User:Samgsmith/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Outdoor Education

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose to evaluate this article as outdoor education (OE) is a field I have personal experience with. OE has great potential for experiential learning and personal development, and is instrumental in the field of environmental sustainability. Further, there is great mental and physical health benefits through developing connections with nature.

Evaluate the article
Lead section

The lead section of the Outdoor Education Wikipedia article provides a clear and concise overview of the topic, outlining the fundamental characteristics of the field. It describes outdoor education's most popular activities, such as hiking, camping, climbing, paddling, and group games. The opening paragraph briefly mentions the key purpose in an understandable way, without providing an overwhelming amount of introductory information. One thing that could be added is a roadmap of what the article contains.

Content

The article covers a wide variety of key topics regarding outdoor education, including definitions, goals, history, philosophy, and international practices. It does not appear to have any unnecessary content, but there are a number of sections that could use additional detail. Namely, the 'Around the world' section could benefit from additional information on how outdoor education has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, although there are seven nations from around the globe represented in the article, there could be space for improvement in terms of addressing equity gaps or the underrepresentation of previously marginalized communities. This could take the form of adding additional information on outdoor education initiatives in non-Western nations, or in nations where resources could be more scarce and funding not as adequate.

Next, the article could expand its insight on the increasingly important topic of how technology has influenced outdoor education, and the relationships between modern technology and mental health, as well as the benefits of outdoor education to mitigate these harmful effects.

Continuing, an addition relating the stated Outward Bound programs to Canadian programs across the country could be beneficial. Similarly, other organization of similar nature could help guide readers towards resources where they can start their personal outdoor education journey.

Lastly, there is a missing citation in the Philosophy and theory section, where the last sentence describing the benefits and lessons that are able to be taught from outdoor education teamwork activities, specifically ropes courses. The following citation provides a background on ropes courses, and emphasizes the same points that are mentioned in the article.

Tone

The article appears to be written from an objective perspective, providing several different subtopics within the field of outdoor education, without being partial towards one topic over another. It effectively outlines outdoor education's history, philosophy, techniques, and global perspectives.

Sources

The article cites a variety of sources, including academic journals (Kudryavtsev et. al, 2012), government websites (House of Commons, 2005), books (Gill, 2007), and news outlets (Lee, 2022). Most of the links are do work and lead to sources, although some have access restrictions.