Outdoor Learning for EFL Descriptive Writing Among Vocational Engineering Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Developing descriptive writing skills remains a major challenge for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly in vocational higher education where instruction is often dominated by conventional classroom practices. Although outdoor learning is promising, empirical evidence regarding its effectiveness in improving descriptive writing among vocational engineering students is limited. This study investigated the effectiveness of outdoor learning in enhancing EFL descriptive writing skills among Industrial Engineering students at Politeknik Aceh Selatan, Indonesia. A quantitative quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was employed with 48 students divided into experimental and control groups. Data were gathered through writing tests and perception questionnaires, then analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, the Mann-Whitney U Test, and effect size analysis. The findings revealed that students in the outdoor learning group demonstrated substantially greater improvement than those in conventional instruction. The experimental group’s mean increased from 64.79 to 83.25, while the control group improved from 66.25 to 77.13. Significant improvements were confirmed within the experimental group (Z = -4.302, p < .001), alongside significant posttest differences between groups (U = 3.000, Z = -5.925, p < .001). Large effect sizes were identified for both tests (r = .878 and r = .855). Furthermore, questionnaire results indicated that students perceived outdoor learning as highly effective in stimulating creativity, motivation, and engagement, supporting its integration into English language instruction for engineering students.