A Bibliometric Examination of Studies in the Field of Outdoor Education from the Perspective of Educational and Sports Sciences

Abstract

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of academic publications on outdoor education. Outdoor education is defined as an interdisciplinary method that occurs in out-of-classroom environments, is based on experiential learning, and engages all the senses. The research scanned studies conducted using the keyword 'outdoor education' in the Web of Science Core Collection database up to December 14, 2025, and identified 1,232 documents. 701 studies in the fields of education and sports sciences were analyzed; it was found that the majority of them were published as articles and in English. The analyses conducted with the VOSviewer program revealed that Beames S. is the most prolific author, the University of Edinburgh is the institution with the highest number of publications, and the United States is the country with the most publications. In recent years, Finland, Norway, Spain, and Croatia have been observed to play an active role in studies on the subject. Keyword analysis has shown that research in recent years has shifted towards the fields of 'primary education', 'early childhood', 'children', 'teachers', and 'technology'. The Journal of Adventure Education was the journal with the most publications, while Morris's (2020) study on the experiential learning model received 539 citations, making it the most cited publication. This bibliometric analysis indicates that there has been increasing academic interest in the field of outdoor education in recent years and that research has particularly focused on early childhood, primary education, and technology integration. The increase in international collaborations and interdisciplinary studies demonstrates that outdoor education is gaining an increasingly important place on the global education agenda.

Keywords

• Outdoor education
• Bibliometrics
• Sport
• Education

Ethical Statement

This study used existing data. Therefore, ethical committee approval is not applicable.

Açık Alan Eğitimleri Alanında Yapılan Çalışmaların Eğitim ve Spor Bilimleri Açısından Bibliometrik İncelenmesi

Abstract

Bu çalışma, açık alan eğitimi konusundaki akademik yayınların bibliyometrik analizini sunmaktadır. Açık alan eğitimi, sınıf dışı ortamlarda gerçekleşen, deneyimsel öğrenmeye dayalı, tüm duyuları kapsayan disiplinler arası bir yöntem olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Araştırmada Web of Science Core Collection veri tabanı kullanılarak "outdoor education" anahtar kelimesiyle 14 Aralık 2025 tarihine kadar yapılan çalışmalar taranmış ve 1,232 dokümana ulaşılmıştır. Eğitim ve spor bilimleri alanlarında 701 çalışma analiz edilmiş; bunların çoğunluğunun makale türünde ve İngilizce dilinde yayınlandığı tespit edilmiştir. VOSviewer programıyla gerçekleştirilen analizler sonucunda Beames S. en üretken yazar, University of Edinburgh en fazla yayın yapan kurum, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri ise en çok yayın yapan ülke olarak öne çıkmıştır. Son yıllarda Finlandiya, Norveç, İspanya ve Hırvatistan'ın konuyla ilgili çalışmalarda aktif rol aldığı görülmüştür. Anahtar kelime analizi, araştırmaların son yıllarda "primary education", "early childhood", "children", "teachers" ve "technology" alanlarına yöneldiğini göstermiştir. Journal of Adventure Education en fazla yayın yapan dergi olurken, Morris'in (2020) deneyimsel öğrenme modeline ilişkin çalışması 539 atıfla en çok atıf alan yayın olmuştur. Bu bibliyometrik analiz, açık alan eğitimi alanında son yıllarda artan bir akademik ilgi olduğunu ve araştırmaların özellikle erken çocukluk, ilköğretim ve teknoloji entegrasyonu konularına yöneldiğini göstermektedir. Uluslararası işbirlikleri ve disiplinler arası çalışmaların artması, açık alan eğitiminin küresel eğitim gündeminde giderek daha önemli bir yer kazandığını ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

• Açık alan eğitimi
• Bibliyometri
• Spor
• Eğitim

Supporting Institution

Bu araştırma için herhangi bir dış finansman alınmamıştır.

Ethical Statement

Bu çalışma insan veya hayvan katılımcıları içermemektedir. Tüm prosedürler bilimsel ve etik ilkelere uygun olarak gerçekleştirilmiş olup, atıfta bulunulan tüm çalışmalar uygun şekilde kaynak gösterilmiştir.

Thanks

Yazar herhangi bir kişi veya kuruma teşekkür etmek istememektedir.

References

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