Achieving Students’ Competencies Through Research-Based Outdoor Science Teaching

The aim of this research was to ascertain the competencies of students who learn Science through research-based outdoor teaching. The research included 319 4th grade students of Osijek elementary schools. Two groups of students were to acquire the same contents by means of different didactic scenarios. The experimental group learned through research-based outdoor teaching, the control group through lecturebased teaching in the classroom. A questionnaire containing 16 statements was drafted for the needs of the research and the students were to evaluate, on a Likert-type 5 point scale, motivation, participation and learning through research-based outdoor teaching as well as through lecture-based teaching. A knowledge test for the students was also created and contained 18 questions of different levels of learning domains – knowledge, abilities and skills. In order to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in the self-evaluation of the level of motivation, participation and learning as well as in the knowledge test between the experimental and control group, a t-test was calculated. The data was processed using the statistical programme SPSS 13.0. The results show that the level of students’ reproductive knowledge remains the same in research-based outdoor teaching, but the problem-solving abilities and skills are significantly improved. Students wish to learn by exploring in nature because such work is motivating and less wearing.