Studiens syfte var att undersöka lärares uppfattningar om utomhuslärandet som lärandeverktyg i undervisningen och elevers uppfattning om lärandet utomhus. Studien genomfördes i två städer med fem lärare och 113 elever i årskurs ett till sex. Metoderna som användes var kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer och kvantitativa enkäter. Resultatet analyserades med hjälp av dialektiken och den hermeneutiska cirkeln. Det mest framträdande i analysresultatet var att lärarna har en positiv uppfattning om utomhuslärandet som lärandeverktyg i undervisningen. Analysresultatet visade också att undervisning utomhus kan vara svårt att bedriva på grund av olika hinder. I analysen av enkätmaterialet framkom att eleverna ser undervisningen utomhus som något som de vill ha mer utav och att de tyckte att det var roligare att bedriva undervisning utomhus. / The study's purpose was to examine teacher’s perceptions of outdoor learning as learning tools in teaching and students conception of learning outdoors. The study was conducted in two cities with five teachers and 113 students in grades one to six. The methods used were qualitative semi-structured interviews and quantitative surveys. The results were analyzed using the dialectic and the hermeneutic circle. The most prominent of the analysis result was that the teachers have a positive perception of the outdoor learning as learning tools in teaching. Analysis results showed that outdoor education can be difficult to conduct because of various obstacles. The analysis of questionnaire data revealed that students see learning outdoors as something that they want more of and that they thought it was fun to teach outdoors. / <p>Godkännandedatum: 2015-06-04</p>

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary Catherine (Katie) Kingery-Page / According to Barbara Hendricks, play environment designer and consultant, “If we want children to grow up with a zest for living we need to give them living spaces that express life as a grand experience.” Hendricks emphasizes playtime is important for children to process formal lessons (Hendricks 2011). This applied design research project seeks to facilitate child development through an experiential learning playscape while addressing stormwater management for Bluemont Elementary School. The central research question of this project is: How can school playgrounds be designed to afford children improved social interactions and experiential learning? An exploration of landscape affordances theory (Sanseter and Hansen 2009, Heft 1988) and experiential learning (Kolb 1984), combined with social interactions and cognitive child development (Addo-Atuah 2012), formed a theory base for the project. Playground observations, stakeholder surveys, stakeholder interviews, and site inventory and analysis informed the eventual design. Major factors influencing students’ play include age, playground rules, equipment available for use, and weather. Site conditions, including topography and site drainage, can also influence students’ play. In current conditions, stormwater is a schoolyard liability restricting play and safe site circulation. The researcher gathered insights from student surveys, playground observations, teacher interviews, and site inventory and analysis to complete a comprehensive master plan. The comprehensive master plan and detailed stormwater management plan address the schoolyard over the next twenty to fifty year outlook. The designs resolve practical issues while increasing the variety of site educational and play affordances available to students and teachers for play and learning. A primary goal of the detailed plan is to convert stormwater schoolyard liabilities into amenities and educational tools.

Drawing on earlier research, and using observations as the method, this study presents a design of a nature playscape for children. Applying outdoor pedagogy to the fundamental structure of a specific location, the study proposes a design of a playscape, over a more obvious design, for instance one based around a quiz walk.The theoretical framework is Gibson’s theory of affordance, and the goal has been to create a "play flow". The study concludes that spatial rhetorics can be an important tool when teaching children about nature. / Med tidigare forskning som underlag och observationer som metod har mina studier resulterat i gestaltningen av en naturslinga för barn. Genom en diskussion om utomhuspedagogikens kärna och platsens grundläggande struktur har arbetet lett till designen av ett leklandskap, istället för frågor eller stationer placerade längs en stig. Som teoretiskt ramverk för gestaltningen har Gibsons teori om affordans använts. Genom en medveten design av landskapets terräng har målsättningen varit att skapa ett lekflöde på platsen. Detta för att visa hur rummet kan ha betydelse för lärandet om naturen.

This Master’s degree project explores the design possibilities of thread tension, to create a transformation in an interactive, 3D embroidered, wooden surface. The aim is to create a playful visual expression on a surface triggered by interaction. The surface is manipulated by embroidery and the embroidery is manipulated by the tension in the thread. Together all parts create a simple mechanism that allows the viewer to sink into a playful loop of a rising and collapsing structure. Dancing embroidery.  The work explores the potential of the thread as a key factor together with interaction to make a transformation of a surface possible. The thread is used both in the function of the surface and at the same time it creates a strong visual expression as it stands out to show its strength and power.

Quality play is fundamental to the healthy development of a child. Children living in high-density residential areas in Pretoria are deprived of necessary play experiences, due to the nature of the existing playgrounds. This dissertation investigates how a playscape (natural playground) can be designed in such a way as to facilitate the social, emotional, cognitive and physical development of children. The research argues that quality play is possible when children have loose parts to play with, and are able to manipulate their environment. Playing in more natural areas offers a host of physical and psychological health benefits for children. A playscape is therefore proposed in the high-density residential area of Sunnyside in Pretoria along the Walker Spruit, to serve the play needs of the children in the area, incorporating a toy library and other economic initiatives. The design solution aims at creating a safe park which would be used by all members of the public, not only children. The proposal shows that employing natural materials in a play area could provide healthy, stimulating play opportunities for children. / Dissertation (ML(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Architecture / unrestricted