Search

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Children's interest in nature is crucial for their understanding and appreciation of the natural environment, as well as for their mental health and biodiversity conservation efforts. To foster this interest, it is important to establish a theoretical framework and explore practical applications. Given the current trend of children spending more time with screens and less time in nature, school gardens offer potential solutions. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a 4‐month teaching programme conducted in a school garden to promote children's individual interest in nature. 24 Grade‐4 students participated in weekly 40‐min activities, which were divided into three treatments: natural observation with assigned tasks, natural observation with open‐ended tasks and inquiry‐based activities. Participants maintained individual portfolios consisting of questionnaires, nature journals, observation descriptions and interviews. Qualitative and quantitative data were analysed to categorize children into three types: those with initiated interest, those with enhanced interest and those with no significant change. Thematic analysis was used to identify factors influencing children's interest in nature based on qualitative data. The results showed that 17 out of 24 children were classified as either ‘interest‐initiated’ or ‘interest‐enhanced’, indicating a generally positive outcome. The school garden provided a novel and safe environment that empowered children to learn and explore autonomously. Teacher scaffolding further supported their curiosity towards the garden's organisms, potentially leading to the development of their individual interests in nature. This study emphasizes the positive impact of involving children in garden‐based activities in primary schools. Implementing a diverse school garden with informative labels and explanation boards, along with teacher support, represents a promising approach to cultivating children's interest in nature. We recommend implementing mini botanical gardens and club activities in schools to bridge formal and informal education. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

As rates of metabolic syndrome rise, children consume too few vegetables and too much added sugar. Because children tend to eat what is available at home, the home environment plays a key role in shaping dietary habits. This secondary analysis evaluated the effects of a school-based gardening, cooking, and nutrition education intervention (TX Sprouts) compared to control on the availability of vegetables, fruit juice, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) at home. In the TX Sprouts cluster-randomized trial, 16 schools were randomized to TX Sprouts (n = 8 schools) or control (n = 8 schools) for one academic year. All schools served predominately Hispanic families with low incomes. TX Sprouts built school gardens and taught 18 lessons to all 3rd-5th grade students at intervention schools. TX Sprouts also offered monthly caregiver lessons before and/or after school. Caregivers completed questionnaires pre and post, providing demographics and information about home availability of vegetables, fruit juice, and SSBs. Summary statistics were used to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of participants. Linear regression assessed the change in scores (pre to post) for the food/ beverage availability question. The model was adjusted for the caregivers education, employment status, childs grade, and free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. The analytic sample included 895 participants. Compared to control, the intervention positively changed the home availability of targeted foods and beverages, largely by improving the availability of vegetables and vegetable juice. This study showed that a school gardening, nutrition, and cooking program delivered to elementary children may positively influence the home food environment.

Children's interest in nature is crucial for their understanding and appreciation of the natural environment, as well as for their mental health and biodiversity conservation efforts. To foster this interest, it is important to establish a theoretical framework and explore practical applications. Given the current trend of children spending more time with screens and less time in nature, school gardens offer potential solutions.This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a 4‐month teaching programme conducted in a school garden to promote children's individual interest in nature. 24 Grade‐4 students participated in weekly 40‐min activities, which were divided into three treatments: natural observation with assigned tasks, natural observation with open‐ended tasks and inquiry‐based activities. Participants maintained individual portfolios consisting of questionnaires, nature journals, observation descriptions and interviews. Qualitative and quantitative data were analysed to categorize children into three types: those with initiated interest, those with enhanced interest and those with no significant change. Thematic analysis was used to identify factors influencing children's interest in nature based on qualitative data.The results showed that 17 out of 24 children were classified as either 'interest‐initiated' or 'interest‐enhanced', indicating a generally positive outcome. The school garden provided a novel and safe environment that empowered children to learn and explore autonomously. Teacher scaffolding further supported their curiosity towards the garden's organisms, potentially leading to the development of their individual interests in nature.This study emphasizes the positive impact of involving children in garden‐based activities in primary schools. Implementing a diverse school garden with informative labels and explanation boards, along with teacher support, represents a promising approach to cultivating children's interest in nature. We recommend implementing mini botanical gardens and club activities in schools to bridge formal and informal education. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor classrooms, one of the oldest educational approaches that have existed, bringing learning through the common denominator with nature to the agenda, first emerged in England as a reform movement in education at the end of the 1950s. Outdoor classrooms are a rare educational structure that allows students to interact with nature and experience the opportunities of this interaction with their fully digitalised interaction potentials. In the study, examples of open-air classrooms, which are almost non-existent in Türkiye, have been analysed with inductive content analysis by understanding them with the semi-structured interview technique conducted with architects and landscape architects who are teachers and practitioners. In the end, considering all the evaluations, it was determined that the effects of outdoor classes on students were grouped into four categories: effects on cognitive, psychomotor, development, affective, and social development. Beyond only using a theoretical approach, exemplary outdoor classroom models were developed and interpreted.

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As rates of metabolic syndrome rise, children consume too few vegetables and too much added sugar. Because children tend to eat what is available at home, the home environment plays a key role in shaping dietary habits. This secondary analysis evaluated the effects of a school-based gardening, cooking, and nutrition education intervention (TX Sprouts) compared to control on the availability of vegetables, fruit juice, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) at home. In the TX Sprouts cluster-randomized trial, 16 schools were randomized to TX Sprouts (n = 8 schools) or control (n = 8 schools) for one academic year. All schools served predominately Hispanic families with low incomes. TX Sprouts built school gardens and taught 18 lessons to all 3rd-5th grade students at intervention schools. TX Sprouts also offered monthly caregiver lessons before and/or after school. Caregivers completed questionnaires pre and post, providing demographics and information about home availability of vegetables, fruit juice, and SSBs. Summary statistics were used to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of participants. Linear regression assessed the change in scores (pre to post) for the food/ beverage availability question. The model was adjusted for the caregiver’s education, employment status, child’s grade, and free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. The analytic sample included 895 participants. Compared to control, the intervention positively changed the home availability of targeted foods and beverages, largely by improving the availability of vegetables and vegetable juice. This study showed that a school gardening, nutrition, and cooking program delivered to elementary children may positively influence the home food environment.

When students feel connected to their school, they experience positive health and academic outcomes. In contrast, school disengagement is a predictor of dropout, delinquency, and substance use. School garden programming has the potential to help children achieve academic outcomes and feel connected to their school. Unfortunately, most school garden research has been conducted with white, affluent study participants. We describe the results of a secondary analysis utilizing data from an evaluation of a university-supported community school garden program (CSGP). Using a cross-sectional survey study design, we examined the impact of school garden programming in Title I schools on primarily Latino/a (Hispanic) elementary student self-reported learning and feelings of school connectedness by comparing students with ≤1 year exposure to those with >1 year. Social cognitive theory formed the conceptual basis for the analysis. Duration of school garden exposure did not have a significant association with self-reported learning or feelings of school connectedness. Regardless of past exposure, fifth-grade students, females, and those who identify as Latino/a (Hispanic) felt that school garden programming improved their learning. Latino/a (Hispanic) students who participate in school garden programming may also feel a greater sense of connection to their teachers and peers at school. Qualitative results demonstrated that most students enjoyed spending time in the garden and indicated that participating in the program helped them learn new things and feel connected to their school. If individuals who may be disadvantaged because of systemic racism, such as Latino/a (Hispanic) students, can benefit from school garden programming, such interventions should be further investigated and prioritized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School gardens have been present in the educational space of the Polish school for many years. In recent decades, however, they have ceased to be appreciated. Efforts have been made to modernize laboratories, they have been equipped with measuring instruments, digital devices and multimedia equipment. A natural laboratory, which a garden in fact is, has become a symbol of the past. It remained only in few schools, performing rather an aesthetic function, less often didactic or educational one. The present article depicts a historical outline, shows earlier and currently noticed possibilities of using school gardens in Poland. An analysis of previous studies on gardens is presented as well. A contemporary design of a school garden was proposed to prepare students of pedagogical faculties for activities in the garden with children. School gardens may contribute to the prevention of “nature deficit” (Louv 2014, 54), they may give a sense of closeness to nature also in urban realities[1]. M. Vogt-Kostecka notes that the fear of dirt, wind and ticks limits children's free play in a meadow and in a forest. Limited access to nature is particularly visible among urban children (Vogt-Kostecka 2017, 11). Gradually, the view of school gardens has been changing and their therapeutic potential (hortitherapy) is noticed. [1] According to R. Louv, the nature deficit is manifested in problems with concentration of attention, hyperactivity, and reduced psychophysical fitness.

Copyright of Journal of Architectural Sciences & Applications (JASA) is the property of Journal of Architectural Sciences & Applications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae is the property of Uniwerystet Kardynala Stefana Wyznskiege w Warzawie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Entrepreneurship skills are isolated from school science curricula in the context of Nepal. The study explores the students' engagement in the school garden for entrepreneurship resulting in sustainable education. It explicitly reconnoiters the interconnection between entrepreneurship skills through mushroom farming and the curricula of basic-level public schools. Also, the study explores the pedagogical approaches to contextualized teaching and learning for sustainable education for a new good life. A qualitative research design under the interpretivism paradigm with a purposive sampling technique was employed to select the schools and the research participants. Qualitative data were collected through eighteen in-depth interviews and nine focus group discussions and were analyzed using the Atlas-ti software. The study found that students, parents, and teachers actively engaged in mushroom farming in the school connected activities with curricula and enjoyed learning by earning. The contribution of this study chiefly lies in making a new good life through mushroom farming for economically backward parents. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education of Nepal's government needs to formulate policies regarding entrepreneurship-based sustainable education in the context of school education in Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Düzce University Journal of Forestry / Düzce Üniversitesi Orman Fakültesi Ormancılık Dergisi is the property of Duzce University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Children spend most of their time at school; thus, agricultural experiences (AEs) in school gardens through school organizations are important for children to remain connected to agriculture and nature. Although various studies confirm the tremendous benefits of school gardens, the lack of studies on the characteristics of school gardens and the factors that influence the effectiveness of their AEs is telling. In this study, a questionnaire was developed and sent to the school garden managers of the public elementary schools in an urban area in Japan to analyze the characteristics of school garden and their influencing factors through descriptive analysis and inferential statistics. The results identified the location effects on the type of school gardens: school gardens inside the school are better able to ensure the safety of children but have less connection with the community; school farms outside the school are better able to ensure a place for children to have AEs; schools with both a school garden and farm have a stronger connection to the community than those with only school gardens, however, safety is decreased. In addition, the lack of budget, teachers, supportive policies, and motivation among school garden managers in operating school gardens was noted. Therefore, ensuring government support, coordinating the time of school garden managers, and strengthening the connection and cooperation between elementary schools and local communities are primary issues for consideration in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Noria Investigación Educativa is the property of NORIA, Investigacion educativa de la Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Pesquisa em Educação Ambiental is the property of Pesquisa em Educacao Ambiental and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Istraživanja: Journal of Historical Researches is the property of Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Open spaces constitute one of the important parts of the urban fabric. These areas, which are outside the urban structure, are defined at different scales. Health and education campuses, outdoor spaces belonging to public institutions and organizations, cemeteries, urban or rural recreation shores with direct contact with the sea and urban squares can be given as examples of these areas. The open area considered within the scope of the study is the preschool garden, which is one of the educational spaces. Preschool; it should be evaluated as a whole with the teacher, student, school building and, garden. Appropriate spatial solutions are needed for the activities carried out at this educational level, where children are prepared for life. It is possible to evaluate the school gardens, which are the extensions of the classrooms, as an essential tool for all the gains that children should reach within the scope of education. From this point of view, a landscape design project proposal was developed for the improvement of the garden of Ulubey Preschool in the Ulubey district of Ordu province. In the design process, the steps followed in the landscape project preparation formed the study's method. The basic requirements that should be in the area were determined within the scope of the literature review, and a list of needs was prepared, and accordingly, the Ulubey Preschool landscape design project was reached by creating the zoning layer, spatial focus layer, and survey analysis layers on the site plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The Healthy Hunger‐Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 supported implementation of school gardens for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption. We examined school garden prevalence over time by school‐level factors during the period before and after the implementation of HHFKA. METHODS: Using data from the New Jersey Child Health Study, conducted in 4 low‐income New Jersey cities, prevalence of school gardens among K‐12 schools (n = 148) was assessed between school year 2010‐2011 and 2017‐2018. Multivariable analysis estimated changes in garden prevalence over time adjusting for school‐level factors. RESULTS: Overall, the sample included 97 elementary and 51 middle/high schools. Multivariable logistic regression showed that compared to 2010‐2011 (19%) a higher proportion of schools reported having a garden in 2013‐2014 (32%, p = 0.025). Over the entire study period, schools with majority Hispanic student enrollment had approximately half the odds of having a garden compared to schools with majority Black students (p = 0.036). CONCLUSION: School garden prevalence increased in the year immediately following the implementation of the HHFKA but this increase was not sustained over time. Future research should investigate the reasons for this decline and potential disparities by race/ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School-based learning has a long tradition in Slovenia and is now a globally recognized movement. We present the operation of school gardens in the most agricultural region of Slovenia, the Pomurje region, and their inclusion in the pedagogical process of science subjects. Half (19 out of 38) of the primary schools in Pomurje have school gardens. The decision to establish a school garden depends on the good will of the school management and the voluntary interest of the teachers. It would be necessary to include school gardening in science curricula. Garden-related activities contribute to the development of Pomurje as an important agricultural region.

Other transgressive learning about sustainability needs to be part of the lives of students in the early years of elementary school, as they are responsible for seeking and achieving a sustainable future. However, the focus on socio-ecological sustainability does not seem to be present at this level of education as the literature has addressed. Therefore, the objective is to review articles from journals that address the relationships on socio-ecological sustainability and school garden in the early years of elementary school, published from 2016 to 2021. Based on the ideas of Okoli and Schabram (2010), they used if, in the research, the SciELO and Google Scholar databases and 10 papers were chosen, which were read in full for analysis and discussion. The results show a limited focus on how the teaching of socio-ecological sustainability and school garden has been carried out in elementary school, that is, interdisciplinarity is not widespread and the approach to this sustainability, through the use of the school garden, is non-existent in classroom. It was noticed in the articles that the school garden is insufficiently used in teaching, despite its relevance in teaching-learning, as well as the sustainability addressed in schools involves only the economic dimension when it is essential to connect the social and ecological approach.

What opportunities the school garden as a special learning environment could offer for achieving main goals of a vocational education for sustainable development is still an urgent question. With the help of a qualitative survey, it was possible to determine that many aspect relevant in this context can be conveyed via the school garden as a place of learning. Nevertheless, the data collected only allow context-related and local statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bio-grafía. Escritos Sobre la Biología y su Enseñanza is the property of Universidad Pedaggica Nacional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Bio-grafía. Escritos Sobre la Biología y su Enseñanza is the property of Universidad Pedaggica Nacional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Nepal's NORHED/Rupantaran project designed and developed participatory action research through school gardening. This study explored the ways for the community schools, science teachers and basic level (grade five to eight) students to foster a sense of agency in the school science curriculum through life-based experiential learning. Qualitative research design on thematic and verbatim methods are used to collect and analyze the data in this study. The findings show that school gardening activities are helpful and productive for science teaching and learning. The evidence from participatory action research experiences in actual school settings would provide new insights for policymakers to transform the school science curriculum. Further, the study findings show collaborative knowledge production through school gardening in a contextual environment, often neglected in community school science teaching and learning. The implications of the research findings could contribute to policy-level discussions about science teachers' professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research was to assess the effectiveness of garden-based pedagogy as a strategy for increasing student environmental literacy, a desired outcome of environmental education programs. Using a nonequivalent group design, this study employed pre- and post-intervention surveys, participant journaling, and researcher observation to assess changes in two treatment and two control elementary school classes in a low-income, Latinx population. The environmental literacy of participating students increased significantly over the control group, especially in categories of pro-environmental awareness, attitude, and behavior. In addition, the varied outcomes from the mixed-methods assessments used in this study illustrates that surveys alone are not sufficient for tracking meaningful changes in elementary school-aged students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a training proposal for future teachers in the design, management, and use of school gardens as an educational resource. During the 2020/2021 academic year, future teachers in the 4th grade of Primary Education (last year of the University Degree) received theoretical-practical classes to develop teaching-learning activities in the area of Sciences that they implemented in a Primary school. This training proposal and the research activities designed and implemented in the school garden by future teachers were analysed using three criteria: curricular contents covered, competency richness and structure and content. From the training programme implemented, we highlight an increase in the motivation of students towards learning to use this resource; because it is learned "in situ" in the school garden, it is possible to carry out outdoor work, sharing natural resources through cooperative work and improving relationships. Regarding the design of activities proposed by the future teachers, there is a predominance of the use of observation and classification processes and a deficit of other scientific competences, which implies the need for greater specific initial training on school gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For children experiencing chronic stress, succeeding academically in the face of other obstacles can be daunting. Many efforts focused on supporting students fail to address nonacademic aspects of well-being that can impact their ability to succeed. Working to bridge the gap between research and practice, here we describe the results of an Extension-Community partnership that sought to design learning environments to support elementary students’ healthy bodies and minds. Project leaders took an ecological systems approach, intervening with students at a local elementary school across multiple contexts. This entailed creating a calming room in the school, building a community garden on the school grounds, and providing wrap-around educational programming for teachers, staff, and families. Interviews were conducted with teachers and school staff (N = 20) to measure their perceptions of the impact of this intervention. Results are presented within the framework of the socio-ecological model, accounting for the multilevel nature of the project impacts. Interview themes revealed the program’s success in supporting positive outcomes for students, staff, the school, and the surrounding community. Discussions center around the program’s impact on students and on lessons learned that could inform future efforts.

Children spend most of their time at school; thus, agricultural experiences (AEs) in school gardens through school organizations are important for children to remain connected to agriculture and nature. Although various studies confirm the tremendous benefits of school gardens, the lack of studies on the characteristics of school gardens and the factors that influence the effectiveness of their AEs is telling. In this study, a questionnaire was developed and sent to the school garden managers of the public elementary schools in an urban area in Japan to analyze the characteristics of school garden and their influencing factors through descriptive analysis and inferential statistics. The results identified the location effects on the type of school gardens: school gardens inside the school are better able to ensure the safety of children but have less connection with the community; school farms outside the school are better able to ensure a place for children to have AEs; schools with both a school garden and farm have a stronger connection to the community than those with only school gardens, however, safety is decreased. In addition, the lack of budget, teachers, supportive policies, and motivation among school garden managers in operating school gardens was noted. Therefore, ensuring government support, coordinating the time of school garden managers, and strengthening the connection and cooperation between elementary schools and local communities are primary issues for consideration in the future.

Educational gardens are powerful outdoor learning environments to address the subject of climate change and foster climate action. Using an online questionnaire, this study examines the influence of the main sociodemographic and academic factors, and the role of connectedness to nature, on the perception of educational gardens as contexts of climate change education (CCE) among Spanish preservice teachers (PSTs). The sample consisted of 889 PSTs enrolled in 9 university campuses of Spain. The statistical analyses performed evidenced that women are more likely to use educational gardens than men and that there is a progressive decrease in the positive perception of PSTs about the usefulness of gardens for CCE as the educational level at which they are being trained increases. Statistics also revealed that the variable connectedness to nature and the rating of the importance of educational gardens in CCE are not significantly related. Nevertheless, the Mann–Whitney U test indicated that PSTs who scored higher on connection to nature wished to broaden their knowledge of sustainable agriculture and, thus, connectedness to nature could be considered a predictor of environmental attitudes, each influencing the other. Based on these findings, recommendations for PSTs' training in the CCE context are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garden-based learning promotes environmental awareness, health, and wellness across the school community and beyond. In this article, we review the literature on the benefits of school gardening and describe firsthand experiences for garden success. By sharing lessons learned, our aim is to inspire school nurses to join forces with like-minded teachers and staff or take the lead to build capacity in their school for gardening and a green culture dedicated to the conservation of natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Tellus is the property of Revista Tellus and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Düzce University Journal of Forestry / Düzce Üniversitesi Orman Fakültesi Ormancılık Dergisi is the property of Duzce University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Current research on school gardens is primarily focused on improving student nutrition. Less examined is their potential to be agents of knowledge transfer to the wider community. This paper seeks to determine the potential of school gardens as a pathway to scaling agricultural innovations. Literature is reviewed for best practices and recommendations conducive to scaling up agricultural technologies using school gardens. Findings indicated that school gardens have the potential to play a key role in scaling sustainable intensification (SI) technologies. They provide opportunities for knowledge transfer through teacher-student-parent communication. Best practices for scaling through school gardens comprised: including parents in the learning process and upkeep of school gardens; collaboration and commitment among all stakeholders; establishment of hands-on, research-based agricultural curriculum in schools; financial assistance from government or outside organization for startup and upkeep; and establishment of home gardens alongside school gardens. Primary barriers to scaling included: focusing on the 'what' and not the 'how'; social mores and the relationship between parent/child; capacity building for and involvement of school heads, teachers, and parents; lack of social, human, and/or economic capital; and unintegrated commitment and partnership among stakeholders. Identified best practices and barriers are then applied to a case study analysis of a USAID-funded project in Cambodia: Scaling Suitable Sustainable Technologies (S3-Cambodia) project. S3-Cambodia targets youth as an entry point to extend target SI technologies to farm families. The project engages students in experiential learning opportunities by establishing "green labs" at secondary schools. S3-Cambodia is found to already be implementing many of the best practices listed above. Suggestions are made to increase parent involvement in the project and to increase awareness of the challenges that come with a transnational project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background It has been suggested that specific interventions delivered through the education sector in low- and middle-income countries might improve children’s health and wellbeing. This cluster-randomised controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effects of a school garden programme and complementary nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions on children’s health and nutritional status in two districts of Nepal. Methods The trial included 682 children aged 8–17 years from 12 schools. The schools were randomly allocated to one of three interventions: (a) school garden programme (SG; 4 schools, n = 172 children); (b) school garden programme with complementary WASH, health and nutrition interventions (SG+; 4 schools, n = 197 children); and (c) no specific intervention (control; 4 schools, n = 313 children). The same field and laboratory procedures were employed at the baseline (March 2015) and end-line (June 2016) surveys. Questionnaires were administered to evaluate WASH conditions at schools and households. Water quality was assessed using a Delagua kit. Dietary intake was determined using food frequency and 24-h recall questionnaire. Haemoglobin levels were measured using HemoCue digital device and used as a proxy for anaemia. Stool samples were subjected to a suite of copro-microscopic diagnostic methods for detection of intestinal protozoa and helminths. The changes in key indicators between the baseline and end-line surveys were analysed by mixed logistic and linear regression models. Results Stunting was slightly lowered in SG+ (19.9 to 18.3%; p = 0.92) and in the control (19.7 to 18.9%). Anaemia slightly decreased in SG+ (33.0 to 32.0%; p

Copyright of Journal of Elementary Education / Revija za Elementarno Izobraževanje is the property of University of Maribor, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: School gardens are exemplary learning environments for providing hands-on nutrition and health education, promoting time outdoors, and developing collaborative skills. However, randomized controlled trials of school gardening programming to provide evidence of the robust benefits to child health can be time consuming and costly. We therefore sought to develop an inter-professional framework for continuous quality improvement (QI) of school gardening programming to improve health outcomes while limiting program implementation and evaluation costs. Methods: This QI cohort study took place in two elementary schools and served 75 students in Palm Beach County, Florida during the 2019-2020 academic year. Students participating in a non-profit sponsored after-school gardening club completed investigator-designed pre- and post-assessments from which unique lessons pertaining to health and food literacy were developed to target knowledge deficits. We present a lesson pertaining to harvesting, preparing, and sampling foods as an exemplar for this framework. Paired and independent samples t-tests and chi-squared tests were used to compare student learning outcomes. Results: Twenty-seven students (36%) participated in the harvest lesson, which led to marginal improvement in overall food literacy compared to non-participants (X2=3.6, P=0.057).Considering cumulative garden club activities, club participation improved students’ likelihood to individually prepare fresh fruits and vegetables (P=0.002). Conclusion: This project provides an important framework for inter-professional collaboration to engage in QI of small-scale school gardening programs. Future work should focus on the creation and implementation of further lessons to develop a full, individualized, health-oriented curriculum that optimizes learning outcomes, and thereby health, for elementary-aged children.

School gardens for children to become physically and mentally healthy people in the future; they are the most suitable and effective places where they participate in education, games, sports, social and cultural activities and various celebrations. In this study, Bartin Mustafa Aydede Pre School Garden was chosen as the study area. The school garden has been reorganized by preserving its current uses. In the study, a landscape design project including structural and vegetative elements was created. Computer-aided programs such as Auto Cad 2021, SketchUp 2020, Pro 2020 and Lumion 8.5 software were used in the visualization and presentation of the project. In the study, usages have been suggested that children can actively participate in activities and can meet nature. The proposed project was shared with the school officials and their opinions about the project were received. Project is approved that children can develop their social, physical, emotional and psychological skills. It is foreseen that the project will set an example for other school gardens and will encourage the arrangement of school gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research is based on solving mathematical problems from the School Garden and the use of ICT with students from third, fourth and fifth grades of the Clavellinas Educational Institution. The qualitative methodology of participatory action research type applied in this study favors an active interaction of the participating agents and subjects. The sample was selected intentionally or by convenience and the data collection instruments used were interviews, surveys, participant observations, and didactic sequence. The applied research demonstrates that the articulation of the school garden as a pedagogical strategy allows significant advances in the development of problem solving in the five areas of thinking: numerical, spatial, metric, random and variational, and also recognizes the importance of acquiring good eating habits with the consumption of vegetables in the diet. The research validates the pedagogical strategy of articulating the school garden to the area of mathematics, since students acquire skills and abilities to formulate and solve mathematical problems in a creative and competent manner in context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Campo Abierto REvista de Educacion is the property of Universidad de Extremadura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to describe the use of the environment as a medium that can improve teacher competence in teaching and develop creativity and independence of teachers in managing learning. This study uses qualitative descriptive method. Data collection is done through interviews, observation, and documentation studies. The object of this research is the teacher and student partner school consisting of four MIS at the foot of Mount Salak, Taman Sari District, Bogor. The results of the study show the role of universities in pedagogical improvement and teacher learning planning, school communication media as learning media can increase positive values, naturalistic intelligence, and student entrepreneurial skills by further improving the environment. Keywords: higher education, pedagogical competence, school garden Abstrak: Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mendeskripsikan pemanfaatan lingkungan alam sebagai media yang dapat meningkatkan kompetensi guru dalam mengajar serta mengembangkan kreativitas dan kemandirian guru dalam mengelola pembelajaran. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode deskriptif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui wawancara, observasi, dan studi dokumentasi. Objek penelitian ini adalah guru dan siswa sekolah mitra yang terdiri dari empat MIS di kaki Gunung Salak Kecamatan Taman Sari Kabupaten Bogor. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya peran perguruan tinggi dalam peningkatan pedagogik dan perencanaan pembelajaran guru, pemanfaatan kebun sekolah sebagai media pembelajaran dapat meningkatkan nilai positif, kecerdasan naturalistik, dan keterampilan entrepreneur siswa dengan lebih menghargai lingkungan. Kata kunci: perguruan tinggi, komptensi pedagogik, kebun sekolah

School gardens are part of many schools. Especially in primary schools, but also in secondary schools, they are used as a learning space and experience space for the pupils. Their importance for the development of cognitive and emotional-affective abilities of pupils is empirically well proven. It is also empirically well proven that exposure to nature has an influence on the prosocial behavior of children and adults. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the effect of the stay in the school garden on the social behavior of pupils in secondary class. To investigate whether a school garden is a good environment for social learning, a self-report study and standardized observations with sixth-grade pupils were carried out. Thus, the socially competent behavior of the pupils (communication and cooperation) and their emotions could be analyzed. In order to provide emotional access to the scientific content of biology lessons and to strengthen social learning, each pupil was responsible for their own plant and the group bed over a period of 10 weeks. The design of the lessons followed the principles of basic needs—competence, autonomy, and relatedness—of the Self Determination Theory. The observations were made during a 90-min class, in the school garden as well in the classroom. The 31 girls and 22 boys, aged 11–12 years, changed weekly between the garden and the classroom. Over 150 observations were made in the school garden (82) and in the classroom (68). In summary, pupils showed more socially competent behavior in school garden lessons than in classroom lessons. The school garden lessons, designed according to the basic needs, seem to create favorable incentives for social learning. Due to frequent social interactions, it can be assumed that learning activities in school gardens can promote emotional and social competence.