Outdoor teaching

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the students learning through an inquiry survey connected to the excursion and follow-up lecture course. Students were asked what they remembered from the excursion and from the follow-up classroom lecture, and how this connected to their different senses. The students considered almost only hearing and seeing to be involved in what they remembered from the lecture, while also touching, smelling and to some extent tasting contributed to what they remembered from the excursion. There were significant gender differences in that female students believed that touching and smelling contributed more to what they remembered than male students did. Overall the evaluation indicated that the spoken word during outdoor teaching should be focused to guide the other senses. Students often prefer interactive lectures and group-based activities and an excursion could very well be mixed up with group-based problem solving.