Current research projects
Research Focus
Axis 2 - Benefits of outdoor education for students
Principal Investigator
Véronique Parent, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Associate researchers
Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet, Preschool and Primary Education, Faculty of Education.
Fabienne Lagueux, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
Jessica Rassy, School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Danika Thériault, Department of Psychoeducation, Faculty of Education.
Funding
Université de Sherbrooke, CIUSSS de la Montérégie Centre.
Date
2022-2023
Project
Interventions in the context of nature and adventure (INA) represent an innovative and promising clinical avenue considering the benefits noted in the current scientific literature. NAR includes a variety of interventions: educational, developmental or psychotherapeutic, and is therefore interdisciplinary in nature, combining psychology, psychoeducation, health and education. The HORIZON program - an INA - was developed by workers at the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre to meet the needs of their adolescent clientele who have difficulty accessing traditional services.
This pilot study aims to better define the effects of the HORIZON program on adolescents' general well-being and functioning, as well as on specific variables specific to the program (anxiety, sense of self-efficacy and social skills), after the program and three months after its termination. As an exploratory measure, the "voice" of the youths and the workers involved in the program is also being given prominence in order to document their experience with HORIZON.
The project is based on a mixed-methods comparison group design, combining the richness of quantitative data with that of qualitative data. It uses self-reported and hetero-reported questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The project has the potential to improve mental health services for adolescents, both in terms of intervention and prevention. It is the basis of an interdisciplinary research project, combining researchers from various disciplines and collaborators from the practical world, in keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the INA.
Research Focus
Axis 2 - Benefits of outdoor education for students
Principal investigators
Marie-Claude Geoffroy (principal applicant), Jean-Philippe Ayotte Beaudet, Sylvana Côté and Catherine Malboeuf-Hurtubise
Funding
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Date
Early 2021
Project
There is currently a craze for outdoor teaching in schools, especially since the pandemic. Could such practices have salutogenic effects? Experimental studies conducted around the world show that contact with nature (urban park or forest) would improve mental health. Preliminary results suggest that this is also the case for children who are in contact with nature during outdoor learning situations. However, no experimental studies have tested the effectiveness of outdoor education as a strategy for improving children's mental health. This project team will conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of the Open Skies School program. This is a teacher-based, nature-based mental health promotion intervention. The intervention will take place over 15 weeks, for two hours per week. We will recruit 80 schools with grade 5 classes in disadvantaged neighborhoods from among schools already participating in a larger study conducted by the Observatoire Pour l'Éducation et la Santé des Enfants (OPES). The intervention will include mental health promotion activities in nature (e.g., cooperation, compassion/empathy, mindfulness) and educational activities. We will evaluate the impact of the intervention on children's health. The results may help policy makers develop an empirically-based, mental health-promoting outdoor education program with high potential for population-wide deployment at low cost.
Research focus
Axis 1 - Outdoor teaching practices
Principal Investigators
Jean-Philippe Ayotte Beaudet and Félix Berrigan
Funding
Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec and CRÉPA
Date
Early 2022
Project
The results of a survey on outdoor education in school settings in Quebec show that more and more teachers are leading outdoor learning situations at preschool, primary and secondary levels (Ayotte-Beaudet et al., forthcoming). Although international research has documented profiles of outdoor teachers (e.g. Glackin, 2016), we have not identified any articles that longitudinally study the evolution of these practices over time. Such a study would provide a better understanding of the different professional development trajectories of teachers integrating outdoor education. The variables studied will be related to individuals (e.g. outdoor well-being, years of experience), contexts (e.g. level of urbanization, accessible environments and infrastructures) and pedagogical intentions (e.g. discipline, pedagogical strategies). The aim of this research is therefore to describe and explain the trajectories of outdoor teaching practices with regard to individuals, contexts and pedagogical intentions. The research will involve at least 1,000 Canadian preschool, elementary and secondary teachers involved in outdoor education. They will fill out an online questionnaire in the fall, winter and spring of each year to describe their teaching practices in outdoor education in a school context, with regard to their students' learning. The description of trajectories will enable us to better understand the diversity of teachers' practices and the specific profiles of outdoor teachers. The database will also make it easier for our team, especially graduate students, to recruit teachers with specific characteristics, depending on the research objectives.
Research focus
Axis 1 - Outdoor teaching practices
Principal Investigator
Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet
Date
2023-2025
Project
In recent years, a growing number of studies have been conducted on outdoor education in schools (Ayotte-Beaudet et al., 2023; Becker et al., 2017). Research teams have focused on student-related effects (e.g. stress, motivation, social relationships, academic achievement, physical activity) (Mann et al., 2022; Miller et al., 2021; Mygind et al., 2019). Scientific articles have also been published on teachers' perceptions (e.g. teacher-student relationship, perceived effects on students, effects on teachers' professional skills and well-being) (Barfod & Bentsen, 2018; Deschamps et al., n.d.; Edwards-Jones et al., 2018).
The obstacles and challenges to outdoor education are now well known (Ayotte-Beaudet et al., 2023; Glackin & Jones, 2012; Rickinson et al., 2004). However, to our knowledge, little scientific literature has been produced to document the successful deployment of initiatives in school contexts, from preschool to high school.
The aim of our research is therefore to identify a model for the deployment of outdoor education in Quebec schools. To this end, some forty people (preschool, elementary and high school teachers, educational consultants, prevention and health promotion consultants and administrators) will be invited to take part in a national community of practice, bringing together people who are innovators in their school environment with regard to the deployment of outdoor education in Quebec.
Research Focus
Axis 2 - Benefits of outdoor education for students
Principal investigators
Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet, Michael Giamellaro, Abdelkrim Hasni, Patrice Potvin, Cathy Jordan
Funding
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Date
2022-2027
Project
Outdoor environments are particularly conducive to learning about natural sciences, such as ecology. The environment nearby the schools allows students to make concrete more abstract knowledge. These places can also be the starting point for learning experiences in which students develop and transfer their ability to make scientific observations, ask questions and experiment. This project compares outdoor learning experiences carried out in contact with nature and learning experiences carried out indoors in the classroom in order to determine what effect it has on primary school students’ ability to observe living organisms. Our study aims to test the effect of a variable on a particular type of learning (observation). This type of prediction will establish whether there is a causal relationship between the learning context (contact with nature outdoors or only indoors in the classroom) and observation about living organisms.
Research Focus
Axis 2 - Benefits of outdoor education for students
Principal Investigator
Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet
Funding
Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec
Date
2023-2026
Project
Over the course of a school year, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students will work together on a common theme, showcasing their outdoor education skills. This project will be the subject of an action-research project in which all the students will physically meet on aboriginal territory to share their various creations.
- Currently under development -