Recruiting

Outdoor Science Education

Sponsor:

Université de Sherbrooke

Code:

NCT07147634

Conditions

Healthy Children

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 0+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Outdoor science education

Indoor classroom-based science education

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to learn if an outdoor science education intervention can improve primary school students' learning and well-being when compared to an indoor classroom-based science education intervention. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Will students who engage in outdoor science learning produce higher-quality observations of living organisms than students who receive instruction exclusively in an indoor, classroom-based context, when both groups are invited to make observations in an unfamiliar natural environment?
  • Does an outdoor education intervention embedded within the science curriculum contribute to children's connection to nature, eco-anxiety and stress?

Participants will:

  • Receive a science education intervention 2h/week for a total of 5 weeks, either indoors or outdoors
  • Answer questionnaires before and after the intervention
  • Participate in a field day-trip after the intervention where they will be asked to observe living organisms.

Conditions

Healthy Children

Study ID

NCT07147634

Start date

Sep 2, 2025

Status verified date

Dec, 2025

Completion date

Nov, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Nov, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 0+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Primary schools need to have a deprivation index equal to or superior to 1 (with 10 being the maximum) and be located in Montreal, Longueuil or Laval (QC).
  • Teachers have to show some interest in outdoor education but are not obliged to have already done some before in order to be included.
  • Only 5th and 6th grade teachers are included.
  • Primary schools with two teachers interested in participating in the project.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Alternative schools or those welcoming recently arrived non-Francophone students are not included.

Study Design

Enrollment

1000 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Outdoor science education

2h of outdoor science education intervention per week for a total of 5 weeks (following Québec's mandatory curriculum)

active comparator: Indoor classroom-based science education

2h of indoor science education intervention per week for a total of 5 weeks (following Québec's mandatory curriculum)

Interventions

Outdoor science education

Following Québec's mandatory curriculum, primary school teachers will provide life science lessons 2h/week for a total of 5 weeks in an outdoor setting

Indoor classroom-based science education

Following Québec's mandatory curriculum, primary school teachers will provide life science lessons 2h/week for a total of 5 weeks inside the classroom

Primary outcome measure

  • Score on the Scientific Observation Skills Rubric (0-15) in a Novel Environmental Context [ Time Frame: After the 5-week intervention has ended, students will spend one day in a new environmental context (at the end of October) in order to make observations ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Gabriela Quintela Do Carmo

803-477-7554quig1988@usherbrooke.ca

Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet

514-999-6647jean-philippe.ayotte-beaudet@usherbrooke.ca

Locations

Greater Montreal area (Laval, Longueuil, Montreal)

Recruiting

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Contacts

Gabriela Quintela Do Carmo

803-477-7554quig1988@usherbrooke.ca

More Information

Sponsor

Université de Sherbrooke

Last update posted

Dec 31, 2025

Last verified

Dec, 2025

Keywords

  • Stress
  • School-Based Intervention
  • Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Primary School
  • Connection to Nature
  • Eco-anxiety
  • Science Learning
  • Outdoor Education

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Université de Sherbrooke on 2025-12-31.