Teaching maths outside the classroom: does it make a difference?

ABSTRACT

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessment
• learning
• mathematics
• outdoor education
• schoolchildren
• teaching

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to the involved children, parents, teachers and schools for their collaboration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Danish foundation TrygFonden (ID #102171). The funders have not been involved in the study design, analyses, interpretation, writing, or the decision to submit this paper. The authors declare that they have no potential conflict of interest in the research.