The need for first-hand experience, i.e., studying phenomena and processes in their correct environment and context, increase due to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. This leads to ill health and poor concentration, among other things, which is justification for investments in research into our relationship with the physical environment in teaching and learning.
Studies show that outdoor environments characterised by rich variation and nature reduce stress and increase capacity for concentration. Results in maths, languages and natural sciences improve when there is interplay between learning environments.
The research questions in outdoor education revolve around the link between learning environments and learning effects, health-promoting locations, stress and concentration ability, the effect of physical activity on school results, outdoor life as a tool for teaching, connections between learning for sustainable development and outdoor education, the meeting of technology and outdoor teaching.
Research in this field at Linköping University is conducted primarily at NCU, the National Centre for Outdoor Education.
