{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,6]],"date-time":"2026-03-06T23:30:22Z","timestamp":1772839822524,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768176000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"FCT","award":["This research was funded by national funds through FCT - Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia, I.P., and by the European Commission\u2019s Recovery and Resilience Facility, within the scope of UID\/04423\/2025 (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.54499\/UID\/04423\/2025), UID\/PRR"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["This research was funded by national funds through FCT - Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia, I.P., and by the European Commission\u2019s Recovery and Resilience Facility, within the scope of UID\/04423\/2025 (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.54499\/UID\/04423\/2025), UID\/PRR"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) have emerged as an alternative to Traditional Field Trips (TFTs), addressing logistical, financial, and accessibility constraints in geoscience education. This study presents a comparative analysis of the educational impact of a VFT and a TFT implemented with the same 10th-grade class in a Portuguese secondary school. The VFT, focused on volcanism and its socioeconomic impacts, used Google Earth to explore the island of S\u00e3o Miguel in the Azores. The TFT, centred on the rock cycle, was conducted at the Lavadores Beach geological site. Both interventions followed the field-based learning model by Orion and were structured around three phases: preparation, field trip (virtual or traditional), and post-activity synthesis. Data was collected through diagnostic tests, schematization, observation grids, student reports (snapshot), group projects, and written responses to a fieldwork guide recorded on Padlet during the VFT and TFT. The results showed that both VFTs and TFTs enhance conceptual understanding and student engagement, though they foster different skills: VFTs strengthen digital literacy, improve accessibility and inclusion for students with mobility or geographic constraints, allow for content revisitation, foster collaboration among students, integrate multimedia resources, and enable virtual exploration of remote locations that would otherwise be inaccessible. They also offer reduced costs, greater scheduling flexibility, and allow for individualised pacing of student learning. In contrast, TFTs provide richer sensory and practical experiences that are essential for hands-on scientific inquiry and foster stronger connections with the natural environment. The study concludes that a complementary use of both strategies offers the most inclusive and effective approach to teaching geosciences.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su18020781","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T08:17:32Z","timestamp":1768292252000},"page":"781","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Sustainability in Geoscience Education: Comparing Virtual and Traditional Field Trips with 10th-Grade Students in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Andr\u00e9","family":"Ramos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Science Teaching Unit, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto (FCUP), 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Paula","family":"Amorim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Science Teaching Unit, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto (FCUP), 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7755-9281","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tiago","family":"Ribeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Science Teaching Unit, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto (FCUP), 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4524-9788","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clara","family":"Vasconcelos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Science Teaching Unit, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto (FCUP), 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"325","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1949-8594.1993.tb12254.x","article-title":"A model for the development and implementation of field trips as an integral part of the science curriculum","volume":"93","author":"Orion","year":"1993","journal-title":"Sch. 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