The Effects of Outdoor Teaching on Academic Achievement and Its Associated Factors—A Scoping Review

Regular classes in outdoor education are gaining popularity worldwide, driven by their potential to enhance a wide range of educational outcomes. The aim of this scoping review is to establish the current state of knowledge about the effects of this form of teaching on academic achievement and its associated factors. Of the 2362 articles included in the corpus, 41 studies involving 10,453 students from preschool to college were analyzed to identify provenance, type of interventions, research design and outcomes. The analyses suggest that outdoor teaching appears to improve learning in sciences, reading, writing, social studies and mathematics. Outdoor teaching seems to support the development of various factors associated with academic achievement, including self-awareness, school climate, motivation and well-being. This leads us to conclude that, in the current state of knowledge, outdoor teaching is a promising pedagogical approach. However, further research is needed to identify and understand its long-term effects across a broader range of disciplines and for a broader range of competences.