Effects of outdoor learning tasks on kindergarten science understanding and attitude

Abstract

Throughout my experience teaching students aged 5 up to 14, I've noticed a dramatic shift in attitude towards learning when given the opportunity to teach outdoors. There is inherent difficulty in building a schedule that allows for outdoor learning. My study aimed to support whether the additional instruction time needed for outdoor learning benefits learners by looking through quantitative and thematic data. The non-treatment phase of the study recorded students' attitudes towards learning science, scoring on a summative assessment, and observed use of scientific understanding throughout indoor classroom instruction. The treatment phase of the study collected data in the same ways but with the addition of frequent outdoor learning tasks in which students were brought outdoors for a short (10 to 15 minute) activity ahead of or following the classroom science lesson. Qualitative and quantitative data patterns pointed to an immediate preference for indoor learning with a declining positive attitude score as time went on. Inversely, attitudes toward activities with outdoor learning tasks began low but rose over time. Summative scores pointed to slight gains in content understanding after being introduced to outdoor learning tasks. Generally, students showed slight preference towards lessons with outdoor learning tasks and in combination with a slight gain in content understanding following outdoor lessons justifies continued exploration of outdoor learning activities with young students.