Outdoor Science Education and Child Well-being in Primary Schools: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial on Learning, Connection to Nature, Eco-anxiety, and Stress
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Outdoor science education, Indoor classroom-based science education.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Healthy Children. Basic parameters: No limits · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Canada
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to learn if an outdoor science education intervention can improve primary school students' learning and well-being when compared to an indoor classroom-based science education intervention. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Will students who engage in outdoor science learning produce higher-quality observations of living organisms than students who receive instruction exclusively in an indoor, classroom-based context, when both groups are invited to make observations in an unfamiliar natural environment? * Does an outdoor education intervention embedded within the science curriculum contribute to children's connection to nature, eco-anxiety and stress? Participants will: * Receive a science education intervention 2h/week for a total of 5 weeks, either indoors or outdoors * Answer questionnaires before and after the intervention * Participate in a field day-trip after the intervention where they will be asked to observe living organisms.
Interventions
- Behavioral Outdoor science education
Following Québec's mandatory curriculum, primary school teachers will provide life science lessons 2h/week for a total of 5 weeks in an outdoor setting - Behavioral Indoor classroom-based science education
Following Québec's mandatory curriculum, primary school teachers will provide life science lessons 2h/week for a total of 5 weeks inside the classroom
Primary outcome measures
- Score on the Scientific Observation Skills Rubric (0-15) in a Novel Environmental Context [Time frame: After the 5-week intervention has ended, students will spend one day in a new environmental context (at the end of October) in order to make observations]
Secondary outcome measures (4)
- Connection to nature - Score on the Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale (0-7) [Time frame: At baseline and immediately after the 5-week intervention has ended]
- Score on the Perceived Stress Scale for Children (PSS-C; range 0-39) [Time frame: At baseline and immediately after the 5-week intervention has ended]
- Score on the 11-item Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS-13; range 0-33) [Time frame: At baseline and immediately after the 5-week intervention has ended]
- Score on the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale - School Version (range 0-36) [Time frame: Baseline and immediately after the 5-week intervention]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Primary schools need to have a deprivation index equal to or superior to 1 (with 10 being the maximum) and be located in Montreal, Longueuil or Laval (QC).
- Teachers have to show some interest in outdoor education but are not obliged to have already done some before in order to be included.
- Only 5th and 6th grade teachers are included.
- Primary schools with two teachers interested in participating in the project.
Exclusion criteria
- Alternative schools or those welcoming recently arrived non-Francophone students are not included.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Double blind
- Primary purpose
- Other
Study locations
Canada · 1 center
- Greater Montreal area (Laval, Longueuil, Montreal) — Montreal
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07147634 · 2023-3453 · 435-2022-0651