sowk 5339 integration paper

Running head: RESEARCH INTEGRATION PAPER

On Engaging Nontraditional Students through Adventure:

A Research Integration Paper

Sarah Walters

Texas State University

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RESEARCH INTEGRATION PAPER

On Engaging Nontraditional Students through Adventure: A Research Integration Paper

“Making sense of a day in the woods: Outdoor adventure experiences and early

childhood teacher education students” examines an outdoor adventure education program

used as a retention tool for nontraditional early childhood education (ECE) college

students. The article was published in the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education’s

34th volume in January 2013. The author, Suzanne Lamorey, is an Associate Professor in the

Department of Child and Family Development at the University of North Carolina at

Charlotte.

Summary of Article Content

Lamorey begins with a representation of the nontraditional ECE college students

that were the subjects of the study. These students, often well into established careers in

ECE when pushed into degree programs by the No Child Left Behind Act’s call for highly

qualified professionals, were “typically older, work[ing] full time and attend[ing] courses

part time, may have [had] dependents, and [were] often culturally and linguistically

diverse” (Lamorey, 2013, p. 320). They were more likely to doubt their ability to succeed in

a college classroom and less likely to have the supports necessary to do so. To address this

lack of supports, the author, in partnership with her university’s outdoor education

program director, conceived of an adventure education program to improve retention of

nontraditional ECE students, as well as improve their engagement in their program of

study and “their self-efficacy as skilled and successful degree-completers” (Lamorey, 2013,

p. 320).

This adventure education program was instituted as part of an ECE course

curriculum. It was designed, in following the established scheme for such programs, to use

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experiential exercises and team challenges to boost personal and social growth of

participants in an informal but relevant context; the explicitly stated goals of the author, as

researcher and educator, were “to give the students an opportunity to (a) share their fears,

frustrations, and worries, (b) see their situations in a new context, and (c) perhaps recreate

their perceptions of professional and personal self in more empowered and efficacious

roles” (Lamorey, 2013, p. 321). The program design and goals were informed by a

thorough review of the research on outdoor adventure education programs.

Review of the Literature

In reviewing the literature, the author focused on empirical studies that outlined

positive outcomes of outdoor adventure programs. Among the positive outcomes listed

were improvements to self-concept, self-confidence, and locus of control (Hattie, Marsh,

Neill, & Richards, 1997); acquisition of a sense of empowerment (Shellman & Ewert, 2010);

increased perception of group cohesion and group identity (Glass & Behnshoff, 2002);

increased interpersonal skills and concern for others (McKenzie, 2003); and decreased

tension-anxiety responses and feelings of depression (Kanters, Bristol, & Attarian, 2002).

Particularly salient to teacher education were outcomes such as increased awareness of

peer supports, appreciation of supportive environments, coping mechanisms, and

understanding of own students’ experiences in school (Carlson & McKenna, 2000). The

author emphasized that these outcomes of “supportive and reflective” adventure education

programs were enhanced by facilitators through debriefing and provision of feedback

related to skill acquisition, and that models such as the Enroll, Experience, Label,

Demonstrate, Review, and Celebrate (EELDRC) approach (Roberts, 2002) the

ExperienceChange model (Chisholm & Warman, 2007), the commitment, alignment,

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relationships, and behaviors (CARB) model (Eikenberry, 2007), and various adult learning

models should inform facilitators’ practice to maximize effectiveness.

Methods

Lamorey employed a qualitative case study approach in order to “captur[e] the

participants’ words and interactions in a naturalistic context” (2013, p. 323). The author

accompanied three different groups of students through three separate day-long adventure

education programs. Data transcripts were comprised of descriptive observations and

quotations captured on-paper by the author during these programs.

Participants. Seventy-eight ECE students, all female, participated in the study. Ages

ranged from 22 to 59 years, and 44% of participants were European American, 41%

African American, and 15% Hispanic. All participants were employed in the ECE field and

required to earn a related undergraduate degree to keep their jobs.

Materials. The outdoor adventure program was held at a low ropes and team

challenges course operated by a university-sponsored program. The program was

facilitated by employees of the course.

Design and Procedure. The author and outdoor adventure program facilitators co-

developed a curriculum with heavy emphasis on debriefing discussions that focused on the

context and meaning of participants’ work. To analyze the results, the author addressed

four challenge activities in detail and coded transcripts of these activities to provide a

thematic analysis.

Results

The detailed narratives of the activities were outlined in the results section of the

article. A description, an explanation of “[w]hat happened,” and a summary of the

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debriefing were provided for each of four activities: “Spider Web,” “Teeter-Totter,” “Jump

Rope,” and “Balls and Tubes” (Lamorey, 2013). This – essentially raw – data was analyzed

in the discussion of coded themes.

Discussion of Themes. Coding categories were informed by outcomes listed in the

literature review, and condensed upon review of the transcripts. These categories were

perseverance, collaboration, overcoming fears, and reflection.

Implications

The author concludes that many of the positive outcomes of adventure education

programs identified in the literature review were also experienced in the current study by

nontraditional ECE student participants. In question are the “’staying power’’ and

quantification of such outcomes (Lamorey, 2013, p. 332). The author suggests that future

research explore long-term implications of adventure education program participation and

attempt to better quantify results.

Purpose & Therapeutic Value of the Studied Intervention

The article made clear several explicitly stated goals of the studied intervention, as

mentioned previously. Put succinctly, the objective of the intervention was to “facilitat[e]

enhanced self-efficacy of students relative to their personal and professional selves” by

“’provid[ing] transformative group experiences using tailored challenges and guided

reflection’” (Lamorey, 2013, p. 323). The intervention was also intended as a supportive

retention improvement activity that would engage students in their academic program by

developing a shared group identity. As such, this outdoor adventure education program

was a therapeutic program “focusing primarily on educational or enrichment goals . . .

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where change was attained through a focus on generic issues of the target group,” as

identified by Gillis and Gass (2004, Adventure Therapy Settings section).

The therapeutic component, or attainment of change, of the studied intervention

was in the open-ended, contextualized debriefing discussions. The activities were in and of

themselves productive of positive outcomes for participants as individuals and as a group,

certainly, but the focus of the researcher and facilitators was on providing a relevant

context for developing meaning related to participants’ work within the ECE profession.

The therapeutic value, then, was in “punctuating the isomorphic (i.e., parallel) connections

between the insights and learnings during the activity to the parallels existing within

clients’ lives” (Gillis & Gass, 2004, An Adventure Experience subsection). Through targeted

and metaphoric debriefing, participants were able to recognize positive outcomes to

“interpersonal and intrapersonal skills” that “did seem to trigger a sense of

empowerment . . . that flowed into their . . . discussions of self and work” (Lamorey, 2013, p.

332).

Theoretical Concepts Applied through the Study

As with the goals of the program, its essential theoretical foundations are also

explicitly stated. The design of the outdoor adventure education intervention applied in the

study was based upon the “elements of intrapersonal and interpersonal self-awareness,

acquisition of new behaviors and skills, and a transfer of learning to applied experiences”

outlined in several referenced change models (Lamorey, 2013, p. 322). The author also

referenced adult learning models as adding to the theoretical base for the intervention.

Not explicitly mentioned but arguably a driving concept behind the intervention’s

design is interpretivist theory, “which suggests that program impacts are constructed from

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the meaning that participants make of their experiences” (D’Amato & Krasny, 2011). The

application of interpretivism is glaringly present in the program’s focus on reflexive,

contextualized debriefing, regardless of Lamorey’s conscious knowledge of the theory – or

lack thereof. In placing the therapeutic emphasis on the debriefing process, the researcher

and facilitators engaged a phenomenological Verstehen, a concern with “understanding

how the everyday, intersubjective world . . . is constituted” through “’reconstruct[ing] the

genesis of the objective meanings of action in the intersubjective communication of

individuals in the social-life world’” (Schwandt, 2003, p. 192; Outhwaite, 1975, p. 91). A

myriad of other experiential education, adventure therapy, and related theories could also

be argued as having been applied in this intervention’s practice, but a focus on

interventionism matches the focus on targeted debriefing.

Application of the Intervention to the Studied Population

Perhaps the biggest strength of the article is the Lamorey’s intentional and dynamic

justification of the intervention as relevant to and appropriate for the studied population.

The author reasons that, because of their multilayered and complex roles, nontraditional

students are “particularly appropriate candidates” for “an applied, experiential approach in

expanding the development of knowledge and skills for their profession” (Lamorey, 2013,

pp. 333 & 322). Furthermore, Lamorey emphasizes that “the opportunity to explore and

develop each individual’s sense of personal and professional perseverance, collaboration,

ability to overcome fears, and engage in reflection” is a potentially transformative and

likely enduringly effective means of “supporting their roles and responsibilities as students,

teachers, and graduates” (Lamorey, 2013, p. 333).

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Lamorey’s emphatic reasoning that the studied outdoor education intervention is

appropriate for college students, and nontraditional college students in particular, is

supported by similar research. Kanters, Bristol, & Attarian, for example, establish that one-

day, curriculum based programs using initiative-based activities and convenient facilities

can and do achieve the same positive outcomes as expensive and time consuming multi-

day, high adventure programs for college students so long as they are targeted and

successfully debriefed (2002). It seems the narrow scope of this intervention, which

involves limited time and financial commitments and is tied to course requirements, is

particularly appropriate for college students in that it is easily accessible but still

transformative. This narrow scope and accessibility of the intervention, as well as the

demonstrated successful application with a diverse population of nontraditional students,

suggest limited diversity concerns for the application of a similar outdoor education

program.

Ethical Concerns Related to the Studied Intervention

The studied intervention – a basic, one-day, low ropes and team challenges program

– is well-established as appropriate for adventure therapy and outdoor adventure

education. The activities involved, including low ropes challenges such as “Spider Web” and

group initiative activities such as “Balls and Tubes,” are physically and emotionally low-

risk. This low risk is further mitigated by several other factors of the intervention’s

implementation as presented in the study: the involvement of professionally trained

facilitators, the use of an adequate specialized facility, and the nature of the typically

functioning adult population. As such, there is no mention of potential ethical concerns

within the article itself.

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However, as in any adventure-related program, there are ethical considerations

relevant to the principled provision of the studied intervention. The American

Psychological Association’s “Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct” is an

effective resource for understanding which principles are, in fact, relevant to the study.

Two basic principles seem to be most relevant: “3.04 Avoiding Harm” and “10.03 Group

Therapy” (American Psychological Association, 2010). “Avoiding Harm” is relevant in that

it is crucial “to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable” in any situation in

which participants face any physical and emotional risk, even minimal; “Group Therapy” is

relevant in that the studied intervention is group-oriented and therefore does present

some risk related to confidentiality, etc. (American Psychological Association, 2010).

Beyond these basic general principles, the more specialized “Ethical guidelines for

the therapeutic adventure professional” provided by the Association of Experiential

Education also provide a framework of relevant considerations even for this relatively low-

risk intervention. “Competence,” “Integrity,” “Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity,”

“Concern for Welfare,” and “Social Responsibility” must all be maintained (“Ethical

Guidelines,” n.d.). Furthermore, as the studied population is comprised of professional

educators, “Professional Responsibility” seems particularly poignant (“Ethical Guidelines,”

n.d.). Participants may, in turn, seek to use similar adventure education interventions with

their own students. Therefore, it is particularly crucial that facilitators represent the

profession in a clear and principled manner and advocate for ethical and appropriate

provision of services.

Conclusion

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Lamorey’s article is particularly relevant to a professional seeking to work with

college students or with a similarly diverse adult population. While the studied

intervention is not necessarily innovative by adventure therapy standards, such an

adventure education program would certainly be considered a novel addition to degree

programs at many colleges and universities. The value of the article is, therefore, not in its

introduction of a groundbreaking intervention for a hard-to-reach population – or lack

thereof – but in its solid defense of an established intervention as useful, appropriate, and

therapeutic for college students.

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References

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