Spatial skills development in outdoor education: a comparison between graduate students at the universities of Málaga (Spain) and Linköping (Sweden)

Abstract

The learning of geospatial skills is essential as a transversal matter in many disciplines and as a fundamental skill in lifelong learning. Outdoor Learning offers a perfect scenario to teach such skills in a more active and efficient way. This paper presents the development ofthese issues with a group of postgraduatestudentsfrom the University of Málaga (Spain) and Linköping (Sweden) by a set of activities specially created for such a goal. After some introductory classroom and field-trip sessions, practical activities were carried out in order to encourage the use of new technologies in geolocation in connection with historical heritage awareness. At the end of the experience it was conducted an analysis of results from questionnaires with the participant groups. The content ofthese questionnaires deals with important educational issues such as the opinion of students or the skills acquisition after the experience.