Outdoor Education Commons^™

The 12 Fundamentals Of Highly Effective Communicators: Teaching Theory-Based Professional Communication To Pharmacy Students, Erin Donovan, Laura Brown, Calandra Lindstadt, Billy Table, Elham Heidari, Andrew Coolidge, Suheib Omran, Sharon Rush

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Pharmacists are increasingly expected to communicate skillfully, yet few Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curricula include theoretically-derived or evidence-based communication training. The 12 Fundamentals of Highly Effective Communicators is a pedagogical tool that we developed to teach principles of communication to two consecutive cohorts of PharmD students in their second year (P2). Students were asked to reflect on which of the 12 Fundamentals they found most helpful in their pharmacy training and practice. The most frequently selected Fundamental was “There is no ‘one size fits all’ message that will work in EVERY situation.” Students provided specific examples of how they perceived …

Post Pandemic Aquatics: Professionals On Deck, Susan J. Grosse

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

As aquatic programs re-open and/or expand as COVID restrictions lift, avoiding virus transmission is a top health and safety concern. This article presents options for safe social distancing for professionals and participants during teaching of swim lessons, coaching sessions, and aquatic exercise classes. Emphasis is on practical, session-to-session issues. Suggestions are applicable to all ages of participants in aquatic programs. Focus is on information for aquatic professionals providing direct participant service. Guidelines for program management are also included.

Do Water Safety Lessons Improve Water Safety Knowledge?, Michael J. Tipton, Joseph Muller, Cristian Abelairas Gomez, Jo Corbett

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

A person, usually a child or young adult, dies by drowning every 90 seconds around the planet. Most drowning prevention initiatives do not assess the efficacy of the intervention. In this study, thirteen- to fourteen-year-olds had their level of water safety knowledge (covering cold shock, rips and tides) assessed before, just after, and 3-6 months after one, 25-minute water safety lesson on these topics. We evaluated the knowledge gained and retained on water safety “awareness” (i.e., knowledge of risks) and “confidence” in terms of knowing what to do in an emergency. The results demonstrated that the lesson significantly increased water …

Teaching For Transformation: Developing Agency And Solidarity Consciousness In A Critical-Transdisciplinary, Garden-Based Urban Environmental Studies Program, Pieranna Pieroni

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation focuses on “Community Roots,” an instantiation of urban, garden-based environmental education that employs a “critical-transdisciplinary” design framework and pedagogies. The “crit-trans” construct, articulated by the Urban Environmental Studies Research Coven (Strong et. al., 2016) is offered as both a generative approach to liberatory (environmental) pedagogies with applications across the curriculum and as a form of resistance to neoliberal logics shaping educational (and other) settings. After situating Community Roots in its socio-environmental, institutional, historical and theoretical contexts, a detailed description of the course’s instantiation of crit-trans pedagogy is offered. Additionally, reflections of 14 youth and adult participants are analyzed, …

Using Outdoor Learning As An Instructional Strategy, Mary Schoeb

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Spending time in nature or an outdoor environment is a healthy practice that can provide many mental and physical benefits. Thus, outdoor learning is an instructional strategy that can capitalize on these benefits and that is engaging for students. Outdoor learning can encourage student engagement in the content, while offering authentic learning opportunities. Outdoor learning can positively impact students’ learning and intrinsic motivation, their social and behavioral needs, as well as improve their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Teachers may face a variety of potential barriers when attempting to facilitate outdoor learning. These obstacles are described and addressed by providing …

Nature-Based Learning At An Urban Community College: A Case Study At The Central Park Zoo, Nicole Kras

Publications and Research

There is rapidly growing research on the multiple benefits of nature-based experiences. Some institutions of higher education have incorporated these types of experiences in areas such as building design, travel offerings, residential programs, green spaces, field trips, wellness centers, and freshman orientation programs. Unfortunately, urban community college students often do not receive the chance to participate in these type of experiences due to lack of opportunity and lack of time outside of class due to their multiple responsibilities. One way to help mitigate some of these challenges, is for community college faculty to embed nature-based learning experiences into their courses. …

Queering Beyond Pronouns: The Necessity Of Indigenizing Learning Communities, Gillian Imazumi-Hegarty

Master's Projects and Capstones

Learners who do not see themselves reflected in schooling face mental health, social and academic hardships. While centring marginalized identities and pursuing efforts to queer learning spaces is vital, it cannot end with attention to gender and sexuality. In order to best serve learners and community members, learning environments must commit to indigenizing as well. This paper culminates in a handbook which seeks to provide best practices for engaging with learners and holding space, as well as includes a sample curriculum and resources for further development. This handbook is focused for educators on unceded ancestral Ohlone Lands, and centres the …

Decolonial Water Pedagogies: Invitations To Black, Indigenous, And Black-Indigenous World-Making, Fikile Nxumalo

Occasional Paper Series

In this paper, I share everyday stories of young people’s pedagogical encounters with water. I share these stories as illustrations of pedagogies that welcome young people into caring relationships with more-than-human life. I focus on the decolonial potential of these pedagogical encounters in relation to what they activate for Black, Indigenous and Black-Indigenous world making.

Perceptions Of Water Competencies, Drowning Risk And Aquatic Participation Among Older Adults, Teresa Stanley, Kevin Moran

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

New Zealand has an aging population and, despite falling drowning tolls in all other age groups (WSNZ, 2019c), older adults have continued to drown in both increasing numbers and proportion. The reasons for this are not well understood since very little drowning research has focused on older people. A water safety survey (N = 389) seeking information on older adults’ aquatic recreational practices and perceptions of safety was conducted at the end of the summer season, 2019. Most adults (86%, n = 335) reported some aquatic activity in the previous year, but those aged 65+ years (66%) were significantly …

In This Issue (13:2), Stephen J. Langendorfer Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

front matter to Volume 13, Issue 2

Connection Between Camps And Social Emotional Learning In Middle School, Annie Lochridge

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project examines how outdoor educational experiences can improve social emotional learning in middle school students (grades 4-9). Questions to be addressed include: How can outdoor education field trips meet middle grade social emotional standards in Ohio?; What are the gains and pains for teachers involved in such opportunities?; What are the gains and pains for middle school students (grades 6-8) involved in outdoor educational opportunities?; What recommendations can be made for outdoor educational field trips to increase student social emotional learning? Initial research will be conducted using a literature review of place-based education, environmental education, field trips. and social …

Teaching Foundational Aquatic Skills To Children In Open Water Environments, Chris Button, Angela J. Button, Anne-Marie Jackson, Jim D. Cotter, Brian Maraj

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Learning to swim in a swimming pool might not prepare water competence sufficiently for different aquatic environments. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of teaching children water safety knowledge and skills in open water environments (i.e., harbor, river, and surf). The aquatic knowledge and skills of 98 children (7-11 years old) were tested in a swimming pool before, immediately after, and three months after receiving a three-day intensive education program. At pre-test, typically fewer than 50% of children achieved a high level of water safety competence. After the program, competency in each of the six tasks …

Spatial Production And Nomadic Subjectivities In A Buddhist Learning Space, Chau Bao Le

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Space and place are an integral part in the geographies of education, therefore, knowledge about culturally complex and ethnically diverse transnational communities could inform curricular innovations that meet the needs of individual students. This year-long ethnographic study challenged the prevailing realities that U.S. schools continue to devalue the experiences and cultural backgrounds of immigrant youth, which caused students from ethnic, cultural, racial, linguistic, and religious minority groups to feel structurally excluded and marginalized. Through examining the spatial production and nomadic subjectivities enacted over time in a transnational, diasporic space of a Buddhist temple in a U.S. southern state, the study …

Staff Training In Aquatics For Individuals With Disabilities: The Quest, Susan J. Grosse

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Trained instructors in general programs have the ability and resources to initiate and follow through with developing water safe individuals who are capable swimmers. Specific staff training to prepare individuals to facilitate aquatic participation for individuals with disabilities is currently extremely limited. The purpose of this article is to examine the barriers to specialized staff training in aquatics for individuals with disabilities, to suggest necessary staff training content, and to propose topics for further research in the area of staff training. Seeking development of quality staff training programs for those working in aquatics for individuals with disabilities is the quest.

Winter Travel For Cold Weather Novices; Methods For Making Challenging Outdoor Experiences More Inclusive, Anders Fristedt

Capstone Collection

Cold Weather for Winter Novices is a weeklong experiential education trip developed for students, between the ages of 17 and 21, from the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West (UWC-USA), an international boarding school in Montezuma, New Mexico. This trip is an opportunity to examine multicultural perspectives of adventure and wilderness. Specifically, the research question focuses on if the concepts of adventure and wilderness present inherent hurdles for diverse populations.

This program was developed trough a detailed literature review and needs assessment that involved both outdoor education professionals and potential students. The literature review looked at the …

Training Evaluation For Introductory Ocean Lifeguard Instruction: A Practical Example From California, William A. Koon, Ryan M. Gates, Jack Futoran

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Ocean lifeguards have several responsibilities that require precise training. California State Parks is one of the largest providers of open water lifeguard services in the United States, and trains approximately 200 new lifeguards per year. As part of our lifeguard training section’s quality improvement efforts, we conducted a training needs assessment to help determine how well our introductory ocean lifeguard training curriculum prepared lifeguards to perform job related tasks upon successful completion of the training program. We surveyed both first year and seasoned lead lifeguards on operational needs, training gaps, and specific subject areas. We identified several areas where our …

Indigenous Wisdom, Storytelling, And Language Renewal Ꭰꮒᏸꭺꭹ, Ꭰꮒᏼꮻꮿ Ꭰꭷꮩꭵꭿꮝꮧ Ꭴꮒꭽ, Ꭰꮴꭿꮠꮧᏹ Ꭶꮼꮒꭿꮝꮧ, Arlo Starr

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Abstract ᎧᏃᎮᏍᎩ

Language, cultural immersion, and intergenerational land-based education have shown the potential to vastly improve dire health issues that Indigenous people face. What is the most effective way to produce a large number of second language learners who speak at a basic level in order to improve Indigenous health?

Relationship is a vital part of Indigenous cosmology. Rather than promoting the consumption of words as things, acquisition will be more readily integrated into relationship-based thought when also interacting with them in context through story, and cultural activities that are fun, understandable, and engage community. Many successful language immersion models …

Taking A Walk On The Wild Side: Case Studies Of Programs That Integrate K-12 Curricula With Adventure Sports And Outdoor Learning, Jonathan Trzepkowski

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the United States there are a number of schools that utilize outdoor learning and adventure sports as part of their educational approach. The purpose of this case study was to analyze several programs that utilize adventure sports and outdoor learning in their curriculum and then present their distinguishing features in case study form. This case study selected 16 schools/programs that used adventure education or outdoor learning and created a profile for each one using a set of common guiding questions. This paper offers an interpretation of the findings that goes beyond the 16 profiles by synthesizing common components of …

Graduate Internship Report - The Accelerated Schools, Los Angeles, Michael Zappulla

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This document focuses on the introduction of an agriculture program into an urban middle school. Current status, improvements made, and future improvements are all included and addressed. The internship project shows the creation of a school garden and farmers market program with support from local businesses and associations.

Claiming The Promise Of Place-Based Education

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Steam Lessons From The Forest: Ingenuity, Instruments And Autonomy, Tracey Hunter-Doniger

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This article discusses a case study of an environmental art camp that was modeled after choice-based pedagogies. At this camp the children were able to choose their activities, and taught how to think and work like an artist/scientist using a sketch/field book as a guiding instrument for their inquiry and empowerment. What was found was that three pillars of empowerment formed a foundational structure consisting of three interrelated factors that inspired the campers: 1) ingenuity, 2) a useful instrument, and 3) autonomy. Cultivating the artist/scientist habits gave the students the ingenuity or practical knowledge and understanding of how the roles …

Learner-Centered Nature Walks, Heather Van Der Grinten

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Learner-Centered Nature Walks details the research of Heather van der Grinten in supplementing Junior Ranger Walks with a learner-centered mindset. The approach was intended to reflect her personal growth as a museum educator, demonstrate the viability of the Bank Street praxis of progressive education in an environmental education setting, and highlight potential growth for future Junior Ranger lesson-planning. The methodology involved experimenting with lesson plans, keeping a detailed reflection journal, and asking for voluntary feedback from peers, supervisors, and participants from June to September 2018. The samples of student work as shown in Appendix A and B were …

Designing Sport Specific Physical Fitness Programs For Students With Developmental Variations, Brian Levine

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This research examined existing options for students with disabilities in the realm of organized physical activity. Findings suggest that children with physical disabilities resulting in wheelchair use and students with the cognitive disability Autism Spectrum Disorder, referred to in this paper as ASD, have limited access to organized physical activity programs, after school sport programs, and physical education. This paper explores the importance of participation in sport for all children, the various barriers to participation for children with disabilities, and the effect on inclusive physical education and organized physical activity for all students. Finally, this paper provides recommendations on how …

The Masters Of Physics: Critical Thinking Through Skateboarding, William Robertson

Selected Works Temporary Series

This paper focuses on the use of live action and video instruction as a method of content dissemination and to motivate students in learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Specifically, this area, dubbed “edutainment”, chronicles different interactions with students, teachers and community members that utilized live action to video as methods of capturing relevant content in student-centered contexts. The fundamental idea is to infuse one's passion into modern methods of teaching, and to inspire others to use their gifts in their education, and thereby connect them to their dreams and aspirations.

A Model For Cultivating Global Engagement Beyond Academic Tourism, Victor D. Carmona, Tizziana Carmona

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

The message to environmental scholars in Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Laudato Si” is clear: contributions from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) must serve to inform both local and international conversations as well as connect learning communities in developed and developing nations. In the hope of fostering international opportunities that challenge U.S. students to link their academic degrees with social justice elements that calibrate them to the historical reality the overwhelming majority of the world experiences, we outline a teacher-scholar model that serves as a tool for the advancement of social and environmental justice issues in developing countries.

The Masters Of Physics: Critical Thinking Through Skateboarding, William Robertson

Departmental Papers (TE)

This paper focuses on the use of live action and video instruction as a method of content dissemination and to motivate students in learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.  Specifically, this area, dubbed “edutainment”, chronicles different interactions with students, teachers and community members that utilized live action to video as methods of capturing relevant content in student-centered contexts. The fundamental idea is to infuse one's passion into modern methods of teaching, and to inspire others to use their gifts in their education, and thereby connect them to their dreams and aspirations.

Evaluation Of A 5-Session Community Based Physical Activity Education Program For Parents Of Children With Disabilities, Samantha L. Maritzen

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Children with disabilities are less likely to reach the daily recommendation (60 minutes) of physical activity a day. Parents of children with a disability play an important role in the amount of physical activity their child participates in but often lack the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate physical activity opportunities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the feedback received from parents that participate in the parental physical activity education program. Participants included 8 parents of a child with a disability from the age of six to 14. The feedback from parents was assessed by a program …

The Nature Of Teaching: Connecting K-5 Teachers And Students With Nature, Rebecca Busse

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

No abstract provided.

Teens In Queens: Engaging Teens Living In Queens, New York Through Museum Partnerships, Emily Gross

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The teen program presented in this document was inspired by my own experiences living and attending school in Queens, New York. This program is designed as a museum partnership between the New York Hall of Science, the Queens Museum, and the Queens County Farm Museum, for the benefit of middle school adolescents living or attending school in Queens, New York. This year long program exposes teens to local museums, connecting three different content areas (STEM, art, and agriculture) in museum settings. During the program, teens will engage with their community on a deeper level, learn through skill based activities, explore …

An Intensive Esl Camp Curriculum And Excursion Activities For International High School Graduated / College Students, Ying Chen

Master's Projects and Capstones

There are many factors for students’ poor command of English among international students in the native language institutions. One of the factors is the students’ negative attitude and low motivation in English learning. Another aspect to lower students’ English learning motivation is the inappropriate use of the learning materials. Moreover, learners still lack a chance to immerse in the real language environment and the authentic cultural background to improve their comprehensively intercultural and communicative competence. For the sake that the second language instruction provided in regular schools is limited in time, many students even do not have enough time to …