Effects of a school garden on children's science knowledge in a primary school of Dhaka

Abstract

The design and use of classrooms at schools have received considerable attention, while the design and use of the school's immediate outdoors have received much less. Nevertheless, worldwide studies found that school children between 7 and 11 learn best when their lessons are integrated with the outdoors. Researchers in industrialised civilisations have become interested in the outdoors since it contributes to better cognitive ability. However, more research needs to be done in the setting of developing nations. In Bangladesh, urban primary schools with inadequate facilities—poorly lit and ventilated classrooms—can potentially use this outdoor area as a learning environment for children. This idea is examined in this thesis. This research investigates the impact of a school garden intervention on primary school students' science knowledge. A garden, set up on the school ground, and science lessons from the textbook imparted in the garden made up the garden intervention. Students (N=55) in the fifth grade (aged 8 to 10) participated in the study, divided into treatment (n=24) and control (n=31) groups. The study adopts a mixed methods research strategy and incorporates a 7-item achievement test emphasising natural and plant science to measure differences in students' science learning as the quantitative part of the study. A questionnaire survey to investigate affective and physical factors influencing children's science knowledge and systematic observation, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with teachers and students were part of the qualitative aspects of the study. The achievement test indicates that science knowledge increased among children in the garden intervention, while the t-test confirms that the school garden (t = 3.378 > p at 0.002) significantly affects children's science knowledge. The knowledge, analysis, and evaluation levels within the cognitive domain of learning are where the difference is most noticeable. Also, the children demonstrated higher involvement, motivation, and passion for learning in the garden.

Keywords Children, Science learning, Schools, School gardens, Bangladesh