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Physical Activity in an Outdoor Environment article

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Physical Activity in an Outdoor Environment article

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Outdoor Education and the Development of Civic Responsibility - Article

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Outdoor Education and the Development of Civic Responsibility - Article

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http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED425051.pdf

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Scientific American Article - Critical Thinking is Best Taught Outside the Classroom

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Scientific American Article - Critical Thinking is Best Taught Outside the Classroom

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A democracy relies on an electorate of critical thinkers. Yet formal education, which is driven by test taking, is increasingly failing to require students to ask the kind of questions that lead to informed decisions.

More than a decade ago cognitive scientists John D. Bransford and Daniel L. Schwartz, both then at Vanderbilt University, found that what distinguished young adults from children was not the ability to retain facts or apply prior knowledge to a new situation but a quality they called "preparation for future learning." The researchers asked fifth graders and college students to create a recovery plan to protect bald eagles from extinction. Shockingly, the two groups came up with plans of similar quality (although the college students had better spelling skills). From the standpoint of a traditional educator, this outcome indicated that schooling had failed to help students think about ecosystems and extinction, major scientific ideas.

The researchers decided to delve deeper, however. They asked both groups to generate questions about important issues needed to create recovery plans. On this task, they found large differences. College students focused on critical issues of interdependence between eagles and their habitats ("What type of eco-system supports eagles?" and "What different kinds of specialists are needed for different recovery areas?"). Fifth graders tended to focus on features of individual eagles ("How big are they?" and "What do they eat?"). The college students had cultivated the ability to ask questions, the cornerstone of critical thinking. They had learned how to learn.

Museums and other institutions of informal learning may be better suited to teach this skill than elementary and secondary schools. At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, we recently studied how learning to ask good questions can affect the quality of people's scientific inquiry. We found that when we taught participants to ask "What if?" and "How can?" questions that nobody present would know the answer to and that would spark exploration, they engaged in better inquiry at the next exhibit-asking more questions, performing more experiments and making better interpretations of their results. Specifically, their questions became more comprehensive at the new exhibit. Rather than merely asking about something they wanted to try ("What happens when you block out a magnet?"), they tended to include both cause and effect in their question ("What if we pull this one magnet out and see if the other ones move by the same amount?"). Asking juicy questions appears to be a transferable skill for deepening collaborative inquiry into the science content found in exhibits.

This type of learning is not confined to museums or institutional settings. One of the best examples is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in which the eponymous host expertly shreds political, commercial and scientific-sounding claims in the press by using numbers, logic and old video. The Maker Faire, which conducts techie do-it-yourself projects, has reintroduced the idea that our learning is richer for our mistakes: D.I.Y. experimentalists get stuck, reframe the question and figure things out.

Informal learning environments tolerate failure better than schools. Perhaps many teachers have too little time to allow students to form and pursue their own questions and too much ground to cover in the curriculum and for standardized tests. But people must acquire this skill somewhere. Our society depends on them being able to make critical decisions, about their own medical treatment, say, or what we must do about global energy needs and demands. For that, we have a robust informal learning system that eschews grades, takes all comers, and is available even on holidays and weekends.

This article was originally published with the title "What Is Your Question?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Dennis M. Bartels is executive director of the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

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Critical Thinking Is Best Taught Outside the Classroom

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A democracy relies on an electorate of critical thinkers. Yet formal education, which is driven by test taking, is increasingly failing to require students to ask the kind of questions that lead to informed decisions. More than a decade ago cognitive scientists John D. Bransford and Daniel L.

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10 Reasons to Take Learning Outside the Classroom

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10 Reasons to Take Learning Outside the Classroom

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On this damp and dreary day, it might not feel like it, but summer IS here. This final half term when the weather is at its warmest is a better opportunity than ever to explore learning outside the classroom. Learning beyond the classroom offers a whole host of opportunities you'll struggle to find within confines of your classroom's four walls, I've outlined just a few below.
1. Make learning more engaging

It can be difficult to keep kids on task in the classroom. Especially as the school year draws to an end and the weather is nice outside and all they want to do is run around like mad things. Why not take learning outside and let them do just that? Take maths outside and have children estimate then time how long it would take to run, hop and skip across a field. They can discuss it outdoors and graph it back in the classroom.

2. Make learning relevant

By taking learning beyond the classroom you'll find dozens of opportunities to make learning concepts, real and relevant by putting them into a more realistic context. Many concepts which seem too difficult to get a grasp of in the classroom are a lot easier to understand in the big wide world when they're set in context, and when the children are more engaged and motivated to understand and learn.

3. Nurture creativity and imagination

Taking kids beyond the classroom is like unclipping their wings. Suddenly their minds are free to explore and you can often end up with some very creative results no matter what subject you're teaching them. For example, instead of learning about castles in the classroom are you able to take your children to a real castle ruins and have them act in role? You'll be amazed at how their imaginations run wild - but make sure you know your stuff as they'll have no end of questions to ask you to help fuel their role play.

4. Develop learning through play and experimentation

We all know that children learn more when they're happy and engaged. It's amazing just how much they can learn through playing. You can bet that the kids who did the role play in the castle will remember heaps about what life was like for their characters. Experimenting is also a fantastic way to learn - very young children learn a huge amount about volume and textures by simple things like sand and water play, whilst older children will enjoy becoming nature detectives and learning about minibeasts and their habitats.

5. Improve attendance

If you're able to build outside play - and visits, into your curriculum and engage and motivate your pupils to learn, you'll inevitably find that they're more motivated to turn up to school.

6. Reduce behaviour problems

Whilst learning beyond the classroom certainly means implementing a whole new set of behaviour management processes, on the whole it can often mean a general improvement in behaviour - yet another consequence of children being happy, engaged and motivated. There are not many children who are likely to act up if the consequence is that the whole class has to go back to learning maths inside...

7. Develop interest in the environment and wider surroundings

Learning outside can give you a great opportunity to teach your pupils about the environment and about your local area. This is an important part of developing them as responsible citizens that can be difficult to convey in the classroom.

8. Expose children to new opportunities

Learning outside the classroom doesn't just have to mean wandering around the school grounds, though this is a great place to start. There is no end of places you can take the pupils that they might not get access to otherwise. Museums, galleries, zoos and farms can be of great interest or somewhere where they can find out how things are made and maybe even have a go themselves can provide learning experiences that won't be forgotten fast.

9. Keep healthy

Even if you're just going to work a few feet from the confines of your classroom, well directed outdoor learning opportunities can offer a great opportunity for fresh air and exercise. Even pupils who aren't much interested in PE can usually be tempted by a fun learning game without the pressure of needing to 'win'.

10. Enjoy almost limitless resources

One of the key benefits of learning outside is that you have the most amazingly well resourced stock cupboard you could hope for - and a lot of it is free. No matter how tight your school's budget, so long as you have a good imagination you'll be able to develop free, meaningful learning opportunities for your children that will stick with them.

So what are you waiting for - it's time to get outside... though you might need to take an umbrella or two!

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10 Reasons to Take Learning Outside the Classroom

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On this damp and dreary day, it might not feel like it, but summer IS here. This final half term when the weather is at its warmest is a better opportunity than ever to explore learning outside the classroom.

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Youtube video

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RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms

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From Agathe

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Naturalistic Inquiry - Jan Armstrong article

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Naturalistic Inquiry - Jan Armstrong article

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256294652_Naturalistic_Inquiry

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Dr. Garth Pickard Article: Senselessness: The Manifestation of Educational Practice

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Dr. Garth Pickard Article: Senselessness: The Manifestation of Educational Practice

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www.researchgate.net/publication/242386442_Senselessness_The_Manifestation_of_Educational_Practice

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http://kickasscanadians.ca/colin-harris/

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Changing Learner Behaviour Through Environmental Education - Article

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Changing Learner Behaviour Through Environmental Education - Article

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http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/doi/abs/10.1080/00958964.1990.10753743?journalCode=vjee20

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Outdoor, Experiential, and Environmental Education: Converging or Diverging Approaches? - Article

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Outdoor, Experiential, and Environmental Education: Converging or Diverging Approaches? - Article

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http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED467713.pdf

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K-12 Education and the Environment: Perspectives, Expectations, and Practice

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K-12 Education and the Environment: Perspectives, Expectations, and Practice

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http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/doi/abs/10.1080/00958960109600795

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http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/outdoor.ed.environ.html

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Place-Based Curriculum and Instruction: Outdoor and Environmental Education Approaches - ERIC Digest - Article

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Place-Based Curriculum and Instruction: Outdoor and Environmental Education Approaches - ERIC Digest - Article

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http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED448012.pdf

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From places to paths: Learning for Sustainability, teacher education and a philosophy of becoming - article 

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From places to paths: Learning for Sustainability, teacher education and a philosophy of becoming - article 

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http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2015.1057554

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Foundations of Place: A Multidisciplinary Framework for Place-Conscious Education - Article

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Foundations of Place: A Multidisciplinary Framework for Place-Conscious Education - Article

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http://aer.sagepub.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/content/40/3/619.full.pdf+html

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Environmental Education and Attitudes - Emotions and Beliefs Are What is Needed - Article

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Environmental Education and Attitudes - Emotions and Beliefs Are What is Needed - Article

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http://eab.sagepub.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/content/32/5/711.full.pdf+html