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Topic · Social Psychology

Outdoor and Experiential Education

Outdoor and Experiential Education is a research topic within Social Psychology. Science Explorer counts 5.1k research works in it since 1950. 10.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the field of experiential education, adventure therapy, and outdoor learning, focusing on topics such as experiential learning, adventure education programs, wilderness therapy, reflective thought, youth development, and resilience enhancement. It delves into the impact of outdoor experiences on personal growth, social justice in outdoor education, and the role of nature in promoting well-being and learning. The papers also discuss the challenges and ethical considerations in adventure therapy and highlight the potential for interdisciplinary learning outdoors.

  • Experiential Learning
  • Adventure Education
  • Outdoor Therapy
  • Reflective Thought
  • Youth Development
  • Resilience Enhancement
  • Wilderness Programs
  • Student-Centered Learning
  • Outdoor Leadership
  • Social Justice
Research works
5.1k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
522
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+29%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
39% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Outdoor and Experiential Education

Which countries lead Outdoor and Experiential Education research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (389 and 150 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 389 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 150 works
  3. 3 Australia 109 works
  4. 4 Canada 97 works
  5. 5 Türkiye 56 works
  6. 6 China 55 works
  7. 7 Indonesia 50 works
  8. 8 Norway 33 works
  9. 9 India 30 works
  10. 10 Germany 29 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 38.9%United Kingdom: 15.0%Australia: 10.9%Canada: 9.7%6 others listed: 25.4%39%largest
United States389 · 38.9%United Kingdom150 · 15.0%Australia109 · 10.9%Canada97 · 9.7%6 others listed254 · 25.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Outdoor and Experiential Education research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of Edinburgh publishes the most Outdoor and Experiential Education research, followed by University of British Columbia and University of Exeter.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 9 works
  2. 2 University of British ColumbiaCanada 8 works
  3. 3 University of ExeterUnited Kingdom 7 works
  4. 4 University of the Sunshine CoastAustralia 7 works
  5. 5 University of UtahUnited States 7 works
  6. 6 Western Sydney UniversityAustralia 7 works
  7. 7 Deakin UniversityAustralia 7 works
  8. 8 Clemson UniversityUnited States 7 works
  9. 9 Simon Fraser UniversityCanada 7 works
  10. 10 The University of MelbourneAustralia 6 works

Who are the leading researchers in Outdoor and Experiential Education?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Outdoor and Experiential Education include Diego Augusto Santos Silva, Adrian Ernest Bauman and Herbert W. Marsh.

  1. 1 Diego Augusto Santos Silva Brazil 152k citations
  2. 2 Adrian Ernest Bauman Australia 129k citations
  3. 3 Herbert W. Marsh Australia 128k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Outdoor and Experiential Education?

The most cited paper in Outdoor and Experiential Education is "Experiential Learning" (Helen LaVan, Cameron Carley, 1984), with 3,167 citations. Next come "The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place" (2,166) and "Toward a psychology of positive youth development." (1,702).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Experiential Learning Helen LaVan, Cameron Carley · Simulation & Games Jun 1984 3,167
2 The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place David A. Gruenewald · Educational Researcher May 2003 2,166
3 Toward a psychology of positive youth development. Reed W. Larson · American Psychologist 2000 1,702
4 Reliability and validity of a brief measure of sensation seeking Rick H. Hoyle, Michael T. Stephenson, Philip Palmgreen et al. · Personality and Individual Differences Feb 2002 1,275
5 Foundations of Place: A Multidisciplinary Framework for Place-Conscious Education David A. Gruenewald · American Educational Research Journal 2003 1,197
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Outdoor and Experiential Education research done?

The largest centres of Outdoor and Experiential Education research in 2022-now are Melbourne (Australia), London (United Kingdom), Brisbane (Australia) and Edinburgh (United Kingdom).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MelbourneAustralia 18 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 17 works
  3. 3 BrisbaneAustralia 10 works
  4. 4 EdinburghUnited Kingdom 10 works
  5. 5 AnkaraTürkiye 9 works
  6. 6 SydneyAustralia 9 works
  7. 7 BeijingChina 9 works
  8. 8 Salt Lake CityUnited States 8 works
  9. 9 New YorkUnited States 8 works
  10. 10 OsloNorway 8 works
See Outdoor and Experiential Education on the map

Where is the best place to study Outdoor and Experiential Education?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Edinburgh score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 0.08.9%7.9×9 -21.3%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Outdoor and Experiential Education, country by country

Is Outdoor and Experiential Education research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 29% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Outdoor and Experiential Education.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Outdoor and Experiential Education as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0058% in 2024.

still counting0.0025%0.0050%0.0075%Outdoor and Experiential Education0.0072% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Outdoor and Experiential Education over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting10%20%Outdoor and Experiential Education10.2% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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