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

Abstract

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.

1. Introduction

In the school setting, teachers sometimes relocate teaching activities linked to school curricula to outside places (in the schoolyard, in a park or in a forest, for example). This teaching method can be called outdoor teaching (Nadeau-Tremblay et al., 2023). Given its place in the school context, an important aim of outdoor teaching is for students to learn. Student learning that takes place in the context of outdoor teaching can be described as outdoor learning. Outdoor teaching seems to have become increasingly popular in recent years, and this trend is partly a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (see, for example, Ayotte-Beaudet et al., 2022). Indeed, in the context of the pandemic, many teachers who did not go outdoors with their students did so, often encouraged by their superiors, because the risks of transmitting the virus are lower in an outdoor environment. By going outdoors, some of them saw benefits for their pupils and continued to develop outdoor teaching practices in the post-pandemic period.

Although the growing interest in outdoor teaching is recent, the practice itself has been around for a long time, all over the world. For example, there are descriptions of outdoor teaching practices dating back to the 19th century in both Europe and America (e.g., the study by Wells et al., 2015, recounts the history of garden-based teaching) or New Zealand (Stothart, 2012). As for the idea that all or part of formal education should take place outdoors, its roots can be traced back to antiquity. While Plato and Aristotle emphasized the importance of physical education and intellectual development within a natural environment, it was during the Enlightenment that the notion of outdoor learning gained significant traction. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1762), in Émile, advocated for a natural education where children learn through direct experiences with their surroundings. John Locke (1693/1989), in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, also emphasized the role of the environment in shaping moral and physical development. Later, during the 19th century, educators such as Friedrich Froebel, the founder of the kindergarten movement, and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who emphasized holistic education, reinforced the importance of interaction with nature as part of a child’s learning experience (Yıldırım & Akamca, 2017).

Much has been written about outdoor teaching today, using a variety of designations, which can make navigating the terminology complex. Some terms refer to practices that are sometimes teaching-focused, sometimes not. Moreover, the boundaries between these terms are not well defined. For the purposes of this article, we propose an ad hoc typology to relate these terms. This typology (

Table 1. Typology of outdoor teaching practices.

Category	Definition	Examples of Designation	Characteristics of the Designation
Place-oriented outdoor teaching	Set of outdoor teaching practices that take place in nature settings, that use an experiential approach and that aim for the acquisition of knowledge or social skills	Outdoor teaching in Forest School (Garden & Downes, 2023)	Practices in forest, rooted in Anglo-Saxon culture, as an antidote for nature deprivation and for increasing motivation
		Outdoor teaching in Prairie class (Ernst & Stanek, 2006)	Practices in the prairie developed in the USA
Acquisition-oriented outdoor teaching	Set of outdoor teaching practices that share a focus in their objective in terms of knowledge acquisition	Outdoor teaching in Udeskole (Bølling et al., 2024)	Practices in natural or cultural environment rooted in Danish bottom-up counterculture of traditional education, supplemental to indoor teaching
		Outdoor education (Remmen & Iversen, 2023)/ Education outside the classroom (Bølling et al., 2019)	In school contexts, terms used as generic designations to qualify outdoor teaching and learning
		Outdoor sciences (including environmental sciences) (Ayotte-Beaudet et al., 2021)	Science-oriented outdoor teaching
		Garden education (Davis et al., 2023)	Outdoor teaching centered around cultivating a garden to enhance nutrition and children’s health
Experience-oriented outdoor teaching	Set of outdoor teaching practices rooted in the field of outdoor adventure education that emphasize life experience. The activities are perceived as risky by the participant and generally use a problem-solving approach	Outdoor adventure education (Down et al., 2024)	Outdoor adventure teaching takes place during outdoor activities such as hiking, canoeing, skiing
		Camping education or Immersive nature experience (L. Mygind et al., 2019)	Outdoor teaching that occurs during immersion in nature over several days

) proposes three categories of outdoor teaching practices. Place-oriented outdoor teaching practices give significant importance on the places in which outdoor teaching takes place. We place practices such as forest school and prairie classes in this category, because these approaches emphasize the importance of being in specific natural environments that have been minimally transformed by humans. Acquisition-oriented outdoor teaching practices are primarily focused on academic learning. The outdoors is seen as one pedagogical tool among others, but a particularly relevant one. For example, udeskole is “characterised by compulsory educational activities outside of school on regular basis” (Bentsen et al., 2018, p. 90). Experience-oriented teaching practices emphasize the need to surpass oneself, as in the case of school expeditions. Obviously, whatever the category, the aims of learning and being outside remain. But the emphasis is different in all three categories and may refer to the way teachers engage in outdoor teaching.

A number of studies have looked at the impact of outdoor education on students. Langelier et al. (2025) realized a scoping review focused on health that indicates that outdoor learning (a potential and desired outcome of outdoor education) have an impact on physical and motor development through an increase in the intensity and duration of physical activity (Barton et al., 2015; Bølling et al., 2021; Dettweiler et al., 2017; Finn et al., 2018; Fiskum & Jacobsen, 2012; Peacock et al., 2021; Romar et al., 2019; Trapasso et al., 2018), decrease sedentary behaviors (Dettweiler et al., 2017; Trapasso et al., 2018) and lead to an improvement in motor skills (Trapasso et al., 2018). Outdoor education also has a positive impact on socio-emotional development, including self-esteem (Barton et al., 2015; Yıldırım & Akamca, 2017), self-perception (White, 2012), well-being (Harvey et al., 2021), life satisfaction (McAnally et al., 2018; Largo-Wight et al., 2018) and emotions (Fiskum & Jacobsen, 2012; Harvey et al., 2021; Gustafsson et al., 2012; Trapasso et al., 2018). It has been linked to reduced stress (Dettweiler et al., 2017, 2022) and anxiety (Pirchio et al., 2021), increased autonomy (Dettweiler et al., 2022), and enhanced prosocial behaviors (Fiskum & Jacobsen, 2012; Gustafsson et al., 2012; McAnally et al., 2018; Pirchio et al., 2021). In addition, it may be associated with reduced disruptive behaviors in school contexts (Fiskum & Jacobsen, 2012; Largo-Wight et al., 2018). One study has also shown the positive effect of outdoor education on creative thinking (McAnally et al., 2018). The interventions considered in the Langelier et al. (2025) scoping review and in most of the syntheses published to date are not all conducted in a school context. However, the school setting has several specific characteristics that can influence the nature of the benefits of outdoor education: the intended learning outcomes are determined by curricula, the children involved are usually of the same age, the number of participants is constrained by external factors, and the workers are trained professionals in teaching, but not necessarily in outdoor education. It would therefore be worthwhile to focus on school-based interventions, carried out by teachers, to ensure that the outcomes are comparable to other forms of outdoor education.

Few studies have examined the impact of outdoor teaching specifically on learning. Becker et al. (2017) carried out a systematic review of the effects of regular classes in outdoor education on students’ learning, socialization and health. This systematic review led to the identification of six studies that looked specifically at the impact on academic learning. E. Mygind (2007) found no positive effect on academic learning. Santelmann et al. (2011) found student reports of gains in nature-related knowledge and communication skills. Moeed and Averill (2010) found gains in horticultural acquisition. Bowker and Tearle (2007) found gains in gardening knowledge. Sharpe (2014) showed potential gains in sciences, mathematics and English. Wistoft (2013) showed gains in desire to learn. Ernst and Stanek (2006) have identified the added value of outdoor teaching in terms of academic performance in reading and writing. Their research also showed that the same outdoor teaching made children feel more competent in science, problem solving and technology. Nevertheless, all the research reviewed by Becker et al. (2017) was in the form of case studies, mostly based on a non-experimental design, which begs the question of its generalizability.

In this article, we examine the available data to assess the effects of outdoor teaching on students’ learning. Our approach is original in that most existing knowledge syntheses combine interventions by teachers in a school setting with those conducted by non-teachers or in non-school contexts (e.g., Dillon et al., 2016; Langelier et al., 2025; Mann et al., 2021). We specifically focus on available research findings on the effect of outdoor practices by teachers on students’ learning, using a mixed-method approach that includes a pre/quasi-experimental component, as well as a pre/quasi-experimental design to determine whether outdoor teaching influences learning outcome, while previous reviews bring together all methodological approaches. By doing so, we aim to restrict our analysis to outcomes that have been objectively measured. We specifically interrogate the effects of outdoor teaching on academic achievement and its associated factors. Academic achievement represents the extent to which pupils accomplished specific goals that were the focus of activities in an academic environment (Steinmayr et al., 2014). These objectives are measured using a wide variety of indicators relating both to academic results and to performance on tasks of a psychometric or edumetric nature (Mather & Abu-Hamour, 2013), both of which are attached to academic content (mathematics, sciences, reading, etc.). We also consider factors associated with academic achievement. By factors associated with academic achievement, we refer to prerequisites, moderators or mediators of academic achievement documented in the literature. These associated factors include, but are not limited to, cognitive skills (e.g., Rohde & Thompson, 2007); non-cognitive personal characteristics such as motivation, personality traits, planned behavior, school climate, self-beliefs/social-cognitive theory, self-concept, self-regulatory learning strategies, attitude, and vocational interests (Lee & Stankov, 2018); and well-being (Klapp et al., 2024). Figure 1 illustrates the relationships between the key concepts used in this review.

2. Materials and Methods

This research is a scoping review (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005) and is reported through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline (Tricco et al., 2018). The five stages of Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework are used: (1) identifying the initial research questions, (2) identifying relevant studies, (3) study selection, (4) charting the data and (5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results. We did not previously register the protocol of this scoping review. Figure 2 reports its PRISMA diagram.

2.1. Identification of the Initial Research Question

As previously mentioned, this paper examines the available research findings on whether outdoor teaching can influence academic achievement directly or indirectly through its associated factors. Considering the framework used to define academic achievement, this amounts to asking the following questions: At which grade levels is knowledge available about the effects of outdoor teaching on academic achievement and its associated factor? What do we know about the effects of different forms of outdoor teaching on academic achievement and its associated factors? The indicators of academic achievement considered relate to the performance of children in curricular or psychometric assessments related to subjects taught within the school systems (geography, history, mathematics, reading, writing and sciences). The associated factors considered are those derived from Lee and Stankov (2018): motivation, personality traits, planned behavior, school climate, self-beliefs/social-cognitive theory, self-regulatory learning strategies, teacher behavior, value, and vocational interest—and, to be considered, other non-expected factors had to be linked with research results and identified as a prerequisite, mediator or moderator of academic achievement.

2.2. Identification of the Relevant Studies

Three educational databases were used to identify the corpus: Academic Search Complete, Education Source and ERIC. These databases are highly relevant for the field of education. Based on the research question, the following keywords and expressions referring to outdoor teaching interventions were used: “outdoor education”, “outdoor learning”, “outdoor teaching”, “education outside of the classroom”, “learning outside the classroom”, “out of classroom”, “forest school”, “udeskole”, “prairie science classes”, “outdoor science”, “garden education”, “camping education”, “adventure education”, “outdoor adventure”, “schools gardens”. To ensure that we had access to articles reporting the impact of interventions on academic achievement, we added the following restriction to our search with all the keywords: (1) AND “educational benefits”; (2) AND “educational outcomes” so as to capture both academic achievements themselves and their associated factors. To include as many studies as possible that would not use this terminology, while using a mixed or experimental approach to examine outcomes related to academic achievement, we added the condition (3) AND “experimental”. This query retrieved mixed, experimental, quasi-experimental or pre-experimental designs. The selection of papers began in Spring 2022, and the last search was conducted in Spring 2025. All search queries are reported in Appendix A.

2.3. Study Selection

Our approach brought back 2341 papers after removing duplicates. Titles and abstracts were screened by the first or second author to analyze whether they reach our eligibility criteria.

Inclusion criteria:

-

The paper is published in a peer-reviewed journal.

-

The paper is published in English.

-

The nature of the outdoor teaching is described.

-

The outcomes measured are related to academic achievement or its associated factors.

Exclusion criteria:

-

The paper is not related to the school context.

-

The paper assesses the effects of a passive exposure to nature.

-

The paper is a review or meta-analysis (to avoid reviewing the same results several times).

-

The paper reports only methodologies or protocols.

The decision for each paper was discussed. The bibliography of each text was consulted to identify new references (n = 21). Of the 2362 papers considered, this step led to the exclusion of 2203 references. The 159 that remained were then analyzed by the first or second author, keeping in mind the inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure the adequacy of our corpus. The result of this analysis was then co-validated by the first and second author and discussed for about ten articles. For half of them, the question was whether or not the interventions qualified as outdoor teaching. In the event of disagreement in this context, the coders jointly took up the description of the interventions in the article and the inclusion criteria, and carried out a criterion-by-criterion assessment until a consensus was reached. For the other half, the link between the outcomes examined and academic achievements and its associated factors raised questions. In these cases, to reach a consensus, the coders looked for references that measured a relationship between the outcome in question and academic achievement and its predictors. When a reference was found, the article was retained. If not, the article was excluded. This approach led to the inclusion of 41 papers in the review.

2.4. Chart of the Data

A detailed summary for each of the 41 papers included in the review was produced. This summary includes the full reference of the paper, a description of the interventions whose effects are evaluated, the characteristics of the participants and the effects of the intervention on academic achievement or its associated factors.

2.5. Organization and Report of the Results

The first author worked on the detailed summary, categorized the outcomes and drafted the initial version of the results sections, which were then submitted to all the coauthors for feedback.

3. Results

The 41 references listed in this scoping review were published between 2001 and 2024. They involve 10,453 students from preschool to college. The provenance, classification, interventions, participants, design and outcome of the 41 papers included in the review are presented in

Table 2. Provenance, outdoor teaching interventions, participants characteristics and outcomes related to academic achievements and its associated factors of the selected articles.

Authors	Provenance	Type of Interventions	Description of Interventions	Duration of Interventions	Number of Participants	Age of Participants	Design	Outcome
(Achor & Amadu, 2015)	Nigeria	Acquisition-oriented—ecology	“Various plants species such as flowering plants, fruits, vegetables, forage crops and animals e.g., lizard, frog, pond skater, birds, insects, water bug etc. were studied. Assignment was given to the students after each study in the outdoor activities.”	6 weeks	80	16 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive effect on ecology achievment
(Ambusaidi et al., 2019)	Oman	Place-oriented	“The activities included examining and observing the main parts of plants, growing plants for seeds and cuttings, and measuring plant height over time”	3 months	135	7 yo	Mixed with quasi-experimental	-No effect on science content knowledge -No effect on science skills -Positive effect on the attitude towards gardening and healthy dietary habits, especially among girls
(Arıkan, 2023)	Turkey	Acquisition-oriented—biology	“The students observed all the species and environments that set an example for the concepts.” in the natural environment. The concepts include, for example, ecosystems, food pyramid, ecological niche, terrestrial biome, etc.	8 h per day, number of days not explicitly mentioned	43	15–16 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive effects on retention and attitudes towards biology
(Ashjae et al., 2024)	Iran	Acquisition-oriented—science	“Nine consecutive science sessions in the selected subjects, namely ‘water,’ ‘light’ and ‘force,’ were held” in outdoor classes	9 × 45 min	27	8 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive effect on exam performance in science
(Avcı & Gümüş, 2020)	Turkey	Acquisition-oriented—social studies	“Social studies lesson ’People, Places and Environments’; learning area subjects” […] were covered with outdoor education activities and outdoor teaching methods	6 weeks	33	9 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive effect on social studies achievement. -Positive effect on recalling social studies contents four weeks after the interventions
(Bølling et al., 2019)	Denmark	Acquisition-oriented—cross-disciplinary	“The regular provision of EOtC was specified as around five hours per week, with a weekly frequency of one to two sessions, including potential classroom activities prior to, or in continuation, of a session, for instance preparation and subsequent evaluation”.	1 school year	332	9 to 13 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Gain in new peer affiliations -No gain in total number of peer relationships
(Bailey & Kang, 2015)	USA	Place-oriented	Outdoor activities included paddling, climbing, biking and/or backpacking as well as team-building and group processing activities	10 days	295	>18 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in disciplinary grades -Improvement in vocational interest
(Beightol et al., 2012)	New Mexico	Mainly Acquisition-oriented—social skills— With some components of experience-oriented teaching	“Thirteen program sessions […] Ten […] either in the class-room or on the playground. These included team-building and problem-solving activities, role-plays, and instruction on the bullying problem. Three sessions consisted of a full-day excursion […] and included low and high ropes course elements”.	3 days + ten 2 h sessions	51	11 yo	Mixed (quasi-experimental+ interview)	-Improvement in the school climates -Improvement in vocational interest -No significant improvement in problem solving skills
(Braun & Dierkes, 2017)	Germany and Singapore	Acquisition-oriented—environmental science	“Field excursion to an informal learning centre […] Participants attended three modules during the intervention: forest ecosystems, freshwater ecosystems and culture and conservation.”	1 day	214	10 to 18 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in environmental knowledge and behavior
(Braun et al., 2018)	Germany, Singapore, Malaysia and Bengladesh	Acquisition-oriented—environmental science	“Outdoor educational program about conservation ecology in the forest’”	1 day	418	7 to 18 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in environmental knowledge, attitudes and behavior
(Davis et al., 2023)	USA	Place-oriented	Gardening, nutrition, and cooking lessons taught in an outdoor teaching garden by trained educators throughout the academic year.	18 h	1400	9 to 10 yo	Experimental	-Improvement in reading in fourth grade -No improvement in mathematics or reading in fifth grade
(Dettweiler et al., 2015)	Germany	Acquisition-oriented—environmental science	“Residential courses, where biological and climatological topics are taught under the general heading of eco-climatology [including] two-day research expedition is conducted into the National Park Berchtesgaden […] students collect data in their specific field along a transection of elevation”	1 week	84	10 to 12 yo	Mixed (ethnographic fields note + observation + heart rate measure + psychometric measure—after expedition)	-Motivation improvement -Improvement in environmental knowledge
(Dirks & Orvis, 2005)	USA	Acquisition-oriented—science, horticulture	“a youth gardening program that […] incorporates many areas related to gardening such as science and environmental education, along with providing opportunities for youth to develop responsibility and leadership skills”	10 to 12 weeks	277	10 yo	Mixed (observation + pre-experimental setting)	-Improvement in scientific achievement -Improvement in attitudes toward the environment
(Ellinger et al., 2022)	Germany	Place-oriented	“The EOtC-class was curriculum compliant and was implemented […] in a nearby forest. After an initial lesson in the school facilities, which was used for tasks, such as to check attendance and prepare important contents, students and teachers walked to the forest […] teachers held two different outdoor classes selecting from the school subjects of German and Biology”.	21 weeks	25	10 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive effect on intrinsic and identified motivational regulation
(Faber Taylor et al., 2022)	USA	Acquisition-oriented—sciences	The interventions have the form of “Six units covering thematic topics within the 4th grade Earth and Natural Sciences curriculum and aligned with state academic standards for earth science”. The units are “collaborative, active and inquiry-based”)	4 months	92	9 to 10 yo	Controlled comparison	-Same learning skills in the classroom than in nature environment -Reduced impact of the child demographics on learning in a nature-based setting
(Fägerstam & Blom, 2013)	Sweden	Acquisition-oriented—Biology	“The biology curriculum for Grade Seven was an introductory biology course, ‘The Living World’, containing evolution theory, cell biology, phylogeny (classification and taxonomy) and diversity. The biology curriculum for Grade Eight was ecology […] they received […] outdoor lessons”	6 × 60 min	85	13 to 15 yo	Mixed (quasi-experimental setting + interview)	-Improvement in the memories of the activity -Improvement in attitudes towards other pupils -No improvement in conceptual achievement
(Fägerstam & Samuelsson, 2014)	Sweden	Acquisition-oriented—arithmetic	“The outdoor mathematics lessons were often organised using activities in which teams solved mathematics problems in playful competition with each other […] In some cases, outdoor objects, such as trees, stones and sticks, were used as necessary parts of the task.”	10 weeks	33	13 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive effect on arithmetic skills
(Fan et al., 2024)	Taiwan	Acquisition-oriented—science	“Students engaged in an activity called ’Walk around, sit and watch the cloud, aimed at enhancing their understanding of water in the atmosphere. Teachers facilitated this activity by guiding students through observations and discussions about cloud formation and the water cycle in the natural environment”.	160 min	21	12 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive effect on perceptions of scientific literacy and learning motivation
(Genc et al., 2017)	Turkey	Acquisition-oriented—environmental science	“The participants completed 18 activities dealing with the natural environment, water and water pollution, pollution in general, natural habitats, recycling and biodiversity.”	11 days	30	12–13 yo	Pre-experimental	-Improvement in attitudes and affective tendencies towards the environment and living organisms
(Khan et al., 2020)	Bangladesh	Acquisition-oriented—science	A “school ground was redesigned with several behavior settings (e.g., gardens and amphitheater) for teaching and learning”. The children received maths and science classes outdoors.	4 months	61	8–11 yo	Mixed with quasi-experimental setting	-Positive effect on mathematics and science achievement
(Klemmer et al., 2005)	USA	Acquisition-oriented—science	“The curriculum used for this study was a youth gardening curriculum […] intended to educate youth about horticulture, health, nutrition, environmental science, and leadership”.	1 school year	448	9 to 11 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in science achievement
(Martin et al., 2009)	USA	Place-oriented	“The unit explored a watershed that serves as a primary residential water source for the city where the school is located, addressing the value of the watershed as a resource to the community and the surrounding region” in the context of expeditions	10 weeks	45	12 to 13 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in attitudes toward the environment
(McAnally et al., 2018)	New Zealand	Experience-oriented	4 days of regular classes in mainstream subjects and 3 days of outdoor activities per week. These outdoor activities include kayaking, tramping, rock climbing, and mountain biking among many other pursuits.	15 weeks	106	14 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in well-being
(McGowan, 2016)	Canada	Experience-oriented	Winter camping trip + canoe trip (only for 17 yo) given in the context of an outdoor education program. “While on the canoe trip, students participated in a solo experience in which they spent an evening alone with rationed food and supplies to build a shelter and fire.”	5 days for camping and 5 days for canoe	26	15–17 yo	Pre-experimental	-Improvement in self-concept
(Otte et al., 2019a)	Denmark	Acquisition-oriented—mathematics	More than 5 h a week of mathematics conducted outdoors per week	9 months	619	9–13 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Neither positive nor negative effect on mathematic skills
(Otte et al., 2019b)	Denmark	Acquisition-oriented—reading	More than 4.7 h of reading instruction conducted outdoors per week during the school year.	9 months	381	9 to 12 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in reading performance
(Pambudi, 2022)	Indonesia	Acquisition-oriented—mathematics	“The students were given time to learn and understand the meaning of triangles and their types using mathematics textbooks, notebooks, and whiteboards, during the first meeting. At the second meeting, they were invited to the schoolyard to measure the height of the flagpole. In this case, the teacher is also a facilitator and motivator”.	2 h	27	11–12 yo	Pre- and quasi-experimental	-Improvement in the motivation to learn mathematics -Positive effect on the achievement in mathematics
(Quibell et al., 2017)	UK	Place-oriented, with one acquisition-oriented activity	“Programme is delivered by two Wilderness Practitioners (WPs), one of whom is a qualified primary or secondary school teacher and the other an assistant […] The Wilderness School days focused on either maths, science or English, with activities structured in a consistent way throughout the programme […] Curriculum tasks were set up as a problem to be solved through the collection of sense-data objects and measurements in the natural environment.”	6 days (2 for science, 2 for English and 2 for mathematics)	223	8–11 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in reading, writing and mathematic
(Sarac Yildirim & Dogru, 2023)	Turkey	Place-oriented	“Activities conducted in the school garden were planned in such a way that would offer opportunities for students to do observations and experiments in the school garden. All activities were created based on the question ‘How do reproduction, growth, and development occur in plants?’”	28 h	37	12 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in self-concept
(Robinson & Zajicek, 2005)	USA	Acquisition-oriented—horticulture	“The garden curriculum[…] is intended to educate youth about horticulture, health, nutrition, environmental science, and leadership. The objectives include […]: to develop leadership and life skills; to identify community needs and volunteer service opportunities; to enhance positive youth development […]; to improve quality of life […] to increase the availability of horticultural and environmental education for youth”	9 months	190	9–10 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in self-belief -Improvement in decision making -Improvement in cognitive skills (communication skills)
(Sellmann & Bogner, 2013a)	Germany	Acquisition-oriented—science	“Our one-day environmental education intervention comprised two learning units focusing on global climate change: the first one provided background information about the issue of climate change by learning at workstations, while the second one consisted of more practical activities within the garden. The intervention was designed to be applicable in a daily garden routine”.	1 day	108	14–19 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Short and long terms improvement in knowledge about climate changes
(Sellmann & Bogner, 2013b)	Germany	Acquisition-oriented—science	“Programme comprised of two separate student-centred learning modules. The first one [… aims] to enhance students’ knowledge about causes, mechanisms and impacts of climate change […] the second […] explore how climate change affects selected plants and ecosystems around the world”.	1 day	114	15–19yo	Quasi-experimental	-Short-term improvement in attitudes toward nature and connectedness to nature -Long-term improvement in attitudes toward nature
(Smith & Motsenbocker, 2005)	USA	Acquisition-oriented—science	Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the hands-on Junior Master Gardener (JMG) Handbook Level 1	14 weeks	62	10 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in knowledge about plant growth -No improvement observed regarding soils, water, ecology, horticulture, insects and disease
(Stevenson et al., 2021)	USA	Acquisition-oriented—science	“This study focused on participants of Muddy Sneakers, a […] program focused on experiential science learning, environmental literacy, and connection to the natural world […] The program took place both in the schoolyard and nearby natural areas such as state parks, where program educators guided activities for students using standards-based instruction.”	6 days	403	9–12 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in knowledge and maintenance of grades in science performance for girls
(Tabaru Örnek & Yel, 2024)	Turkey	Place-oriented	“Place-based teaching were carried out in the learning areas of ‘Life in Our Country’ and ‘Life in Nature’ in the Life Studies course.” The contents of the course include, for example, nature observation, soil compost, tree planting, orientation	10 weeks	32	8 yo	Mixed with quasi-experimental setting	-Improvement in knowledge and maintenance of grades in science for girls
(Ting & Siew, 2014)	Malaysia	Acquisition-oriented—science	“Students developed their skills of observing when they were asked to access the school ground to seek for animals and plants.” “Students will identify the relationships between animals and plants in the process of constructing food chains and food webs. Students will learn how the animals and plants affect one another; this will help to arouse “surprise/bafflement” in scientific curiosity.”	4 to 6 weeks	119	10 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive effect on the ability to observe and categorize scientifically -Positive effect on scientific curiosity
(Vančugovienė et al., 2024)	Lithuania	Acquistion-oriented—science	“Each group received a map on which ten plants were marked. Each group had to search for these plants […] Next to the plants were hidden envelopes with a task related to that specific plant. The tasks were related to the plants’ adaptations to perform photosynthesis or respiration in different environments […] When all the groups had returned, questions and answers were discussed together with the educator”.	4 × 45 min	79	14 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Positive impact on scientific knowledge and on the capacity to overcome the typical misconceptions related to photosynthesis and respiration
(Waliczek et al., 2001)	USA	Place-oriented	Gardening activities implemented by following “The Project GREEN Activity Guide: Book 1, Math and Science”	5 months	598	7–13 yo	Quasi-experimental	-Improvement in interpersonal relationships -Decrease in negative attitudes toward school
(Wells et al., 2015)	USA	Acquisition-oriented—science	“Raised-bed or container garden kits were provided for each participating class […] Educators were given access to an Educational Toolkit of garden-based lessons focused on nutrition, horticulture, and plant science […] Resources provided to the school included information about food safety and related topics […] A garden implementation guide was shared to provide information regarding planning, planting, and maintenance throughout the calendar year”	20 weeks	3061	7–9 yo	Randomized controlled trial	-Improvement in science knowledge
(White, 2012)	USA	Acquisition-oriented—self concept	“The programme designed for this study consisted of a school-based delivery of trust- building activities, group challenges, effective communication activities, and a wilderness trip […] The first stage consisted of four two-hour sessions delivered once per week facilitated at the participating secondary school for one month […] The second stage consisted of a five-day residential component at an outdoor education centre that included initiative tasks, cultural studies, obstacle courses, cross-country hikes, canoeing, high ropes courses, and wall climbing, all followed by feedback sessions and debriefings. The third stage consisted of a three-and-a-half-day wilderness trip to the Brecon Beacons of Wales [with] a backpacking trip”	6 weeks	24	13 yo	Mixed (quasi-experimental + semi structured interview)	-Improvement in self-concept
(Yıldırım & Akamca, 2017)	Turkish	Acquisition-oriented—science	“Children collected stones, flowers, leaves and wooden sticks from nature. They categorised collected objects into groups. They were asked how many of a certain type of objects they had gathered, and which object had the highest number. They categorised flowers into those with a smell and those without a smell. Surfaces of leaves and flowers were examined and were categorised into those with smooth or rough surface. Flowers were also classified depending on their color”.	12 weeks	35	5 yo	Pre-experimental	-Improvement in cognitive skills

.

3.1. At Which Grade Levels Is Knowledge Available About the Effects of Outdoor Teaching on Academic Achievement and Its Associated Factors?

A first result concerns the distribution of school levels covered by the research on the effects of outdoor education on academic achievement and its associated factors: One study, involving 35 pupils, addresses early childhood education (Yıldırım & Akamca, 2017). Twelve studies, collectively involving 5453 pupils aged between 5 and 10 years, provide results about primary education worldwide (Ambusaidi et al., 2019; Ashjae et al., 2024; Avcı & Gümüş, 2020; Davis et al., 2023; Dirks & Orvis, 2005; Ellinger et al., 2022; Faber Taylor et al., 2022; Robinson & Zajicek, 2005; Smith & Motsenbocker, 2005; Tabaru Örnek & Yel, 2024; Ting & Siew, 2014; Wells et al., 2015). Thirteen studies, with a combined total of 661 pupils aged between 11 and 16, refer to secondary education (Achor & Amadu, 2015; Arıkan, 2023; Beightol et al., 2012; Fägerstam & Blom, 2013; Fägerstam & Samuelsson, 2014; Fan et al., 2024; Genc et al., 2017; Martin et al., 2009; McAnally et al., 2018; Pambudi, 2022; Sarac Yildirim & Dogru, 2023; Vančugovienė et al., 2024; White, 2012). One study involves 275 students over 16 years of age, referred to here as undergraduate students (Bailey & Kang, 2015). Nine studies involve 3149 pupils spread across both primary and secondary levels (Bølling et al., 2019; Dettweiler et al., 2015; Khan et al., 2020; Klemmer et al., 2005; Otte et al., 2019a, 2019b; Quibell et al., 2017; Stevenson et al., 2021; Waliczek et al., 2001), while four studies, involving a total of 462 students, span both secondary and higher education (Braun & Dierkes, 2017; McGowan, 2016; Sellmann & Bogner, 2013a, 2013b). Finally, one study involves 418 students from primary to higher education (Braun et al., 2018).

3.2. What Do We Know About the Effects of Different Forms of Outdoor Teaching on Academic Achievement and Its Associated Factors?

Regarding the categories identified at the beginning of this article (Table 1), 29 articles present intervention programs that are acquisition-oriented, 10 articles present place-oriented programs, and two present experience-oriented programs. For acquisition-oriented studies, the analysis points to an improvement in learning by outdoor teaching in sciences. Twenty-three articles involving 6383 students provide results of this order (Achor & Amadu, 2015; Arıkan, 2023; Ashjae et al., 2024; Bølling et al., 2019; Braun & Dierkes, 2017; Braun et al., 2018; Dettweiler et al., 2015; Dirks & Orvis, 2005; Faber Taylor et al., 2022; Fägerstam & Blom, 2013; Fan et al., 2024; Genc et al., 2017; Khan et al., 2020; Klemmer et al., 2005; Robinson & Zajicek, 2005; Sellmann & Bogner, 2013a, 2013b; Stevenson et al., 2021; Smith & Motsenbocker, 2005; Ting & Siew, 2014; Vančugovienė et al., 2024; Wells et al., 2015; Yıldırım & Akamca, 2017). However, one study showed positive effects for certain thematics but not for others, detailing conceptual progress in 62 students (Smith & Motsenbocker, 2005). Three articles focus on mathematical learning. Fägerstam and Samuelsson (2014) and Pambudi (2022), on the one hand, show better mathematical learning outdoors, for a total of 60 children. Otte et al. (2019a), on the other hand, found no benefits of outdoor teaching for mathematics, based on data from 619 children. One study focuses on reading. Otte et al. (2019b) show better reading learning with outdoor teaching in a study realized with 381 children. Finally, Avcı and Gümüş (2020) observed better academic results in social studies in an outdoor teaching context. Other acquisition-oriented articles looked at outcomes related to academic achievement-associated factors, such as self-concept (White, 2012; Robinson & Zajicek, 2005; McGowan, 2016) and school climate (Beightol et al., 2012), peer affiliations (Bølling et al., 2019). All these studies reported positive outcomes.

The nine place-oriented articles focus on outcomes related to factors of academic achievement and to academic achievement. These include the following:

-

Improvement in attitudes towards gardening and healthy alimentation, although no improvement was observed in science knowledge and skills among 135 children in the study of Ambusaidi et al. (2019);

-

Improvement in reading in fourth grade, although no improvement was observed in mathematic or reading in fifth grade among 1400 children in Davis et al. (2023);

-

Positive effect observed on motivation among 25 children in Ellinger et al. (2022);

-

Improvement in grades and vocational identity observed in 295 students in Bailey and Kang (2015);

-

Improvement in attitudes towards the environment observed in 45 students in Martin et al. (2009);

-

Enhancement of reading, writing and mathematics observed in 223 students for Quibell et al. (2017);

-

Improvement in interest and attitude among sciences observed in 37 children in Sarac Yildirim and Dogru (2023);

-

Improvement in science observed in 32 children in Tabaru Örnek and Yel (2024);

-

Improvement in interpersonal relationships and a decrease in negative attitudes toward school observed for 598 chidren in Waliczek et al. (2001).

The two experience-oriented articles focus on the effects of outdoor teaching on factors of academic achievement. These include improvements in the well-being of 106 students (McAnally et al., 2018) and self-concept (McGowan, 2016).

4. Discussion

This scoping review aims at establishing the current state of knowledge about the effects of outdoor teaching on academic achievement and its associated factors. To answer this question, 41 articles reporting studies carried out among 10,453 children were analyzed. These analyses show that the most robust knowledge regarding the impact of outdoor teaching lies at the primary school level, closely followed by the secondary school level. The presence of only one study on preschool suggests that further studies at this level are necessary, especially since outdoor teaching seems particularly interesting for implementing developmentally appropriate interventions (Kiviranta et al., 2024).

Most studies are acquisition-oriented. This is unsurprising, given that, in most countries, the mission of schools is expressed primarily in terms of instruction and acquisition of knowledge. In studies from this category, disciplinary acquisitions concern mainly the sciences. If this leads to the conclusion that outdoor teaching is an effective way to teach sciences, it also begs the question of its pertinence in other disciplines. Given that some acquisition-oriented, place-oriented and experience-oriented interventions point to benefits in reading, writing, social studies and mathematics (with contradictory results for this discipline), the whole being corroborated by a number of qualitative studies not included in this article (e.g., Down et al., 2024), we might think that going outside with students with the primary intention of teaching them these subjects by taking advantage of the outdoor environment would have benefits, but this remains to be reinforced by further research. In this respect, the scientific community would benefit from adopting common criteria for describing activities carried out in nature, which would facilitate the aggregation of study results.

Interestingly, a few studies focus on the development of cross-curricular skills, which are often targeted in school curricula as factors of academic achievement (e.g., Niemelä, 2021), and for which teachers have fewer resources. In the first instance, three studies (Beightol et al., 2012; Fägerstam & Blom, 2013; Waliczek et al., 2001) highlight effects on school climate, the importance of which Beightol et al. (2012), in particular, have shown for academic achievements. Two studies (Robinson & Zajicek, 2005; White, 2012) highlight effects on self-knowledge and self-control; Bailey and Kang (2015) and Beightol et al. (2012) highlight effects on vocational identity; Those are three factors predictive of academic achievement according to Lee and Stankov (2018). Yıldırım and Akamca (2017) show effects on cognitive skills of preschool children which, of course, are factors of academic achievement. In this study, cognitive skills are assessed through tasks such as telling where an object is, placing an object in accordance with instructions, going to the place instructed and using maps and sketches. Dettweiler et al. (2015) show the effects of outdoor teaching on motivation, a factor of academic achievement, again according to Lee and Stankov (2018). McAnally et al. (2018) show positive effects on well-being, a factor of academic achievement according to Klapp et al. (2024). At the same time, several factors of academic achievement have not been investigated in the studies reviewed, and deserve to be better known, foremost among which is the quality of teachers’ practices (Hattie, 2009). Of course, we cannot exclude that such studies may exist and not have been listed in the databases we have mobilized, or may not have been reached with the queries we used.

The presence of several articles in which interventions are not acquisition-oriented is interesting. This shows that, in a school context, it is possible to go outdoors with students primarily to enjoy nature or outdoor environments, or primarily to live an experience. These alternatives are interesting for thinking about ways to support teachers who express the wish to go outdoors without really knowing how or why, and offer support by making it explicit that it is possible to go just for fun or simply to get some fresh air with a view to sustainable health initially, and that, little by little, we can think of more didactic interventions, which were identified in the study by Langelier et al. (2025) who mentioned that as soon as children are outside in a natural environment, they can benefit from the positive effect of nature exposure. This scoping review reveals three main areas of uncertainty: (1) In the reviewed studies, effects were mainly measured immediately after short-term interventions, or during the school year for long-term interventions. This raises the question of whether these immediate benefits are sustained over time. (2) The studies focus on a limited number of variables and lack of uniformity or standardization. It would be interesting to develop studies that include more variables to better understand how outdoor teaching influences students. Indeed, some of these variables might be confounded or act as mediators between outdoor teaching and academic achievement. (3) The methodologies of the studies vary considerably, and it would be interesting to examine which results are obtained with the most rigorous methodologies. In our view, the most rigorous methodologies in this context are mixed methodologies, which combine a detailed phenomenological description of the interventions, the extraction of some of their characteristics from a quantitative point of view, the measurement of benefits for students using standardized measurement tools, and the collection of qualitative data on how students experience the activities.

It seems clear to us that, in view of (1) the growing popularity of this type of teaching, which is certainly leading to an evolution in practices (2), the areas of uncertainty underlined above, further research into the value of outdoor teaching according to the standards mentioned in the previous paragraph is needed.

5. Conclusions

This scoping review concludes that robust results indicate that outdoor teaching can support academic achievement, particularly in the field of sciences (mainly ecology, biology and scientific reasoning). These more-than-favorable results encourage further investigation into the impact of outdoor teaching on reading, writing, mathematics and social studies, to confirm the first positive results on these fields.

There is also encouraging evidence of effects on factors associated with academic achievement, such as self-awareness, school climate, motivation and well-being. But further research is needed (1) to examine the potential effects of outdoor teaching on other factors associated with academic achievement; and (2) especially, to better understand, in the context of outdoor teaching, the relationships between academic achievements, their associated factors and the actual practices of teachers.

So, given the current state of knowledge, we think it is appropriate for policy-makers and school stakeholders to consider that research offers very encouraging data to the effect that outdoor teaching can support students’ academic achievement, but that further research is needed to identify the various effects and factors. A number of recently registered study protocols will help progress in this direction (e.g., Barenie et al., 2023; Bølling et al., 2023; Stage et al., 2025).