Using Place-Based Outdoor Learning (PBOL) Teaching Model in Promoting Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Ecological Concepts

Abstract

Ecological literacy provides unraveling a comprehensive understanding of environmental issues and problems. Nevertheless, applying this understanding often requires more than essential experiential learning. This study highlights a crucial, however frequently neglected, need for ecological literacy that allows educators and consultants of the distinct disciplines of education to apply methodical knowledge when encountering environmental and behavioral difficulties. The mixed-method research primarily intended to investigate how to promote students' conceptual understanding of ecological concepts using the Place-Based Outdoor Learning (PBOL) teaching model. The findings showed that using place-based outdoor learning to understand ecological concepts is further effective than the classroom setting (CSI) approach. The student's overall understanding of ecological concepts has significantly improved. Thus, results are highly recommending that educators in different fields can develop environmentally friendly controlling processes and contribute effectively to integrative work groups dealing with environmental issues and problems; and pedagogy and curriculum development on the strengthening evidence of the benefits of PBOL activities that influence students, including improved connection with the natural situated places; exploring how the PBOL teaching model can increase explicit memory and retention of concepts, and how reinforcement between the affective and the cognitive influence help scaffold higher-order learning.