about a subject, as well as how they might impact students' perceptions of study tours and encourage them to participate in such activities. Further, in this educational tactic, it is essential to use the strategy to represent the findings, observations, learning, and understanding of tours through design projects, preparing reports, presentations, and documentaries that students can share with other students. Through this strategy, other students can learn 'how to observe and explore', 'how to prepare' and 'how to stay in different circumstances', and by doing these things, the importance of educational tours can be enhanced, and it also really changes people's perceptions of what a study tour can be, what that experience can be. It really can be a learning experience; it can be a memory.

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The word "study tour" is defined as a journey of students of any institute related to an objective that engages the interests of students under the supervision of teachers. In the year 1981 authors Krepel and Duvall, define a field trip, which can also be called an educational tour, a university or a field trip, as educating pupils in the context of interactions, displays, and exhibitions to gain an experiential relationship with ideas, topics, and themes [19]. Researchers Tal and Morag defined field trips as outside the classroom, student experiences in interactive places meant for educational purposes. Field trips take pupils to unique places and each student studies natural environments and conducts research in a personal capacity [20]. Interactive displays assist students to play with concepts that are sometimes impossible in the classroom. The content of earlier classes suddenly becomes important when pupils digest and adapt to new understanding and knowledge. The relationship between the field trip site and the classroom ties the experience of the field trip to previous experience and classroom learning [21]. Experiential and meaningful social events are field excursions that provide fresh knowledge about an object, idea or process [22]. National Research Council or NRC has indicated that quality exposures result in additional education and growth of interest. He further said that pupils gaining real and hands-on experience could build a passion for learning, resulting in a thirst for more knowledge. Improved skills for observation as well as motivation and engagement improve. The learner shares perceptions and information with others. Students might learn to anticipate lessons and integrate prior experience and knowledge with new topics [23]. Therefore, field tour is a functional tactic to develop the prospects of students and let them acquire knowledge from experience. The knowledge of the world can only be learned by moving around the world and not in a covert. The basic purpose of arranging an educational tour is to provide students with not only entertainment and enjoyment, but also give them understanding through direct exposure. Researcher K. Sampath and his associates narrated that field tours provide real practical learning experience that the students observe at the sites for specific purposes. The basic aim of using this method of providing learning is to give students a chance to get firsthand information that they never get in the classroom. They observe things and make their own understanding according to their own experience. She suggested, after studying about field tours, that different hands-on activities should be incorporated into field tours because things done by hand will be remembered for a long time than things only heard by words [24]. An author illuminated the purposes of field tours that included elevating, strengthening, and supplementing the curriculum's contents through practical learning outside the typical classrooms. Moreover, it improves students' learning in hospitality education in a way that students mingle with each other, care for each other, and are usually interrupted in classrooms. Another purpose of study tour is to develop understanding between teachers and students and help teachers to develop learning methods like concerted learning. Students grasp the subjects followed by study tours and it helps with the social, mental and physical growth of students and creates discipline between students that will be helpful throughout their lives [25]. If considering the attitude of students towards the purpose of field tours, many students find the main purpose of tours as an enjoyable experience and they focus on enjoying things, but then again, many take it as a lifetime learning opportunity that they will never get from textbooks, so they focus on learning as much as possible through self-observation. An author 'Edmund Goh' in his research arranged study tours for two batches and conducted correctional research by comparing the attitudes of first-year students with second-year students to understand their views towards field tours. The Criteria for evolution was based on two objectives. One was to learn about increasing knowledge of subjects through field tours, and secondly how field tours become prompting elements for taking interest and gaining more knowledge about the subjects. The result of his study indicated that first-year students took field tours as a stimulation factor for their education, while second-year students' field tours served as guidance for choosing their future career. Therefore, students' attitude toward field tours showed that it served as a learning tool for them [26]. Designing and organizing a field tour consists of three phases. The first is the pre-tour phase, in which two working bodies are involved: administration and instructors, who define the objectives of field tours that follow different activities. Authors defined the significance of defining objectives of field tours in the pre-tour phase. They said that the outcome of a field tour without setting the desired goals would be in the form of wastage of money and time [27]. Author 'Edmund Goh' recommended that goals for tours be set first before leaving for tours and preparation for achieving the goals should be done accordingly [28]. Therefore, different kinds of activities must be designed to meet specific objectives under the instruction of tutors in the first phase. The second phase is the tour phase, in which students and teachers go to different locations. The third phase is the post-tour phase, which comprises of two constituents: quizzing and concluding activity [29]. Through reviewing the literature, it is clear that field tours give participants an opportunity to explore the world. A well-planned and task-oriented field tour can convert the experience of enjoyment and entertainment into learning. In addition, an ideal tour is one that allows maximum observation and learning opportunities, is properly planned, disciplined, safe, task oriented, and gives freedom to enjoy. Moreover, the previous study outlined the benefits of field tours and encouraged institutes to make field tours an essential element of the curriculum. It also emphasized the need to find out aspects that add to successful field tours and create experiences that individuals can have while traveling, like photographs of all areas need to be captured and students should be asked to write a report on the activities and learning of the tour. On the other hand, it is noticeable that the existing literature only addresses the advantages of field tours for students but does not discuss the issues faced during tours that need to be addressed for planning next tours. Then again, very limited literature addressing the need for study tours for students of practical fields like architecture is found. Furthermore, most of the research conducted is related to national tours. Further research is required to more clearly define the learning advantages of international tours. This study tried to find out the perspectives of students and teachers about field tours, and for this purpose, a qualitative research method was adopted. Collected data consists of two parts; primary and secondary data. Secondary data was gathered through studying and critically analyzing the previous literature, research papers, research reports, journals, the internet, and books addressing the benefits, planning, and learning opportunities provided by field tours. Then again, to collect primary data, three study tours for architecture students of different years were planned and participated in personally. The sample size was 130 students, and the reason for choosing this sample size was that the author wanted to do this experimental study on half of the total students in the architecture department. The intention of this study was to understand the concept of study tours and to get information not only about the queries of this study but also about the satisfaction level, expectations, and perceptions of the participants of tours for further understanding of the study. For this purpose, a questionnaire as a research tool, consisting of close and open-ended questions, was used. Of 130 students, 67 students responded to the questionnaire while the rest of the students participated in other assigned activities. This qualitative research method, especially open-ended questions, motivates the respondents to contribute to the study by sharing their ideas, experiences, and learning that provide fruitful results for further study. Detailed data obtained from the tours through personal observations included:  Students' expectations and achievements from tours  Self-experience and learning from tours  Comparison between the benefits of short and long-span tours.  Learn what you recall from former study tour experiences.  Issues faced during the tours related to the provision of facilities, safety, maintaining discipline, and following the teachers' instruction.

III. METHODOLOGY
 Benefits of target-oriented and well-planned tours as compared to haphazard tours The study is restricted to the documentation of the benefits of tours as well as the encouragement of institutes to arrange tours for students. The prospective recommendations are provided as a part of the study application. These ideas focused on how to overcome the problems faced by participants on tours and the provision of the best possible facilities regarding night stays meals, safety, and time management. All these recommendations help to change the perspective of people about study tours. Details of conducted tours are below.  2). Descriptions of the historical sites were given to the students during the visit by the instructors as well as by the people who were appointed to look after the sites ( figure 3 to figure 8).

B. Study Tour-02
The second tour was arranged at the end of March 2018 for the students of the 3rd year and it was a 3-day tour to Sanghar-Sindh and its vicinal Goths. The main objective of this tour was to visit different villages in Chotiari to observe the influence of the newly constructed Chotiari reservoir on the ecosystem and socio-economics of the area. This tour was related to the subject of "Architectural Design-III". After the tour, students were required to make architectural proposals for the resort and any other project which they felt necessary to uplift the area and its communities. Places visited during the tours were mentioned in figure 9; Bakar Goth, Phulail Goth, and Padhrio Goth. Students live and sleep in the open air and eat only fish because those areas are remote areas with no electricity and other basic facilities. To access those areas, boats are available.

C. Tour-03
The third tour was a day tour to Thatta and its near places on the 14th of October 2017. The study tour was for the students of the 1st year of the Architecture Department of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology Karachi and related to the subject of "History of Architecture-I". A total of 36 people visited different places that are shown in figure 14 to figure 19, including the historical site of Banbhore with a museum (on the northern bank of Gharo Creek), the City of Silence "Makli Graveyard", and Thatta's Shahjahan Mosque.  The main objectives of all tours were to explore, learn, study, visualize, and observe the old historical areas and civilizations that flourished in Sindh. Students found tours very enjoyable and extremely valuable to their learning. To evaluate the outcome of all tours, students were asked to design a project (for Chotiari) and to write a report about their experience, learning, and benefits of the tour after returning from tours.

V. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
This is an evaluation of the overall experience of study tours. In addition to personal experience, data is also collected from a questionnaire that is transformed into tables, tabulated, and analyzed by the simple percentage method. There were 67 respondents. Table 1 shows the responses to close-ended questions related to the significance of study tours for students of architecture. The Graphical presentation of above table is given in figure 20 below.

Figure 20: Emphasizing the Significance of Study Tours for Architecture Students
It is clear from the graph that the majority of research participants are in favor of study tours. They find study tours a practical way of learning. Tours provide a chance for them to learn through personal observation and experience. Then again, most students are not in favor of connecting study tours with any subject. They do not even find study tours as a source of close interaction between students and teachers. The majority answered that different activities must be a part of study tours to connect us with classroom learning. From the majority point of view, it is clear that students take more interest in subjects connected with study tours and easily understand the concepts. All the students considered tours as a necessity for their field to understand the art, culture, and history of architecture to develop future styles. They found study tours not only a mechanism to build confidence, but also a way to learn to live in different environments, which sometimes do not suit them. Moreover, they learned how to mingle with different social groups and how to behave publicly. Many respondents did not feel safe during tours; they found security as the main issue because in Pakistan the law and order situation is not satisfactory. Therefore, they feel insecure on tours. From responses, it is clear that knowledge gained from study tours is retained in memory for the whole life because visual learning is retained forever. They also found tours as an opportunity to visit different areas because of the low cost that is affordable for them. For open-ended questions, collected data is shown in the chart and graphical form as shown below. Table 2 shows the responses of 32 students to how teachers can apply learning from study tours and enhance students' critical thinking in the classrooms. A graphical presentation of the responses is given in figure 21 below. The results of this question identified different techniques that work best for students on study tours. The majority of participants described that taking class tests related to the tour will help them to recall many things about the tour. Some said that through making reports on tour they can create a connection between the subject and the tour experience. Some suggested that assigning presentations about tours helps others to understand the importance of study tours. Table 3 shows the responses of 42 students to the question of "Why is it necessary to arrange study tours for higher-level learning, especially architecture? Graphical presentation of question 15 is given in figure  22. The findings of this question indicated the need for study tours for students of architecture. Students consider tours a great opportunity to select the career that they want to pursue in their life through deeply observing things and wandering around different areas and communities during tours. Tours help them to understand different concepts through self-observation. The majority of participants defined that tours are necessary for taking practical knowledge of respective fields. They understand the living style of old civilizations during tours to enhance their present lifestyle and propose future changes in the built environment. Graphical presentation of question 16 of table 4 is given in figure 23. This question raised some issues regarding the organization of study tours. Issues of security, lack of guidance, and proper planning are major concerns for them on study tours. They described that on study tours they went to different places that were unfamiliar to them. Sometimes they feel insecure about visiting different communities because it is difficult for the native people to accept other people who do not belong to their community and culture. Some respondents seem annoyed at the failure of management to maintain discipline and strictly bound the students to obey the rules. Due to the disobedience of some students, the rest of the participants face the issue of time wastage. They indicated that wastage of time resulted in missing the visit of some other important spots. Some students also mentioned the issue of arranging good transport, but this issue is not very common because this issue is generated in very rare cases. Few of them raised the issue of finance because, in private universities, students have to bear all the expenses of the tour themselves.

Educational Benefits of Study Tours for the Students of Architecture in Karachi-A Case Study
In addition to the questionnaire, the outcome of one of the study tours was in the form of a design proposal of a tourist's resort for the upliftment of the studied region.
The following are two design proposals with a comparison of two projects. One project was designed after visiting the area and understanding its architecture, communities, lifestyles, and contextual settings (figure 24, figure 25, and figure 26), and the other one was designed without visiting the area (figure 27 and figure  28). The results of the design projects of two students clearly showed that the student who designed after visiting the area gave the best proposal than the other one. This means that the study tour gave him not only exposure but helped him out to design the best thing as per the requirements of the region.

VI. RECOMMENDATIONS
After examining the collected data, personal experience, and thorough research, there are some suggestions provided to make the study tours more effective to enhance the learning knowledge of the students and the teachers and for the betterment of the educational structure. Within this context, there are some general guidelines for the arrangement of such king tours:  All the study tours should be target-oriented.  A Study tour must relate to the curriculum to facilitate students' gaining fruitful experience rather than wastage of time. For this purpose, it is necessary to prepare the students for the learning experience through classroom activities that give them introductory information about the tour before going on the tour.
 Before leaving for the tours, in the pre-departure phase, careful planning by the teachers is required. That also includes informing the drivers and all the participants about the places that they are going to visit.
 All the participants should know about the objectives of the tour.
 Tutors who joined and organized the tours must be clear about the learning outcomes that they are required to achieve.
 To enhance the learning experiences of students on study tours, the role of teachers is very important. The teachers should engage with all the activities of the tours actively so that the students also become more active.
 Time management is the key to successful tours.
If time is not managed properly, then the aim of the tour will definitely fail to be achieved.
 In the case of long-duration tours, i.e., extending more than one day, it is necessary to make arrangements for a night stay before arrival at the places because, at the eleventh hour, arrangements for the stay of a huge crowd will be difficult. It not only saves the time of the rest of the participants but also helps to avoid any difficult situations.
 Maintaining discipline and holding all the students outside the strict environment of the classroom is very difficult, but it is very necessary to hold the mob. Instructions must be given at the initial stage of the tour and inform the students that they have to strictly follow the instructions. Sometimes, students disobey the teachers and violate the rules, which not only creates frustration among the rest of the students but also misses some important selected visiting points because of the wastage of time by those students. Instead, sometimes countless time is spent in one place, so the other places of interest to students pass unseen. Therefore, time and discipline management are both very essential.
 It is required to inform the management of selected places beforehand by the tour organizers so that they can make some arrangements for participants before arrival.
 During the tour, the instructor needs to offer info about the places so that the students can link those places with their classroom lectures.
 To create interest in students during the tour, different activities should be incorporated that will also enhance their learning experience. After the tour, some activities must be arranged in the classrooms to recall the memories of students about their learning experience.
 Teachers should motivate students to raise the assets for study tours from different organizations in the related field, so the financial burden can be handled easily.
 Selection of transport is also a big issue that is required to deal with. Usually, according to the available budget, transport is selected. However, if the condition of transport is not satisfactory, then collect some money from participants and arrange transport in a satisfactory condition. Bad transport soils the moods of students and they lose their interest in tours.
 All accessories for clothes and all items of food must be discussed before going on the tour.
 Security arrangements must be satisfactory.

VII. CONCLUSION
Studying books in different fields, like art and architecture, engineering, history, science, etc., produces bookworms. To develop strong, confident, bold citizens for society, educational tours need to be incorporated into universities. From a learning point of view, study tours are one of the important factors to develop an understanding of subjects, especially in the fields that are typically based on fieldwork and require the observation of the world. If we talk about the field of architecture, students' assignments are based on observation of surrounding environments, historical buildings, and different areas, seeking architectural problems and offering alternative solutions to solve these problems. Therefore, it is very essential to arrange tours for this purpose. The results of the study clearly show that 98.5 % of the respondents found study tours supportive of practical learning and 100 % defined the value of study tours for architecture students in a way that gives exposure to the built and unbuilt environments and helps them to connect with ideas taught in the classroom. In addition, 56% of the respondents suggested the presentation of trips as a tool to stimulate students' interest in participating in the trips. Whereas 37% and 6% considered design projects, tour reports, and class tests not only as tools to learn more about the subjects and to connect tour learning with the subjects but also to change students' attitude towards study tours and encourage them for these activities. Therefore, the main point is that all the study tours, no matter what the field is, should be as experimental and resourceful as your goal wants them to be. They can be more beneficial if they are more experimental and resourceful. There is significant research that indicates that a properly organized study tour will provide a fruitful experience that goes beyond just reading textbooks and has a minimum probability of ignoring concepts and other important things than poorly organized tours. Students' assertiveness towards participating in study tours can be observed through the arrangements of tours. It must be designed to reflect the institutes for which it is organized. This can be accomplished by facilitating all necessities and by the provision of detailed information to the organizers. The other factor that needs to be considered during tours is that students must be allowed to physically participate and personally explore things, and you teach them about what they have to achieve from the tour. A great tour connects the students with different communities and they learn about their culture. To enhance the interaction of students with communities, a planned strategy should be designed that can be done through some joint activities. This research enables institutes, both government and private, to link study tours with the curriculum as well as aids in making improvements to organized study tours to make them truly efficient. From the questionnaires which were used for interviews, respondents were able to let us know about their satisfaction level and expectations for the study tours. When the recommendations are incorporated into the organization of study tours, then the tours turn into a better source of learning for students. All these will make the institutes renowned too.