Download (PDF 114 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/35622.pdf
Abstract
Outdoor educators often seek to design programs that influence participants' daily lifestyles, especially environmental behaviors. Research on the impact of outdoor education programs on environmental behaviors has typically focused on schoolchildren and teenagers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived impact of a university outdoor education program on the environmental behaviors of program participants. In-depth interviews were conducted with six university students 6 months after they completed a 14-day summer outdoor education course that covered "social, organizational, technical, environmental and educational topics associated with group living, ecology and summer camping skills." Almost all participants reported that the course had some impact on their environmental behaviors. Increased participation in outdoor activities, participation in communal environmental action, and environmental behavior transference to daily life were the most frequently mentioned changed behaviors.
Parent Publication
Citation
Boland, Heather; Heintzman, Paul. 2010. The perceived impact of a university outdoor education program on students' environmental behaviors. In: Watts, Clifton E., Jr.; Fisher, Cherie LeBlanc, eds. Proceedings of the 2009 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-66. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 31-35.
