Syftet med följande arbete är att undersöka betydelsen av utedag ur ett pedagogiskt perspektiv genom en studie av utedagar på min partnerskola, klass 2-3. Arbetet ger en teoretisk översikt över fenomenet utomhuspedagogik. Med hjälp av intervjuer ville jag undersöka elevers och pedagogers uppfattningar om utedagar ur ett lärandeperspektiv och koppla resultatet till teori. Sammanfattningsvis pekar resultaten av min undersökning på att pedagoger och elever har en positiv inställning till utedagar. Eleverna är medvetna om att en utedag innebär undervisning ute och upplever att de lär sig en mängd olika saker. Utedagar som ett komplement till övrig undervisning är värdefull för både pedagoger och elever i ett pedagogiskt perspektiv. / The aim of this essay is to study the importance of the outdoor classroom from a learning perspective thru a study of outdoor activities at my partnerschool, class 2-3. The essay gives a theoretical view on the phenomena outdoor education. I have thru inteviews examined teachers and pupils perceptions of outdoor activities from a learning perspective and connected the result to theory. The results of my examination show that pedagogues and pupils have a positive attitude towards outdoor education. The teachers experinced that they are able to widen the scientific understanding and experince of pupils. The pupils see a day with outdoor activities as a day with learning and teaching outdoors and experince that they learn a lot of different things. Informal, non-classroom-based contexts make an important contribution to learning for the pupils. The oputdoor classroom as a complement to the indoor classroom is valuable to both pedagogues and pupils in a learning perspective.

Detta arbete syftar till att samla forskningsresultat kring på vilket sätt utomhuspedagogik påverkar elevernas inlärning, hälsa och välmående. Arbetet undersöker vilka utmaningar som är kopplade till utomhuspedagogik ur lärares perspektiv. Grunden för arbetet utgörs av totalt 24 källor varav en kunskapsöversikt och en doktorsavhandling med inriktning på utomhuspedagogik, 8 böcker samt 14 vetenskapliga artiklar. De har samlats, noggrant undersökts och sammanställts genom systematisk och osystematisk sökning. Resultaten visar att utomhuspedagogik påverkar elevernas inlärning och hälsa mestadels positivt. Det kan dock diskuteras hur eleverna kan påverkas av utomhuspedagogikens intryck. Brist på forskningen i denna fråga har upptäckts. Flera negativa faktorer som påverkar lärarnas inställning och implementering av utomhuspedagogik i den vardagliga verksamheten har identifierats. Däribland brist på kunskaper, resurser, rädsla för faror och det oförutsedda samt avsaknaden av passande miljöer i närheten av skolor och inte minst lärares egna brister på koppling till naturen.

The purpose of this study was to determine how the Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech can best focus their outreach efforts to benefit the local public school community. The study assessed the needs of local science teachers and how their needs can be met through educational outreach programs. A self-administered online survey was used to inquire about the use of experiential teaching methods using school gardens and other outdoor environments. The survey was also intended to determine interest in incorporating supplemental programs into the K-5 Montgomery County Public School curriculum to enhance the Virginia Standards of Learning related to plants and environmental science. The survey was sent to 273 K-5 teachers in the Montgomery County Public School System in Virginia. Because of the small number of responses, the results from the survey were not representative of the population, but were satisfactory to gain practical information for this study. Data analysis indicated existing programs, the need for programs, and how programs can best be implemented. Existing programs consisted of hands-on activities in the classroom including growing plants from seeds and dissecting and observing plant parts. Experiential learning opportunities outside of the classroom included school gardening, observations on the school grounds, and outdoor field trips. Survey respondents indicated a need for supplemental programs related to plants and environmental science. Teachers reported interest in a school gardening program, having a guest speaker in the classroom, receiving curriculum support, and taking their class on a field trip to the Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech. Most teachers also showed interest in receiving in-service training to strengthen their knowledge of plants and environmental science. Based on the results of the study, there is a need for supplemental programs related to plants and environmental science. Engaging lessons should be developed to assist teachers with school gardening programs. Experiential learning opportunities such as meaningful field trips should also be developed. Other methods to supplement school curriculum include providing teachers with curriculum materials and lesson kits. All programs developed should correlate to the state-mandated standards. / Master of Science

The purpose of this thesis is to design a landscape plan for Teaching Gardens at the Western Kentucky University Agriculture Research and Education Center. The landscape plans were selected based upon the available 5.3 acres surrounding the greenhouse, vineyard, and Exposition Center. Planning included goals and objectives, analysis of the available site, landscape design plans, and connecting the Teaching Gardens to the current curriculum. This thesis also includes related areas to the development of Teaching Gardens such as: summary of courses with related topics to Teaching Gardens, programs that will be used throughout the community, and a listing of current and estimated future costs/expenses plus funding avenues to support this endeavor. The implementation of the Gardens in this thesis has created an area of learning for the Agriculture Department, university, and local community. The Teaching Gardens are an extension of the classroom learning experience, which provide research opportunities, harvest/care information, and promote healthy nutrition. The Teaching Gardens provide a naturally beautiful atmosphere for the enjoyment of students, faculty and staff, and the local community.

This project explores innovative methodologies for design education. It is an investigation of teaching design fundamentals in an outdoor classroom.

This research is concerned with the educational process within an outdoor centre involving groups of primary school children. It studies group interaction between the participants in a natural setting by taking a holistic approach, giving an account of their outdoor learning experience in the context of a group. It appears that there is little focus on groups in the outdoors, even though most outdoor programmes involve groups. Most of the research done on groups is quantitative and laboratory based. Such traditional approaches have been challenged, as empirical limitations and theoretical problems have been identified. It is argued that a study of group interactions within a natural environment, such as the outdoor classroom, would allow for a more insightful understanding of the phenomena involved, and it could also shed light on the outdoor educational process, which has been neglected by research in outdoor education. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used as part of an ethnographic approach. This enabled the collection of varied data, which resulted in a thick description of the phenomena explored. The findings show that the concept of team building is central to the philosophy of the outdoor centre and of its staff. The activities, which are used as learning tools, are group orientated. Teamwork is seen as essential for the learning experience at the outdoor centre. The study also revealed that the different approaches of the participants influenced the way learning was constructed. The two main themes that have emerged were empowerment and control. The empowering approaches offered support and encouragement to the participants, allowing for collaboration and cooperation to exist between them, which enabled learning to be more effective. The controlling approaches were characterised by a lack of dialogue between the participants, which interfered with the learning experience, by not creating an environment where the participants could work together as a group. A social aspect of learning was thus identified, which emphasised the importance of viewing learning as a joint process. The research shows that a well-designed process does not always result in the participants achieving the ‘desired learning outcomes’. The teachers/facilitators need to be aware of the impact that their approach may have on the learning experience of the participants.

Children experience limited time outdoors and have few opportunities for outdoor learning in schools, putting them at risk for being unprepared to engage in solving environmental and societal problems. Researchers have examined outdoor learning at the preschool and high school levels; elementary school experiences have been explored less frequently. Guided by a conceptual framework informed by social emotional learning (SEL), ecological literacy, and teacher self-efficacy, this study investigated public school elementary teachers' experiences with outdoor classrooms including barriers and supports to creating and using outdoor classrooms. A qualitative design using in-depth interviews with interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques was conducted with 9 elementary teachers who had at least 2 years of recent experience working with outdoor classrooms in the U. S. Pacific Northwest. Thematic analysis of interview data, using a combination of a priori and open coding, identified primary themes related to academic rigor, district policies and budgets, and motivations for teaching ecoliteracy. Barriers including a lack of time and money needed to teach effectively using outdoor classrooms and the need for a stronger integrated curriculum that connects SEL, environmental education, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emerged as areas of concern. Recommendations based on these findings include ecoliteracy professional development for teachers which may contribute to positive social change by increasing teacher understanding of and involvement with outdoor learning and the integration of ecoliteracy in the pedagogy of K-6 programs.

Barn förväntas kunna leka, vila och lära sig på skolgården, men ljudnivåerna är ofta höga. Det ger upphov till frågan om ljudmiljön på skolgårdar ligger på lämpliga nivåer för dessa tre aktiviteter och hur den kan anpassas. Syftet med examensarbetet är att identifiera vad en lämplig ljudmiljö på skolgårdens olika platser är och att identifiera vilka åtgärder och designverktyg som kan användas för att förbättra ljudmiljön. Undersökning av hur och i vilken utsträckning en ljudmiljö kan modifieras för att göra den lämplig för utomhusundervisning utförs också. Examensarbetet avgränsas till grundskolor för barn mellan sex och sexton år och hur skolgården kan anpassas till barn i den åldern. Relevanta studier om hur ljud och ljudmiljö påverkar barns hälsa, inlärnings- och prestationsförmåga undersöktes för att identifiera kriterier för de tre funktionerna: (1) lek, (2) rekreation och (3) pedagogisk verksamhet. Genom att studera både forskning om den akustiska effekten av olika designverktyg och forskning om miljöer för barn identifieras akustiska designverktyg som kan användas för skolgårdar. Slutligen analyserades möjligheten att anpassa olika områden på skolgården för de tre funktionerna genom att modellera i CATT-Acoustic och genom att undersöka ljudmiljön på två befintliga innerstadsskolor som ett ljudlandskap. I CATT-Acoustic användes parametrarna efterklangstid, T20, ljudförstärkning, G, och Speech Transmission Index, STI. Resultatet var att en lämplig ljudmiljö anpassad till (1) lek kan ha en låg taltydlighet (STI mellan 0,46 och 0,66),  en begränsad efterklangstid (T20 under 1,2 s) och är öppen med en ljuddämpande markyta, (2) rekreation har en kort efterklangstid T20 under 0,5 s), en begränsad ekvivalent ljudnivå Leq under 50 dBA) och absorberande eller ojämna ytor i sin omgivning och (3) undervisning bör integreras inom skolgården och bestå av platser där undervisning och annan verksamhet kan äga rum. Där föreslås T20 vara 0,5 s,  Leq  under 50 dBA och absorberande ytor som ger bra förutsättningar för röstkommunikation och lärande. Minst en plats föreslås vara en mötesplats som uppfyller kriterierna för undervisning som förstärker tal genom att ha en reflekterande yta placerad bakom talarens position och vara avskärmad av en absorberande vägg. Undersökningen visade att designen av skolgården och platsen för verksamheten i förhållande till skolgårdsväggarna kan förbättra ljudmiljön. Genom mjuka markmaterial (gräs, sand och grus), indelning av skolgården i flera zoner med exempelvis växtbeklädda barriärer och avskärmning från ljud utanför skolgården, kan ljudmiljön förbättras. Bullriga aktiviteter kan placeras längre bort från reflekterande ytor och ett rekreationsområde kan skapas genom absorberande ytor och diffusa skärmar. Undervisningen kan ske på många olika platser där minst en kan vara nära en reflekterande vägg som förstärker talet. / Children are expected to be able to play, rest and have lessons in schoolyards. This made me interested in investigating if the sound environment in schoolyards is at suitable levels for these three activities. The purpose of my master’s thesis was to identify what a suitable sound environment in the different areas of a schoolyard is, and to identify measures and design tools that can be used to improve the sound environment. I also investigate in what extent a sound environment can be modified to make it suitable for outdoor education. The thesis focuses on schools with six- to sixteen-year-old pupils and how children this age are affected by the sound environment. Relevant studies on how sound and the sound environment affect children’s health, learning and performance skills were examined to identify criteria for the three functions: (1) play, (2) recreation and (3) educational activities. By studying research about design tools and their acoustic effect on the one hand and studies about environments for children on the other hand I identified acoustic design tools which could be used in schoolyards. At last I analysed the possibility to adjust different areas for the three functions. I analysed the sound environment on two inner city schools as a “soundscape” and modelled sound distribution in an open space similar to inner-city schoolyards in CATT-Acoustic and used the parameters reverberance time (RT), gain (G) and Speech Transmission Index (STI). As result of this master’s thesis an appropriate sound environment in an area for (1) play has a lower speech understanding (STI between 0.46 and 0.66), has a limited reverberation time (RT under 1,2 s) and open with a sound-damping ground surface (2) recreation has a short reverbaration time (RT under 0.5 s), limited equivalent noise level (Leq under 50 dBA) and a lot of absorbent or diffuse surfaces in its surroundings (3) teaching should be integrated in the schoolyard as places where teaching and other activities can take place. There you should find 0.5 s RT, under 50 dBA Leq and absorbent surfaces that provide good conditions for voice communication and learning. At least one place is proposed to be a meeting place that meets the criteria for teaching and amplifies speech by having a reflective surface placed behind the speaker position and shielded by some absorbent wall. It is found that the design of the schoolyard and the location of the activities in relation to the schoolyard walls can improve the sound environment. The sound environment can be improved through especially soft ground materials (grass, sand and gravel), subdivision of the schoolyard into smaller areas, while using sound absorbing noise barriers which can be combined with planting and protect from noise from outside the schoolyard. Noisy activities can be placed further away from reflective areas and an area for recreation can be created through absorbent surfaces and diffuse screens. Teaching can take place in many different places where at least one of the places can be close to one reflective wall that amplifies the speech.

In response to social trends whereby children are spending less time outside, school administrators have developed certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classrooms (NEOCs) intentionally designed to support whole-child learning within a natural environment. Despite the documented benefits of nature-based education, the literature and NEOC sites report challenges in facilitating this type of space. The purpose of this study was to investigate what prevents teachers in a certified NEOC from facilitating student/teacher engagement with the natural outdoor environment. Kolb's, Piaget's, and Vygotsky's theories of constructivism served as the study's framework to explore the problem from the teachers' perspectives. A qualitative case study was used to gain insight into the potential barriers to facilitating a NEOC. Eight teachers were recruited using purposeful sampling. Participant criteria included (a) >18 years of age, (b) >3 years early childhood teaching experience, (c) >1 year experience in selected NEOC, (d) prior NEOC training, and (e) willingness to share experiences. Data collection included classroom observation, individual interviewing, and review of relevant documents. All data were analyzed using comparative and inductive analysis and coded into 5 emergent themes. Identified barriers included teacher involvement, rules and regulations, volunteers, materials, and weather. By creating a 3-day professional development program that supports the benefits of nature-based learning environments and introduces strategies to overcome identified barriers, this study may promote positive social change in nature-based education. Children, families, and communities may expand their nature-based knowledge and interaction skills to pass to future generations.