Effects of outdoor activities on biology students’ attitude to the environment

Abstract

The teacher’s use of lecture method has been observed to be ineffective in bringing about the right attitude towards the environment and environmental problems. The purpose of this research is to fi nd out what are the effect of outdoor activities and the infl uence of gender on secondary school students’ environmental attitude to Biology. Outdoor activities are educational activities that occur outside the regular classroom activities to create awareness about the environment. The aim is for students to notice the environmental problems caused as a result of a negative attitude towards the environment and the need for a positive attitude instead. The study was carried out using a pre-test, post-test, and a control group. A quasi-experimental design data analysis was undertaken using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The outdoor activities had a signifi cant effect on students’ environmental attitude (F=5.067 P<0.05). Gender also played a signifi cant role in the attitude of students to the environment (F=6.939, P<0.05). Outdoor activities were observed to have brought about signifi cant attitudinal change in the students. Therefore, outdoor activities are recommended for teaching and learning environmental education in Biology for both genders.