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A substantial body of research highlights the value of nature experience in supporting children’s well-being and development. Given the growing interest in connectedness to nature (C2N), a better understanding of C2N measurement provides multiple opportunities, including consideration of the use of tools for research purposes and practitioner program measurement. The combination of interest in C2N and the potential for measuring the human relationship with nature provide the background for this exploratory study. The study’s goal was to highlight the appropriate use of C2N scales based on considerations of context and culture. Three different, albeit related, efforts to translate, adapt, and use C2N measurements with children in a Danish-Swedish context during 2021– 2022 were examined using case study methodology. Synthesis of the case studies provides general lessons and specific insights researchers and practitioners have learned regarding scale development and the application of measurement tools for children. Process functionality, child well-being, and conceptual appropriateness are three outcomes of the analysis that guide using child-oriented C2N scales in a Nordic context. The results highlight promoting discussions about nature and children’s access to nature while guiding scale use. Based on the results, a checklist was created supporting a decision-making process for scale use, A substantial body of research highlights the value of nature experience in supporting children’s well-being and development. Given the growing interest in connectedness to nature (C2N), a better understanding of C2N measurement provides multiple opportunities, including consideration of the use of tools for research purposes and practitioner program measurement. The combination of interest in C2N and the potential for measuring the human relationship with nature provide the background for this exploratory study. The study’s goal was to highlight the appropriate use of C2N scales based on considerations of context and culture. Three different, albeit related, efforts to translate, adapt, and use C2N measurements with children in a Danish-Swedish context during 2021– 2022 were examined using case study methodology. Synthesis of the case studies provides general lessons and specific insights researchers and practitioners have learned regarding scale development and the application of measurement tools for children. Process functionality, child well-being, and conceptual appropriateness are three outcomes of the analysis that guide using child-oriented C2N scales in a Nordic context. The results highlight promoting discussions about nature and children’s access to nature while guiding scale use. Based on the results, a checklist was created supporting a decision-making process for scale use

Research has shown that physical activity (PA) is important for health throughout the lifespan. Therefore, it is important that children develop the individual prerequisites that enable participation in PA throughout life. The theoretical concept physical literacy (PL) and the research field of PL has described such personal competences and traits. However, to promote PL among children and lifelong PA, there is a demand for more high-quality interventions to be developed and tested. When targeting children, schools are an important setting. Despite the possibility of promoting PL during PE lessons, few well-tested interventions have been developed. In this study, we therefore aim to context adapt and feasibility test an already existing and promising PL intervention to a Danish school context. The ADAPT and MRC guidelines were followed to adapt the Promoting Pupils Physical Literacy (3PL) intervention. Through workshops with stakeholders, the intervention was adapted to fit Danish 4th and 5th graders. Four Danish schools were recruited in a wait list design. The feasibility and acceptability of both the intervention and the effect study design will be investigated. To investigate the intervention, weekly questionnaires, observations, and interviews will be conducted during the intervention period. The feasibility of the effect study design will be investigated by collecting baseline and endline data on pupils’ PL and daily PA as well as parents’ socioeconomic status. Expected outcomes include a TIDieR checklist, a revised, feasible, and acceptable intervention, and an effect study design protocol. This will contribute to important steps in the direction of making PL interventions more accessible for practice. Valid testing of intervention effectiveness enables stakeholders to make informed decisions grounded in evidence. This will strengthen the possibilities of a successful outcome and for a PL intervention that is more accessible for pract

Background: Education can create better opportunities for health, and vice versa. Using a so-called ‘add-in’ approach, school-based physical activity (PA) promotion and prevention of sedentary behaviours can increase pupils’ wellbeing and learning and, on the longer term, reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases. A PA ‘add-in’ approach involves integrating PA into teachers’ curricular obligations without being an extra burden as opposed to an ‘add-on’ approach which requires additional operational resources and include activities that do not explicitly contribute towards curricular targets making them less long-term acceptable in a school-based context. Previous studies investigating education outside the classroom (EOtC) show mutual benefits for both health and education outcomes among children and adolescents. However, the evidence is of mixed quality and questionable certainty, which calls for further investigation. The aim of this study protocol is to describe and discuss the study design and methods to investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of EOtC as a vehicle for health and education. The study investigates the intervention developed and conducted in the TEACHOUT study with updated and strengthened design and measures. Methods: The efficacy of EOtC will be investigated in a cluster randomised waitlist design. Participants will be pupils in ~54 classes, grades 4-10 (ages 10-15 years) in ~30 Danish elementary schools. Fifteen schools will be randomised to the intervention: a two-day EOtC training course targeting teachers followed by the teachers implementing EOtC >5 hours weekly over the course of one school year. Pre- and post-measures of health (PA and wellbeing) and learning (school motivation and academic achievement) will be collected. Investigation of pedagogical and motivational mechanisms will be based on observations of EOtC. Discussion: The updated randomised controlled design will provide firmer evidence for the efficacy and mechanisms of

We investigated how pupils experience education outside the classroom (EOtC) as it relates to their social and academic well-being. A Danish 6th grade class were taught twice a week for nine months using EOtC. We sampled five academically low- and five high-achieving pupils from the class and conducted qualitative observations and interviews with those pupils. We found that EOtC can positively influence pupils’ social well-being regardless of academic level; however, the learning environment and required autonomy in EOtC may distract low-achieving pupils, particularly boys. Pupils’ academic level in the classroom was related to their academic well-being in EOtC and EOtC might strengthen academic exclusion. Therefore, we conclude that EOtC may not have an unambiguously positive influence on pupils’ social and academic well-being.

Background: An emerging field of research indicates that the use of learning environments other than the classroom can improve pupils’ academic achievement in several subjects, including their skills in mathematics. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between Education Outside the Classroom (EOtC) and pupils’ skills in mathematics.Methods: This explorative, quasi-experimental study involved schoolchildren (aged 9–13 years) from 15 Danish public schools who participated in EOtC over the course of a school year. The mathematical skills of pupils from 23 EOtC maths intervention classes (n=421) and 12 EOtC non-maths comparison classes (n=198) were measured at the start and end of the 2014–2015 school year.Results: Both groups showed improved maths skills; however, we found no significant difference between the EOtC maths and the comparison groups. Conclusion: The results indicate that, in this explorative study, moving maths teaching outside the classroom neither harmed nor improved pupils’ mathematical skills. These results and implications for research are discussed.

The use of education outside the classroom (EOtC) in schools is increasing; however, there are currently few studies assessing the longer-term impacts on academic achievement. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between one school-year of regular (more than 2.0 h a week) participation in EOtC and Danish primary school children's reading performance. We conducted a quasi-experimental study involving 20 EOtC intervention group classes and 10 comparison group parallel classes (Grades 3–6). Children were tested pre- and post-intervention in reading performance. We found that exposure to EOtC had a small positive impact on test scores. The implication that regular EOtC is positively associated with reading performance is discussed.

Udeskole er en bred betegnelse for faglig undervisning i grundskolen, der gennemfres p steder uden for skolers bygninger. Udeskole er karakteriseret ved hndgribelige og praktiske arbejdsformer, elev-styrerede opgaver, gruppearbejde og undersgelse af konkrete fnomener i natur og samfundsinstitutioner. Med afst i self-determination theory, har udeskole trivselsfremmende potentialer. Kvalitative case studier understtter, at udeskole kan bidrage positivt til tre aspekter der er relateret til brns trivsel; psykologiske trivsel, indre skolemotivation og sociale relationer i klassefllesskabet. Imidlertid har kun f kontrollerede eksperimentelle studier, i en strre stikprve, undersgt sammenhnge mellem udeskole og disse aspekter. Derfor er formlet med afhandlingen, at undersge disse sammenhnge. Elever (n = 511-311) p 3. Til 6. Klassetrin, med en overvejende middel til hj sociokonomisk status, blev i ni mneder regelmssigt eksponeret for udeskole, som hovedsageligt foregik i natur og grnne miljer, omkring fem timer om ugen i gennemsnit. Stikprven blev sammenlignet med elever (n = 120-56) fra tilsvarende klassetrin, heriblandt parallelklasser, der kun modtog lidt udeskole hovedsageligt p skolens arealer, omkring n time om ugen i gennemsnit i samme periode. Forskel i trivsel mellem interventions- og kontrolgruppen, fra september 2014 til maj 2015, blev mlt med strengths and difficulties questionnaire (sdq), academic self-regulation questionnaire (srq-a) og social cognitive mapping (scm), og blev sammenlignet mellem interventions- og kontrolgruppe. Regelmssig eksponering for udeskole havde en positiv sammenhng med sociale styrkesider, indre skolemotivation og dannelsen af nye elev-elev interaktionsrelationer i klassefllesskabet. Ingen sammenhnge afhang af kn. Negative sammenhnge blev fundet mellem regelmssig eksponering for udeskole og hyperaktivitetopmrksomhedsvanskeligheder samt vanskeligheder i forhold til jvnaldrende, for elever med lav sociokonomisk status. Afhandlingens konk

The aim of this quasi-experimental intervention study was to investigate the association between primary school students’ (9–13 years) school motivation and regular participation in education outside the classroom (EOtC). School motivation of 311 Danish public students from 24 intervention classes and 88 students from seven parallel comparison classes was measured at the start and end of the 2014–2015 school year using the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A). Exposure to EOtC was monitored by intervention and comparison teachers. Multilevel analyses showed that regular exposure to EOtC was associated with improvement in intrinsic motivation and was moderated by prior intrinsic motivation in favor of students with higher prior intrinsic motivation. Results were independent of gender and socio-economic-status., The aim of this quasi-experimental intervention study was to investigate the association between primary school students’ (9–13 years) school motivation and regular participation in education outside the classroom (EOtC). School motivation of 311 Danish public students from 24 intervention classes and 88 students from seven parallel comparison classes was measured at the start and end of the 2014–2015 school year using the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQA). Exposure to EOtC was monitored by intervention and comparison teachers. Multilevel analyses showed that regular exposure to EOtC was associated with improvement in intrinsic motivation and was moderated by prior intrinsic motivation in favor of students with higher prior intrinsic motivation. Results were independent of gender and socio-economic-status.

Current research points to Personal Meaning Mapping (PMM) as a method useful in investigating students’ prior and current science knowledge. However, studies investigating PMM as a method for exploring specific knowledge dimensions are lacking. Ensuring that students are able to access specific knowledge dimensions is important, especially in science teaching outside the classroom, where “hands-on” approaches and experiments are often part of teaching and require procedural knowledge, among other things. Therefore, this study investigates PMM as a method for exploring specific knowledge dimensions in formal science education integrating teaching outside the classroom. We applied a case study design involving two schools and four sixth-grade classes. Data were collected from six students in each class who constructed personal meaning maps and were interviewed immediately after natural science and technology lessons in the classroom, and again after experiencing teaching outside the classroom. Maps and interviews were analysed drawing on Bloom’s revised taxonomy of educational objectives. Our findings show that PMM is highly useful for identifying and activating factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge and the subcategories of knowledge within these dimensions as well as metacognitive self-knowledge. However, as a method for identifying and activating procedural knowledge, it seems limited. Our analysis thus provides a novel understanding of the rigor of PMM for analysing students’ science knowledge, which is of relevance for educators and researchers within science education.

Education Outside the Classroom (EOtC) activities are characterised by teachers making use of the local environment when teaching specific subjects. EOtC is described as involving innovative teaching methods, child-led approaches to problem solving, experimentation, cooperation, physical activity and play. Self-Determination Theory suggests three basic psychological needs, i.e. competence, autonomy and relatedness. EOtC supports of all these needs. When these needs are satisfied pupils experience more well-being. There is a lack of clear research-based evidence about the impact of EOtC on pupils’ well-being. Therefore, we aim to investigate the effect of EOtC on pupils’ general psychological well-being using a quasi-experimental equivalent groups design. In total, 28 EOtC-classes and 20 non-EOtC parallel classes participated. The EOtC teachers participated in a two day course about the didactics of EOtC and agreed to provide 5 hours of EOtC 1-2 days a week during the schoolyear 2014/15. Non-EOtC teachers were asked to provide lessons as usual. Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, data on the pupils (n=918) general psychological well-being was collected at the beginning and end of the schoolyear. The amount and characteristics of the actual EOtC provided in both EOtC and non-EOtC classes was monitored day-today throughout the intervention period using an online teacher survey platform. The influence of EOtC was analyzed by comparing EOtC pupils to control pupils on their well-being scores at the end of the year of EOtC adjusting for the baseline values (from the beginning of the year). The theoretical foundation, study design and main finding will be presented.