Self‐guided field trips take invertebrate zoology students away from their screens and into the environment for hands‐on learning

There is a great importance for undergraduate biology students to study organisms in their natural context Safety concerns surrounding the global COVID‐19 pandemic prevented Marine Invertebrate Zoology students at the University of Tampa from participating in traditional faculty‐led field trips during the Fall of 2020 Instead, students were assigned to conduct a diversity‐focused field trip on their own and report their findings Here we describe considerations and methods for creating a safe and valuable self‐guided field trip assignment for upper‐level invertebrate zoology students These methods are adaptable for a variety of different habitat types and can be conducted with little to no special equipment or training Students were successful in completing this assignment and found it highly enriching [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Invertebrate Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )