James and Williams (2017) conducted a study to look at the effect
of having outdoor, hands on learning in the classroom. They used 56 seventh and
eighth grade students from the Rocky Mountain West. The school they looked at
in particular emphasizes outdoor education.
To gather their information, they observed students in a section
of their learning called “water and its environmental impact”. They took the
students on a camping trip to obtain water and soil samples and let them
participate in team building exercises like hiking and archery. After the field
experience, the students took part in 4, 100-minute class sessions to test
samples, have discussion, and make sense of the information they were learning.
The student participants also watched videos, had lectures and did reading.
Of the 56 students, 8 students (14%) were new to the school and
experienced trouble preparing for the trip. Thirteen students, (23%) also all
boys, struggled with behavior and attention. Three had one on one help. Seven
more students (13%) struggled with traditional academic tasks but excel in
hands on active learning. After
conducting the experiment, 44 (79%) students thought that the outdoor learning
was easier and more helpful to their learning.
In conclusion, both students and teachers agree that it is helpful
to their learning to experience some of it “hands on.” However, it is only
useful when it can be taken from the field and applied in the classroom. The
limitations to this study are that the researchers do know the students
personally and this may have introduced some bias into the research.
References
James,
J. K., & Williams, T. (2017). School-based experiential outdoor education:
A neglected necessity. Journal of
Experiential Education, 40(1),
58-71. doi:10.1177/1053825916676190
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