PhD defence: Camilla Roed Otte

Camilla Roed Otte defends her thesis,

Perspektiver på udeskole i relation til læsning, matematikfærdigheder og motivation for læring
[Perspectives on Education Outside the Classroom in relation to reading, math skills and motivation to learn]

The defence will be in Danish!

Supervisors:
Professor Erik Dahl Kjær, IGN
Niels Ejbye-Ernst; IGN
Senior Researcher Peter Bentsen, Steno Diabetes Center

Assessment Committee:
Associate Professor Theresa Schilhab, Danish School of Education, Didaktikuddannelserne, Emdrup, Aarhus University
Associate Professor Ulrich Dettweiler, Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Stavanger
Professor Frand Søndergaard Jensen (chair), IGN

Summary:
Currently, there is an increasingly interest for the concept education outside the classroom (EOtC) in Denmark as well as internationally. Case studies suggest positive effects of EOtC on physical activity, academic achievement, and mental health, but there is a lack of research in the area, especially concerning academic achievements. Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis was to gain knowledge on the association between EOtC and pupil´s motivation for school and learning operationalized as reading skills and skills in mathematics.
An explorative, quasi-experimental study involved school children (aged 9-13 years) from 18 Danish public schools who participated in EOtC through a school year, and included 911 pupils with 569 pupils participating in EOtC and 342 pupils as control (non-EOtC), not participating in EOtC. The number of participants varied between the studies. The pupils motivation to learn was measured through the questionnaire: Academic Self -Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A) and shopwed that pupils from the EOtC group had a significant higher score on intrinsic motivation compared to the control group. Reading skills were tested with a reading test from Hogrefe called the Text-Reading Test and showed that pupils from the EOtC group, who were exposed for around 5 hours a week of EOtC during the year, had a significantly better result in reading compared to the control group, who were exposed to only EOtC for around 1 hour a week during the school year. The results did not depend on gender or the amount of Danish lessons (mother tongue) in EOtC. The relationship between EOtC-Math and the pupils result in math was investigated with the math test from Hogrefe called the MG Test, but revealed no significant difference between the two groups. The results are discussed in relation to the Danish Public School and previous studies in this area.

The thesis is available for inspection at the PhD administration office, 04.1.413 at Øster Voldgade 10