Gaining a better understanding of how Outward Bound Western Canada course outcomes are achieved : a research study /

This study examined how Outward Bound Western Canada (OBWC) course outcomes are achieved by exploring the relationships among course components, students' characteristics, and course outcomes. OBWC is a wilderness-based adventure education organization that helps students achieve outcomes such as increased self-awareness, self-confidence, motivation, interpersonal skills, concern for others, and concern for the environment. This study explored the ways in which the various components of courses and the characteristics of students contribute to determining the outcomes students experience as a result of their courses. The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of how OBWC course outcomes are achieved in order to strengthen adventure education theory, enhance practice at OBWC and other adventure education organizations, and provide a foundation for further research on this topic. As an interpretive case study, this study sought to describe how OBWC course outcomes are achieved and to provide interpretations of the research findings. Data was gathered from OBWC students and instructors using the quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques of questionnaire, interview, and observation. Data collected from 98 participants ensured a considerable breadth to the study, while interviews with a number of participants also enabled the collection of in-depth data. Analysis and triangulation of the data from the various sources allowed discernment of the research findings. A comprehensive and detailed picture of how course outcomes are achieved emerged from the findings. Twenty-nine course components were found to influence course outcomes, including various aspects of course activities, the physical environment, instructors, and the group. The findings indicated that certain course components were most influential in determining increases to students' self-awareness, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-esteem, self-concept, motivation, self-responsibility, interpersonal skills, concern for others, and concern for the environment. A number of course components were found to indirectly contribute to positive course outcomes by helping maximize the effectiveness of other components, by increasing students' motivation while on course, or by facilitating the processing and transference of new information. The findings also suggested that several course components either directly or indirectly affected course outcomes in negative ways. In addition, the gender, age, population, and expectations of students were found to play a role in determining the course outcomes they experienced and in determining which course components caused those outcomes. Interpretation of the findings resulted in the generation of research-based theory. The main theoretical argument derived from the results of the study was that course outcomes are influenced by a combination of course components and characteristics of students. More specifically, the theory generated by the study indicated that five groupings of factors contribute to course outcomes, including course activities, the physical environment, instructors, the group, and students' characteristics. The study was considered in relation to existing adventure education literature and larger theoretical issues. The generated theory and research findings were then used to develop suggestions for improving practice at OBWC and other adventure education organizations, as well as for enhancing future research studies.

Une étude examinant les retombées d'une programmation éducative par l'aventure sur les habiletés personnelles et sociales visant à contribuer à la prévention de l'intimidation chez de jeunes victimes potentielles.

Au Québec, comme dans le reste du monde, les agents du milieu de l'éducation sont de plus en plus concernés par le phénomène de l'intimidation chez les jeunes. Plusieurs programmes ont été conçus pour aider à contrer ce problème. Toutefois, peu d'études se sont penchées sur l'intervention au moyen de l'approche de l'éducation par l'aventure et du plein air. L'objectif de cette étude est de déterminer comment la socialisation peut être développée chez de jeunes victimes à risque, en ayant recours à ce type d'approche. Une recherche qualitative s'est donc penchée sur un projet d'intervention ayant appliqué le modèle de la séquence d'aventure, pour contribuer à prévenir la victimisation au troisième cycle du primaire. Les résultats révèlent que plusieurs moyens propres à ce type d'intervention s'avèrent efficaces au renforcement des habiletés personnelles et sociales, telles: l'affirmation de soi, la confiance en soi et l'ouverture aux autres.

Intervista camminata e altri metodi qualitativi per monitorare l'efficacia dei progetti di Educazione Avventura con adolescenti a rischio

INTRODUZIONE - La presente ricerca è incentrata sul monitoraggio dell’efficacia dei progetti di Educazione Avventura con adolescenti difficili, in particolare del progetto “Lunghi cammini educativi”. A partire da un’analisi della letteratura sull’educazione esperienziale nature-based e in particolare sull’Adventure Education con adolescenti difficili, è stata progettata una rilevazione empirica attraverso cui sperimentare un metodo di monitoraggio finalizzato a cogliere la dimensione processuale (che nella ricerca nell’ambito resta spesso inesplorata, poiché sono maggiormente diffusi i metodi di monitoraggio cosiddetti “black-box”), utilizzando un sistema integrato di diverse tecniche di rilevazione. Le due principali domande che hanno guidato la ricerca sono state: 1.Quali processi educativi significativi si innescano e possono essere osservati durante l’esperienza? 2.Il metodo dell’intervista camminata, integrato ad altri metodi, è utile per individuare e monitorare questi processi? METODO - Collocandosi all’interno di un framework metodologico qualitativo (influenzato da riflessioni post-qualitative, paradigma delle mobilità e sguardo fenomenologico), la ricerca prende la forma di uno studio di caso singolo con due unità di analisi, e prevede la triangolazione di diversi metodi di raccolta dei dati: analisi documentale; osservazione partecipante nei cammini e nelle riunioni di équipe; interviste (prima, durante, dopo il cammino) con differenti tecniche: camminata, “image-elicited”, tradizionale, online. RISULTATI - L’analisi tematica abduttiva delle interviste e delle osservazioni conferma quanto già evidenziato dalla letteratura circa la centralità della dilatazione del campo d’esperienza e del lavoro su alcune life skills (in particolare, competenze personali e growth mindset). Emergono anche alcuni key findings inattesi: il notevole “peso” dello stile educativo dell’accompagnatore; la “scoperta” del ruolo della quotidianità all’interno dell’esperienza straordinaria; la necessità di consapevolezza riguardo al potenziale educativo dell’ambiente (naturale e/o antropizzato), per una maggiore intenzionalità nelle scelte strategiche di cammino. L’intervista camminata, nonostante alcuni limiti, si conferma come metodo effettivamente utile a cogliere la dimensione processuale, e coerente con il contesto indagato.

Report on a special investigation of the Assistant Director of the Camp Adventure program at the University of Northern Iowa for the period January 1, 2006 through March 31, 2008

Report on a special investigation of the Assistant Director of the Camp Adventure program at the University of Northern Iowa for the period January 1, 2006 through March 31, 2008

Report on a special investigation of the University of Northern Iowa, Camp Adventure Youth Services program for the period April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008

Report on a special investigation of the University of Northern Iowa, Camp Adventure Youth Services program for the period April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008

User Experience of Geocaching and Its Application to Tourism and Education

Advances in technology have provided new ways of using entertainment and game technology to foster human interaction. Games and playing with games have always been an important part of people’s everyday lives. Traditionally, human-computer interaction (HCI) research was seen as a psychological cognitive science focused on human factors, with engineering sciences as the computer science part of it. Although cognitive science has made significant progress over the past decade, the influence of people’s emotions on design networks is increasingly important, especially when the primary goal is to challenge and entertain users (Norman 2002). Game developers have explored the key issues in game design and identified that the driving force in the success of games is user experience. User-centered design integrates knowledge of users’ activity practices, needs, and preferences into the design process. Geocaching is a location-based treasure hunt game created by a community of players. Players use GPS (Global Position System) technology to find “treasures” and create their own geocaches; the game can be developed when the players invent caches and used more imagination to creations the caches. This doctoral dissertation explores user experience of geocaching and its applications in tourism and education. Globally, based on the Geocaching.com webpage, geocaching has been played about 180 countries and there are more than 10 million registered geocachers worldwide (Geocaching.com, 25.11.2014). This dissertation develops and presents an interaction model called the GameFlow Experience model that can be used to support the design of treasure hunt applications in tourism and education contexts. The GameFlow Model presents and clarifies various experiences; it provides such experiences in a real-life context, offers desirable design targets to be utilized in service design, and offers a perspective to consider when evaluating the success of adventure game concepts. User-centered game designs have adapted to human factor research in mainstream computing science. For many years, the user-centered design approach has been the most important research field in software development. Research has been focusing on user-centered design in software development such as office programs, but the same ideas and theories that will reflect the needs of a user-centered research are now also being applied to game design (Charles et al. 2005.) For several years, we have seen a growing interest in user experience design. Digital games are experience providers, and game developers need tools to better understand the user experience related to products and services they have created. This thesis aims to present what the user experience is in geocaching and treasure hunt games and how it can be used to develop new concepts for the treasure hunt. Engineers, designers, and researchers should have a clear understanding of what user experience is, what its parts are, and most importantly, how we can influence user satisfaction. In addition, we need to understand how users interact with electronic products and people, and how different elements synergize their experiences. This doctoral dissertation represents pioneering work on the user experience of geocaching and treasure hunt games in the context of tourism and education. The research also provides a model for game developers who are planning treasure hunt concepts.

My Adventure at Iowa State as a Carver Student

http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/carver_narratives/1021/thumbnail.jpg

"Your adventure starts here..."

http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/carver_narratives/1020/thumbnail.jpg

My Adventure at Iowa State

http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/carver_narratives/1008/thumbnail.jpg

The Game is On! The Adventure of the Girl with the Light Blue Hair

The Game is On! is a series of short animated films that put copyright and creativity under the magnifying glass of Sherlock Holmes, providing a unique, research-led and open access resource for school-aged learners and other creative users of copyright. Drawing inspiration from well-known copyright and public domain work, as well as recent copyright litigation, these films provide a springboard for exploring key principles and ideas underpinning copyright law, creativity, and the limits of lawful appropriation and reuse.

Each episode comes accompanied by a number of related Case Files: supplementary educational materials aimed at suggesting points of discussion about copyright for teachers and students.

The Game is On! The Adventure of the Six Detectives

The Game is On! is a series of short animated films that put copyright and creativity under the magnifying glass of Sherlock Holmes, providing a unique, research-led and open access resource for school-aged learners and other creative users of copyright. Drawing inspiration from well-known copyright and public domain work, as well as recent copyright litigation, these films provide a springboard for exploring key principles and ideas underpinning copyright law, creativity, and the limits of lawful appropriation and reuse.

Each episode comes accompanied by a number of related Case Files: supplementary educational materials aimed at suggesting points of discussion about copyright for teachers and students.

Prenatal education: profile and expectations of the couples.

Characterize the profile and describe the expectations of a sample of couple's participants in prenatal education programs integrated into the 'Tender Adventure - Preparation for childbirth and parenting' ", an outreach project of Nursing School of Coimbra.