Outdoor Science Education program helps teachers learn science as 5th graders learn science Research on outdoor science education has emphasized student outcomes over teacher outcomes. In contrast, this U.S. study also collected qualitative and quantitative data about teachers to answer these research questions about an outdoor science education program: (1) What are the relationships between elementary school teachers’ participation in outdoor education experiences led by naturalists and their perceptions of their own and their students’ science content knowledge? (2) What are the relationships between elementary school teachers’ participation in outdoor science experiences led by naturalists and their perceptions of science instruction and outdoor science instruction? (3) What are teachers’ perceptions of their students’ engagement in science and behavior following their participation in the outdoor science education program? Answering these questions could identify programmatic features that supported teachers’ professional development and draw attention to what teachers—not just students—gain from outdoor education experiences.
This study covered a non-profit outdoor education program in the southeastern United States led by naturalists. K-12 teachers rarely situate their science instruction outdoors, so the naturalists developed a program in which 5<sup>th</sup> graders and their teachers participated in outdoor education expeditions aligned with the state’s science standards. The mixed methods design combined semi-structured phone interviews and follow up surveys with more than thirty participating 5<sup>th</sup> grade teachers. For the qualitative component, researchers asked teachers about the perceived impact of the outdoor education program on their learning about science concepts, instructional strategies, comfort in teaching science, and teaching in the outdoors. For the quantitative component, they administered short surveys to measure the extent to which the outdoor science experiences supported their own learning, their comfort teaching science, their comfort teaching science outdoors, and their perceptions about their students’ science learning. They coded the qualitative data according to their research questions and analyzed the survey data statistically to establish correlations between teachers’ perceptions of their own engagement and learning and their students’ engagement and learning.
The qualitative and quantitative results pointed to both students and teachers benefiting from the outdoor science education program. Teachers perceived that their own science content knowledge improved through their participation in outdoor expeditions and lessons facilitated by naturalists. In many cases, they described their learning as “re-learning” science through activities situated outdoors. In other cases, teachers acknowledged these naturalist-led experiences helped them learning science in ways that overcame their largely generalist teaching knowledge and to connect outdoor learning to their indoor teaching of science concepts. Another key finding was that perceptions of both students’ and teachers’ scientific knowledge increased through the outdoor science program. In addition, teachers noted their knowledge of science instruction strategies increased, building their confidence in strategies to engage students in science and to teach science outdoors. Almost half of the participating teachers also recognized outdoor education experiences as strong contexts for interdisciplinary instruction. Finally, teachers perceived that the outdoor education program improved students’ engagement and behavior, including youth with learning and behavioral disorders.
This mixed methods study suggests that both students and teachers can benefit from nature-based science instruction. Participating as observers and learners in the outdoor education program, teachers not only perceived that students learned science while demonstrating more engagement in learning and better behavior than in-school instruction; they also described themselves as learning or re-learning science content, learning instructional strategies for both indoor science and outdoor science, and learning about more active and situated learning experiences. These results suggest that similar outdoor education programs can support both student and teacher learning, compensate for elementary teachers’ often general teaching backgrounds and limited science backgrounds, and support professional development for practicing teachers.
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