The Intersection of Community and Place in an Outdoor Orientation Program

Abstract

This study investigated outcomes of a college outdoor orientation program that utilized 3, 4, 5, and 12-day adventure based trips. Sense of community and sense of place were measured using a one-sample pre/post-test design (n = 118). Paired sample t-tests were implemented to explore differences and, in general, students reported significant changes following participation. Students demonstrated increases in the number of their friends, trusted individuals, and 6 of the 7 factorial components measuring sense of community and sense of place (p < .05). The importance of community and place is discussed, highlighting suggestions and implications for future consideration in outdoor orientation programming.

The Use of Adventure Therapy in Community-Based Mental Health: Decreases in Problem Severity Among Youth Clients

“…The literature repeatedly encourages researchers to examine the various mechanisms and factors that produce and influence group experiences in outdoor experiential programs (Ewert & McAvoy, 2000;McAvoy, Mitten, Stringer, Steckart, & Sproles, 1996). One such factor is the development of sense of community during outdoor education curricula within a variety of contexts (Austin, Martin, Yoshino, Schanning, Ogle, & Mittelstaedt, 2010;Breunig, O'Connell, Todd, Anderson, & Young, 2010;Lyons, 2003). Sense of community has been characterized as the "feeling an individual has about belonging to a group and involves the strength of the attachment people feel for their communities or group" (Halamova, 2001, p. 137).…”

Community Development, Transitional Value, and Institutional Affinity

“…Researchers have generally reported that strong interpersonal connections develop. For example, Wolfe and Kay (2011) noted that students in their study referred to their connections with others as “family.” Similarly, Austin et al (2010) reported that students indicated significant changes in three of four domains of community including personal comfort, cross-cultural relationships, and unfamiliar social environments. Students also indicated they had a significant increase in the number of friends and peers whom they trusted.…”

“…With this in mind, many universities have turned to OOPs to provide students with positive transition experiences (Austin et al, 2010; Bell & Holmes, 2011; Hill, Nolan, & Scrogin, 2010; Wolfe & Kay, 2011). The creation and maintenance of social support networks is a primary objective and has been found to have both short-term and long-term positive effects (Gass et al, 2003).…”

“…These experiences are often several days in length, and may occur in either the natural environment (i.e., rock climbing in the wilderness) or built environment (i.e., indoor rock climbing; Association for Experiential Education, 2011). Similar to theory-based orientation programs, OOPs have been found to promote interpersonal relationships (Austin et al, 2010), foster a sense of community (Lathrop, O’Connell, & Howard, 2012), increase life effectiveness (Frauman & Waryold, 2009), and enhance social support networks (Bell & Williams, 2006), thereby increasing grade point averages and retention rates (Gass, Garvey, & Sugerman, 2003). Although the success of the various types of orientation programs has been documented in a number of ways (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005), research has focused primarily on the outcomes of these programs and not the actual experience of the students while transitioning to university (Palmer et al, 2009).…”

Creating Adventurous and Mindful Physicians: Expanding Wilderness Preorientation Programs to Medical School

“…5 Outdoor orientation programs have also been shown to positively impact incoming students' sense of place and community. 6 Students in successful orientation programs have self-identified growth in the areas of social competence, achievement motivation, intellectual flexibility, task leadership, emotional control, active initiative, and self-confidence. 4 These positive changes were attributed to four factors of the programs: a wilderness setting, small group size, fellow participants, and peer leadership.…”