The outdoor learning environment

Leading team

Project members

Tamar Basis-Katzman
Ron Ben Shalom
Orit Ben-Zvi-Assraf
Lena Eyov
Osher Fishzang
Yossi Gudovich
Ronit Laub
Yula Midian

Summary

The outdoor setting is an important, yet often neglected, learning environment, and research regarding it is still limited and unfocused. This problem calls for an exploration of the work being done on the topic worldwide. The outdoor learning environment is defined broadly, and may include a variety of settings: natural areas, local and national parks, museums, zoos, urban environments, shopping centers, industrial sites, and more. The model developed by the Earth Science Group for integrating the outdoor setting as a legitimate component of a curriculum has been adopted all over the world.

Links for further reading

Orion, N. Hofstein A. and Mazor E. (1986). A field-based high school geology course: Igneous and metamorphic terrain, an Israeli experience. Geology Teaching. 11, 16-20.
Orion, N. (1989) Field trips in the Israeli high school geology curriculum. Earth Science Teaching. 14, 25-28.
Orion, N. and Hofstein A. (1991). The development and validation of an inventory to measure students’ attitudes towards science field trips. Science Education. 75(5), 513-523.
Orion, N. (1993). A model for the development and implementation of field trips, as an integral part of the science curriculum. School Science and Mathematics. 93(6), 325-331.
Orion, N. (1994). A short-term and long-term study of a science investigation in geology used by non-science high school students. Research in Science & Technological Education. 12(2), 203-223.
Kempa, R. F. and Orion N. (1996). Students’ perception of cooperative learning in earth science fieldwork. Research in Science & Technological Education. 14, 33-41.
Orion, N., Hofstein A., Tamir, P. and Giddings, J. (1997). The development and validation of an instrument for assessing the learning environment of science outdoor activities. Science Education. 81, 161-171.
Orion, N. and Hofstein, A. (1994). Factors that influence learning during a scientific field trips in a natural environment. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 31(10), 1097-1119.
Orion, N. (2003). The outdoor as a central learning environment in the global science literacy framework: from theory to practice. In: Mayer, V. (Ed.), Implementing global science literacy. Ohio State University.
Ginat, H. and Orion, N. and Geinosar, T. (2005). High school student’s research project in earth sciences as a pedagogic tool (Israel). NZ Science Teacher. 110, 5-10.
Yunker, M., Orion, N. and Lernau, H. (2011). Merging playfulness with the formal science curriculum in an outdoor learning environment. Children, Youth and Environments 21(2), 271-293.
Orion, N., Shankar, R., Greco, R. and Berenguer, J.L. (2020). Promoting the Earth System Approach and the Meaning of Learning. European Geologist. 50.
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