The Effects of Outdoor Education and Mindfulness Practices on Attention Issues of Third Graders

This action research project studied the effects of outdoor education and mindfulness practices on students with ADHD and generalized attention issues. The researcher conducted the study for six weeks from September to November 2021. There were thirty-eight students participating in the study from a private school in Minnesota. The intervention consisted of weekly outdoor lessons and mindfulness practices. Data sources included a pre-survey, behavioral data collection, field notes and observations, a final exam, and a post-survey. This study found that outdoor education and mindfulness practices greatly improved behavioral outcomes in students. There were no significant changes in the academic outcomes. In future studies, educators could create a school-wide mindfulness and outdoor learning intervention so students get more exposure. The academic outcomes could be researched further by using a pretest before the interventions are implemented to compare the data afterward