The Perceived Long-Term Influence of Youth Expeditions on Participants' Lives
Open Access
- Author:
- Ramirez Canas, Maria Jose
- Graduate Program:
- Recreation, Park and Tourism Management
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- December 04, 2019
- Committee Members:
- Pete Allison, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Pete Allison, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Brendan Derrick Taff, Committee Member
Peter Newman, Committee Member
Robert William Roeser, Outside Member
Peter Newman, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- youth development
Self-determination theory
adventure education
outdoor adventure education
experiential education
retrospective study
long-term influence
outcomes
processes
youth expedition
expedition
perceived learning
critical elements
personal development
SDT
global citizenship
relatedness
competence
autonomy
contact with nature
course components
overseas youth expeditions - Abstract:
- Despite the often-repeated rhetoric that youth expeditions are “life-changing” experiences, the evidence on their perceived long-term impact is scarce. The British Exploring Society (BES) organizes 3-6 week-long land-based self-sufficient expeditions for non-intact groups of young people, combining science research projects in remote locations with adventure. This study used a two-phase flexible design. The first phase involved a web-based survey, sent to all BES members who had participated in an expedition five or more years before the data collection date. Descriptive statistics and T-Tests were conducted to analyze the survey data and identify potential interviewees for the second phase. The web-based survey was completed by 144 respondents. For the majority of respondents (93.8%), their first BES expedition experience was “enjoyable and meaningful”. The second phase comprised 26 individual semi-structured interviews with participants who had a retrospection of 29-66 years. Data were analyzed inductively and deductively. Intercoder agreement was calculated (0.97) as well as member checking in order to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the findings. Participants perceived seven long-lasting influences of expeditions: (1) All interviewees reported 'Connecting with others', (2) 96% reported 'Fulfilling potential' such as gaining confidence and resilience, (3) 96% of participants mentioned 'Development of leisure activities and outdoor knowledge/skills', (4) 92% reported 'Knowing thyself', (5) 92% of interviewees' shared the experience' to others, (6) 92% of participants identified an 'Impact on academic and professional life’, and (7) 65% 'Connected with nature and the world'. The expedition provided four types of experiences that made the expedition meaningful: autonomy (96%), Relatedness (96%), competence (92%), and contact with nature (58%). This study concludes by proposing a model that integrates the results proposing that, an expedition environment, that promotes the four types will promote a long-lasting positive influence on participants' lives.