Nature-based and place-conscious practices

On this page

This guide provides suggested resources on nature-based, place-conscious, outdoor learning, ecological, and environmental education as well as relevant research methods.

 Getting help

If you need help, please contact Adena Brons, Education Librarian at 778 782 7419 or abrons@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.

Writing help. A Writing Services Coordinator and a team of Graduate Writing Facilitators are available to work with graduate students at any stage of the writing process. Learn more about their services.

Doing research off campus? Use the browser extension Libkey Nomad to get instant links to the SFU Library's full-text content for articles and e-books as you do research on the web.

Background Sources

Generally, it’s best to start broad with sources that provide a summary or overview of the topic. This helps you situate your topic in the broader scholarly conversation. Encyclopedia articles summarize the issues, perspectives and history related to a topic, giving you the “big picture.” Handbooks provide "how to" information about research methods and professional topics. 

Research not published through traditional academic means is often called "grey literature" and can be more current and more applied than scholarly sources. For more on finding and using grey literature, see Grey Literature: What it is & how to find it.

Encyclopedias

Find encyclopedia articles in the Library Catalogue, filtering by resource type Reference Entries.

Examples:

For more suggested encyclopedias, see Background information: Education resources.

Handbooks

Use Sage Research Methods to find books & chapters that explain what's involved in the method(s) you're interested in.

Examples:

  Books

All of SFU's books, both online and print, are listed in the Library Catalogue. Want general search tips? See our Catalogue search guide.

    Did you know that SFU Education students and faculty are eligible for free delivery of library materials to your home? Learn more about Telebook.

    Example titles related to Nature-based Education:

    For more, search the Library Catalogue and limit by Resource Type: Books. Try searching keywords like:

    • outdoor education
    • place-conscious | place-based
    • nature-based
    • adventure education
    • forest school
    • ecological education

    Journal articles

    Search for articles by database

    Education Source [search tips]
    A comprehensive Education database, covering all levels of education from early childhood to higher education as well as multilingual education, health education and testing. Includes journals, books, conference papers, book reviews and educational tests.

    ERIC (EBSCO) [search tips] 
    A comprehensive Education database, covering education research and practice. Includes journal articles, conference papers, curriculum guides, lesson plans, theses and dissertations and more.

    ERIC (US Government Site) [search tips]
    Searches same content as above. Note: This version of ERIC is open access.

    See all our databases for Diversity in Curriculum and Instruction and Environmental Education.

    Find articles by browsing journals

    Browse our journals about Curriculum and Instruction or Environmental Education. Search within the journal or browse its table of contents.

    Examples:

    Did you know you can browse our journal collection using BrowZine? Create a virtual bookshelf of key journals, browse the current table of contents from your favourite scholarly peer-reviewed journals, and receive notification alerts when a new issue is published.