Establishing a Learning Outcomes Plan for Campus Recreation

Abstract

Higher expectations among campus recreation professionals for establishing and tracking learning outcomes have become essential components of effective program planning and assessment. This has been motivated by college/university accreditation procedures, the increased expectation to illustrate performance of all college/university services, and the growing transparency of college/university administrative decision making. The demand for quantifiable learning outcomes has exposed the need for continued training of staff and highlighted the need for cultural change among campus recreation programs. Illustrations of a systematic evaluation of learning outcome efforts can provide guidance to campus recreation professionals to make progress toward implementing their own systems. This article presents an example of establishing learning outcomes assessment as part of a campus recreation challenge course program. A general overview of establishing a learning outcomes plan is presented followed by an overview of the challenge course case in point.

Service Quality and Satisfaction within Campus Recreation: The Moderating Role of Identification

“…Miller (2000) states that it is critical that the campus recreation staff know their customer's needs and levels of satisfaction. This area of emphasis is consistently supported in the campus recreation literature (Ko & Pastore, 2007;McChesney, 1999;Pope & Gaines, 1992) as is the need for customer service training and intentional program planning (Cooper, Flood, & Gardner, 2009). Traditionally all of these areas focus on the participant population as a whole or may be broken down into programming categories such as beginner, intermediate, and advanced users.…”

Learning Goals and the Challenge Course Experience: An Exploratory Study

“…Learning outcomes are becoming an increasingly important aspect of college and university programs, including OAE (Cooper & Faircloth, 2006). Cooper, Flood, and Gardner (2009) encouraged OAE professionals to create and assess learning outcomes that connect to the mission of the college or university; additionally, Shooter, Sibthorp and Paisley (2009) have noted that the mission and goals of a program should be at the center of a program's operational model. If done correctly, learning outcomes could help encourage transferability because the OAE program outcomes connect, and reinforce, other programs at the college or university.…”

Examining the Relationship between Intramural Sports Participation and Sense of Community among College Students

“…(CAS, 2004). The need to justify a program's contribution to student learning has, in turn, led to increased expectations to illustrate performance (Cooper, Flood, & Gardner, 2009). …”

“…Learning outcomes are, quite simply, the results of a program (Cooper et al, 2009) or, in other words, that which students will achieve as a result of participating. The importance of said outcomes, if positive, is that campus recreation departments could use these results to their advantage, and possibly see an increase in financial backing, credibility and overall acceptance as a key player on university campuses.…”