As literal as it sounds, Education Outside the Classroom refers to those methods and pedagogies where students learn in out-of-school settings. These settings include outdoor activities, field trips, community and botanical gardens, museums, zoos, community events, science in the media, science shops, science festivals, scientific centres, community settings, the internet, enhanced digital learning, and media.
A wealth of research studies has provided evidence that outdoor activities have a positive effect on students since such learning develops from various experiences and is an organic, dynamic, never-ending, and holistic phenomenon of constructing personal meaning. We are listing the top 10 benefits for you.
Top 10 benefits of Education Outside the Classroom
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Alertness in school and effectiveness of students' learning1
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It keeps kids fit and healthy, both physically and mentally1
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Increases the students' interest in science, based on an increased understanding of the nature of science, the relationship of science to society, as well as the work of scientists2
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Higher scientific reasoning abilities among students3
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Interactive, cognitive and logical thinking skills3
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Practical mathematics skills and knowledge transferable to outside school3
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Improvements in self-esteem, motivation and concentration4
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Improvements of social skills5
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Improvements of physical motor skills5
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Development of language and communication5
These benefits could be grouped and categorized in 4 types of benefits: cognitive (knowledge and understanding); affective (attitudes and feelings); social/interpersonal (such as empathy and communication skills); and physical/behavioural (civic, moral and ethical skills)6.
In OTTER we will further explore whether Education Outside the Classroom has an effect on students’ level of sophisticated consumption† and scientific citizenship*.
* Scientific citizen: a citizen who has a sufficient level of scientific knowledge to enable them to make informed decisions. Many scientific citizens in a country allows for the democratisation of science
† Sophisticated consumer: a consumer who has the knowledge and impetus to purchase a product not just based on its price, but on other factors such as its environmental impact or the ethicality of the production process
1 Education and Skills Commitee (2005) | 2 Avraamidou & Roth (2018) | 3 Gerber et.al. (2010) | 4 Knight (2011) | 5 O'Brien, L. (2009) | 6 Brody et.al. (2008)
(c) Allan Mas
