Factors Influencing Particpants\u27 Trust in Outdoor Organizations and Outdoor Leaders

Trust plays a critical role in the field of outdoor education. The building of trust among participants is a common goal of outdoor educators (Honchalk, 1982; Smith, Roland, Hanes, & Hoyt, 1992; Fox & Mick, 1996) and 1s believed to influence learning outcomes (Rotter, 1967). The absence of trust in one\u27s leader may result in unrealized goals and lack of productivity (Kramer & Cook, 2004 ). The purpose of the current study was to explore, through action research, how trust is established between consumers and outdoor organizations and between participants in outdoor programs and their outdoor leaders. The identification of possible determinants of trust benefits both practitioner and organization by providing a list of positive and negative behaviors that may influence both interpersonal and organizational trust development and retention

Predictors of Perceived Development on Courses from the National Outdoor Leadership School

The purpose of this study was to examine some of the potential mechanistic variables related to participant growth and development on courses at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). The NOLS Outcome Instrument (NOI) was a retrospective pretest posttest created to measure perceived gains in six universal course outcomes targeted by NOLS courses: Communication Skills, Leadership, Expedition Behavior, Judgment in the Outdoors, Outdoor Skills, and Environmental Awareness. Participant level predictors included age, sex, previous expedition experience, and sense of personal empowerment. Course level predictors included were course length, challenge level of the course terrain, group\u27s level of functioning, and the instructors\u27 rapport with the group. Data were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM 6.0)

Understanding the contribution of wilderness-based educational experiences to the creation of an environmental ethic in youth

The purpose of this exploratory study was to deepen our understanding of the ways in which a wilderness-based educational experience may serve as a significant life experience and how that experience may impact the development of an environmental ethic in youth. Students on 30-day courses from the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) were asked to respond to the question, “Did your NOLS experience make an impact on your environmental ethics? If so, how?” The responses of 771 students indicated that a 30-day NOLS course did, in fact, positively influence both cognitive and emotional aspects of participants\u27 environmental ethics and shared some characteristics of a significant life experience. Recommendations for future research are discussed

Long-term Impacts Attributed to Participation in Adventure Education: Preliminary Findings from NOLS

One of the key issues in the field of adventure education is determining the lasting value of adventure experiences after a program ends and participants return to life at home (e.g., McAvoy, Holman, Goldenberg, Klenowsky, 2006; Wolfe & Samdahl, 2005). While anecdotal reports regarding life-changing and transformative experiences through adventure program participation are common, very few studies have examined the impacts of adventure education programs months or years . after completion. One of the main challenges of documenting and studying learning transfer in adventure education, is that most of the transfer content and contexts would be termed far transfer, which means that the content (what is transferred) and context (when and where the context is learned) of acquisition are distal from the content and context of application ( cf. Barnett & Ceci, 2002). Much of the research on transfer in outdoor education has examined the retention of targeted program outcomes after· program completion. For example, Hammitt, Freimund, Watson, Brod, and Monz (1995) examined responsible environmental behavior after program participation, and Paxton and McAvoy (2000) looked at self-efficacy development and retention six months post­-program. Few studies have examined impacts years after program completion, and those that did examine this topic commonly used interviews with small samples. One such study examined the impact of a 35-day wilderness expedition three years post-course and reported that, while some lessons from the program did not apply easily, others did, including self-awareness, respect for different others, and ability to make changes and confront challenges (Miller, 2001). In another small sample study, Gass, Garvey, and Sugarman (2003) found that wilderness orientation participants attributed outcomes of challenging previous assumptions, stronger peer relationships, and general long-term positive impacts to program participation 17 year later. Therefore, the general aim of this manuscript is to examine the potential impacts of participation in an adventure education program years after program completion through a multi-method approach and adding a quantitative approach to the typical type of inquiry of learning transfer in adventure education

The University of Utah\u27s Integrated Core: A case study from a commuter campus

This paper describes the Integrated Core (IC), the University of Utah’s version of integrated curricula. We begin with a rationale for the IC, providing a background on the unique student demographics, and University-wide requirements that propelled our design. Our IC focuses specifically on active living, sustainability, and social justice as target outcomes of parks, recreation, and tourism services and experiences. This rationale is followed by an outline of both the structure and implementation of the IC, including a discussion of sample assignments (incorporating both experiential learning and community engagement). Following a discussion of feedback after two years of delivering the IC, relaying benefits as well as challenges, we end with suggestions for future improvements

Editor\u27s Introduction and Acknowledgments

An introduction to the journal Research in Outdoor Education, volume 7 is presented by the authors on behalf of the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors (CEO) Research Committee

Editor\u27s Introduction and Acknowledgments

An introduction to the journal Research in Outdoor Education, volume 8 is presented by the authors on behalf of the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors (CEO) Research Committee

Predictors of Participant Development Through Adventure Programs: Replication and Extension of Previous Findings from NOLS

This study continues the examination of one of the largest and most established adventure education programs in the world, the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Founded in 1965, NOLS has developed 11 branches worldwide and has graduated over 75,000 students. NOLS was originally known as a wilderness skills school, but quickly expanded their program goals and emphases to include leadership training, communication skills, expedition behavior, environmental awareness, and safety and judgment. NOLS courses include those for youth, adults, and intact groups who contract with NOLS for topic-specific courses. Courses range from eight days to months long semester courses. College credit is also available for some courses. As part of an on-going relationship between the University of Utah and NOLS, the study reported here is part of a series of efforts to develop and test a predictive model that would increase understanding of the relationships between participant characteristics, program components, and program outcomes for NOLS specifically. Such a predictive model would help explain how the NOLS process produces outcomes and how that process might be modified to produce additional or different outcomes. The model may also assist other adventure programs in better understanding how their programs produce outcomes

So many filters, so little time : the development of a search filter appraisal checklist

Objectives: The authors developed a tool to assess the quality of search filters designed to retrieve records for studies with specific research designs (e.g., diagnostic studies). Methods: The UK InterTASC Information Specialists' Sub-Group (ISSG), a group of experienced health care information specialists, reviewed the literature to evaluate existing search filter appraisal tools and determined that existing tools were inadequate for their needs. The group held consensus meetings to develop a new filter appraisal tool consisting of a search filter appraisal checklist and a structured abstract. ISSG members tested the final checklist using three published search filters. Results: The detailed ISSG Search Filter Appraisal Checklist captures relevance criteria and methods used to develop and test search filters. The checklist includes categorical and descriptive responses and is accompanied by a structured abstract that provides a summary of key quality features of a filter. Discussion: The checklist is a comprehensive appraisal tool that can assist health sciences librarians and others in choosing search filters. The checklist reports filter design methods and search performance measures, such as sensitivity and precision. The checklist can also aid filter developers by indicating information on core methods that should be reported to help assess filter suitability. The generalizability of the checklist for non-methods filters remains to be explored.The work of InterTASC members, including the ISSG, is funded through the UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programm