The effects of a river study program on students' comprehension, skills and attitudes in science

Abstract

Outdoor environmental education is a fun and exciting way to teach classroom science curriculum. This study focused on if an outdoor river study program increased students' science comprehension and skills more than the normal classroom science curriculum. It also sought out to measure whether students' attitudes towards science and the environment changed from being a part of the study. The data show that while students' knowledge of science concepts did not increase significantly when compared to the indoor classroom unit, students retained the river study concepts better and longer than the classroom science concepts. Students' attitudes towards science and the environment were shown to be more positive post-river study. Students also showed an increased awareness of themselves as learners after the post-river study.