Outdoor learning has proven to be a highly beneficial form of teaching from the perspective of pupils' development , as it promotes their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. Didactic games also play an important role in this context, as they serve as a teaching tool that contributes to higher-quality, more active, and more effective learning. Despite their many advantages, there is still a lack of research investigating the use of didactic games in outdoor learning.
Therefore, the present study aimed to develop high-quality didactic games for the subject Environmental Studies in the third grade of primary school, meaningfully integrate them into a natural outdoor environment, and examine their contribution to pupils' knowledge consolidation. The study focused on the curriculum topics Weather Phenomena and Movement. In addition to examining the impact of outdoor didactic games on pupils' knowledge consolidation, we also explored the classroom teacher's opinion of this teaching approach and the pupils' experiences during outdoor learning.
The study involved 24 pupils from a selected third-grade primary school class and their classroom teacher. Three didactic games related to the curriculum topics Weather Phenomena and Movement were implemented in the school surroundings. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods was used to collect the data. Pupils' progress in knowledge was assessed by comparing their results on a pre-test and a post-test. The implementation of the activities was documented using an observation journal, the teacher's opinions were collected through a semi-structured interview, and the experiences of pupils with different levels of individual interest were gathered using a questionnaire.
The results of the study showed that outdoor didactic games contributed to improvements in pupils' knowledge consolidation, with a low learning gain (g = 0.3). Outdoor learning with didactic games was evaluated positively by pupils regardless of their level of learning motivation. The classroom teacher also expressed a positive opinion about the use of outdoor didactic games, reporting greater pupil engagement, improved concentration and interest, and more opportunities to observe pupils' cooperation during group work. Furthermore, the pupils expressed a desire for more outdoor lessons and more frequent use of didactic games in teaching, as they found this approach to learning more engaging, while group work contributed to better cooperation and stronger relationships among classmates.
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