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Semester schools provide high-school students with a relatively new type of learning environment that largely has not been empirically studied. This study used a retrospective survey (n = 797) to explore the learning outcomes that stem from semester schools and identify features within the educational environment that promote them. Participants reported that appreciation for differences was the most critical and useful outcome of participation in semester school programming, with willingness to try new things, communication and identity development following closely behind. Participants also identified specific features of semester schools that supported the development of their learning outcomes, which included relationships with faculty and peers, the pedagogical approach used by semester school teachers, the non-traditional structure of the semester, and specific coursework or learning activities. The findings pointed to the strong community that developed between students and their peers, as well as to their teachers as being a driver of the intrapersonal development participants experienced, which partially stemmed from the distinct features of semester schools such as being away from home, living together in a bounded social structure, and having an integrated curriculum. In addition, the temporary structure of a semester school could promote types of learning that students would not typically experience while at traditional four-year high schools.

Background: Understanding how contextual elements within educational environments relate to identity formation can help educators design experiences intended to support identity formation processes. Purpose: This study examined identity formation among students enrolled in immersion semester high schools and how contextual elements and identity formation actions influence identity formation process profiles. Methodology: Data were collected from middle to late adolescents using the Dimensions of Identity Development Scale, and analyzed using latent profile analysis, crosstabulation, and regression. Conclusions: The findings showed that thinking about values and beliefs in school is related to increased identity exploration and that the teacher-student relationship and novelty in these contexts facilitates thinking about values and beliefs. Students prone to rumination may particularly benefit from the supportive environment, which can increase the likelihood that they discuss their values and beliefs. Implications: Experiential educators working with middle to late adolescents who want to help their participants engage in identity formation should prioritize teacher-student relationships, novel experiences, and a supportive community.

Background: Research shows that people benefit from having an internally defined belief system and identity to guide their decision-making rather than depending exclusively on external authorities to make choices. Less is known about what types of developmental experiences facilitate progression toward self-authorship, which is a way of being where a person depends on their internally defined beliefs to make decisions and direct their future. Purpose: This study examined an experiential education setting and the influence the setting had on high school students' progression toward self-authorship. Methodology/Approach: We used Pizzolato's open-ended Experience Survey and semi-structured interviews to examine aspects of self-authorship in high school students attending a semester-long experiential education program. Findings/Conclusions: We found students returning from their semester-long program focused on decisions that had a greater impact on their personally defined, long-term identity rather than immediate decisions. In addition, students showed growth in the three domains of self-authorship--epistemological, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. The results could be attributed to the pedagogical approach of the experiential education program. Implications: Educators who seek to provide experiences that support self-authorship could implement developmentally effective practices situated in an experiential learning context.

This study examines semester schools, which have elements associated with transformative learning, and an adolescent population, where transformative learning has less commonly been studied. We administered the Learning Activities Survey pre/post semester (n = 173) and followed the survey with semistructured interviews (n = 30) to assess whether students experienced Mezirow's stages of transformative learning and achieved perspective transformation. Our results suggest that adolescents experience the stages of transformative learning more frequently at semester schools than at their originating schools. However, while students said they achieved perspective transformation on the surveys, interviews revealed that the outcome might better be described as a cycle of identity formation. Students said that the relationships with teachers and students, time for reflection, and the structure of the semester were important to their learning. Specifically, a supportive but challenging environment provided content that they reflected on to gain insight into their values and beliefs.

Finding meaning and purpose is critical to emerging adult development. Work can be a setting primed for meaning-making among emerging adults. Meaningful work is work one believes is significant, positive, and adds meaning and purpose to life. Although a robust meaningful work literature exists, little is known about emerging adults' perceptions of seasonal work settings, like summer camp, as contexts for meaningful work. Through a mixed-methods approach across two studies, we used questionnaires and interviews to collect data from two samples to investigate emerging adult staff's perceptions of camp work as meaningful work. Staff found camp work to be more meaningful than non-camp work, and said camp work was meaningful because of their feelings of making a difference, meaningful connections with others, and personal development at camp. We conclude by discussing recommendations for how administrators might enhance camp work to better position camp as a developmentally effective setting for emerging adults.

Emerging adults engage in a range of education, employment, and other experiences that provide opportunities to build skills necessary for future success. The camp industry employs 1.5 million individuals each summer, and its potential as a setting for development is important to understand. The purpose of this study was to identify the outcomes of camp employment and compare these outcomes across settings. Participants were 254 individuals engaged in a longitudinal study, all of whom were camp staff during summer 2018. This study employed an explanatory sequential design. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using RMANOVAs and paired t-tests. Qualitative data were analyzed using a multi-step coding process including open (survey responses) and utilitarian coding (interviews). Findings indicated emerging adults learned relationship skills, leadership, and appreciation for being present and that camp employment is a rich setting for emerging adults to learn skills they may not learn elsewhere.

Attending summer camp can be a developmentally enriching experience for both campers and camp staff. However, many camps offer programming that is situated between the camper and counselor roles, namely counselor-in-training (CIT) programs. While CIT programs are common, there is a lack of research documenting the form, function, and outcomes of participation in them. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to understand the nature and benefits of camp-based adolescent leadership programs. To inform this purpose, we surveyed CIT program directors and asked them to describe various aspects of their programs. We also collected primary data directly from CIT participants so that we could include participants' perspectives in our study. Results indicated that CITs gained a variety of social and emotional skills from their CIT experience. These findings are discussed and implications for practitioners are proposed.

"Active ingredients" are one way to describe the elements of a program that are responsible for the targeted change in behavior, skill, attitude, or belief (Li & Julian "American Journal of Orthopsychiatry," 82(2), 157-166, 2012). This term assumes a connection between program elements (ingredients) and participant outcomes, and assumes that a typical program includes inactive ingredients that are less directly tied to these outcomes. Delineating active and inactive ingredients will help program providers more effectively train staff and design programs to intentionally target desirable camper outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the ingredients of the camp experience former campers believe most actively contributed to lasting learning. Specifically, we asked 524 former campers between the ages of 18 and 25 to identify the most valuable thing they learned at camp and then to tell us more about the aspects of the camp experience that most directly facilitated this learning. Consistent with the literature, it appears that former campers achieve primarily social-emotional outcomes at camp and that these outcomes are most useful after camp. When asked what at camp fostered these outcomes, participants identified a range of camp features from which we identified active ingredients and their relation to specific outcomes. These include: camp staff and the ways they support campers and serve as role models; camp programming that is novel, active, and provides opportunities to work with peers; a social context that is safe and supportive and fosters interaction among people from different backgrounds; and in overnight camp experiences, separation from home.

Across the nation, many outdoor adventure education programs are becoming shorter in duration. The purpose of this study was to determine if instructors alter targeted course outcomes and course processes because of shorter amounts of student field time. Data collection involved interviews with staff from the Colorado Outward Bound School. Results of this study identify the course outcomes and processes instructors reported to be most affected by course length, as well as the processes instructors identified as most important to best achieve desired course outcomes. This study concludes with a discussion for integration of results into current course design models and offers a revised model for maximizing short course program design.

Transformative learning (TL) theory has rarely been used in outdoor adventure education (OAE) research despite many students describing their courses as transformative. In this study, we applied TL theory to OAE to determine whether the outcomes students reported and the activities and processes used on course produce TL. We surveyed 139 National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) students using the Learning Activities Survey and interviewed 20 about whether they were transformed at NOLS and if so, how they were transformed. Our findings showed that OAE can be a catalyst for TL but it depends on the student and whether they have encountered a disorienting dilemma (or challenge to their usual frames of reference). OAE courses that challenge students while offering a supportive environment and time for reflection are more likely to promote TL. Educators seeking to provide TL should focus on reflection, challenge and support in their curriculum.

Background: The relevance of outdoor adventure education (OAE) programs to diverse participants has been questioned by numerous scholars. Limited research exists about similarities in learning outcomes across categories of difference such as race and socioeconomic status. Purpose: This study focused on understanding how learning outcomes differed between students who did and did not receive scholarships to attend an OAE program and whether students apply what they learn in OAE to their lives similarly. Methodology/Approach: Twenty-one students who enrolled on a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) course between 2010 and 2012 participated in semi-structured interviews 5 years after course completion. Half received scholarships. Participants were matched by course. Findings/Conclusions: Regardless of group, students reported learning comparable lessons and using what they learned in OAE similarly. What differed was the transfer context, meaning the conditions where students applied their learning. Scholarship students do vary demographically from non-scholarship students, but most students in both groups attended college during or after NOLS. This may explain why they applied their learning in similar ways. Implications: OAE practitioners can anticipate that most OAE students will learn the outcomes targeted through the program design and delivery regardless of scholarship status.

Students with low socioeconomic status (SES) are much less likely to participate in out-ofschool-time (OST) activities than their more affluent peers. This "opportunity gap" may have compounding effects, as these activities help develop key noncognitive factors: the skills, beliefs, and behaviors associated with college readiness. College access programs may provide opportunities that are out of reach to students with low SES, including outdoor adventure education (OAE) experiences. This study involved 175 adolescents from a needs-based college access program and examined the relation of participation in a weeklong OAE experience to changes in student attitudes and beliefs, specifically (a) self-efficacy for dealing with challenge and engaging in help-seeking behaviors, (b) growth mindsets toward leadership and emotional regulation, and (c) sense of belonging within a community of learners. The study employed pre- and postcourse measures of noncognitive factors along with in-depth interviews to identify outcomes and converging results from quantitative and qualitative data. Results indicate that OAE participation relates to gains in self-efficacy for dealing with challenge and using help-seeking behavior and reinforces sense of belonging. Interviews identified that the OAE experience provides an emotionally intense and authentic practice setting where students feel impelled to overcome difficulties. Unfamiliarity with the backcountry setting necessitated that students reach out to others for assistance, remain flexible, and adapt to new environments--key skills associated with college success.

Recent research underscores the importance of the skills, beliefs and behaviors that support student achievement in the classroom and beyond. This set of intrapersonal and interpersonal assets (e.g. perseverance, grit, social skills, efficacy beliefs and mind-sets) are often referred to as noncognitive factors, as they are not measured directly by traditional academic assessments. Outdoor adventure education (OAE) is well positioned to deliver these desired outcomes--boosting self-confidence, self-efficacy and social skills while developing leadership and communication competencies. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to better understand the form, function and delivery of an effective OAE program/school partnership targeting factors that support student success. Findings explain how shared OAE experiences among adolescent girls attending the same school contribute to greater social connectedness, self-efficacy in leadership competencies, and a recalibrated sense of self and personal potential.

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) is philosophically rooted in Western values, yet it has been implemented in non-Western cultures, such as East Asia. This paper examines how OAE functions in East Asia, through data from Hong Kong. Although some cultural differences are clear, there is no compelling evidence that OAE cannot provide benefits in Eastern contexts. The data in our example support the premise that OAE can be a viable and valuable medium for the development of social and intrapersonal skills and may serve as a complementary approach to traditional schooling in East Asia. Implications from this paper include better aligning OAE with schools and teachers, understanding the merits of relationships developed through OAE, and appreciating that some traditional OAE practices should be questioned when exported to different cultures.

In 2003, the University of Utah and the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) completed a study that developed a risk management taxonomy in the outdoor adventure industry and assessed how different outdoor expeditionary programs (OEPs) managed risk (Szolosi, Sibthorp, Paisley, & Gookin, 2003). By unifying the language around risk, the goal was that OEPs would be better able to understand how their risk management strategies compared to that of similar organizations; however, to do so, they needed empirical data against which to compare themselves. The study ultimately resulted in the identification and definition of 21 risk management strategies and 15 categories of hazards that OEPs typically encounter. OEPs then completed a survey in which they ranked what strategies they use to manage each hazard. Among the key findings were that larger organizations (defined by budget and user field days) tend to employ more risk management strategies than smaller organizations do. The survey also produced a ranked list of how frequently OEPs use each strategy. Since then, the outdoor industry has largely maintained a focus on the staff team, participants, environment, and equipment as the central areas in which risk can be managed (Dallat, Salmon, & Goode, 2015). Attention to these areas can be seen, for example, in the Meyer and Williamson (1998) accident matrix, which looks at potentially unsafe conditions, potentially unsafe acts, and potential errors in judgment. The accident matrix continues to be widely taught, and one can draw parallels between the categories it attends to and the 2003 survey hazards. The purpose of this study was to update the findings to understand how the use of risk management strategies has changed. A second goal was to identify OEPs' contemporary concerns.

In a society that is becoming more dynamic, complex, and diverse, the ability to solve ill-structured problems (ISPs) has become an increasingly critical skill. Students who enter adult roles with the cognitive skills to address ISPs will be better able to assume roles in the emerging economies. Opportunities to develop and practice these skills are limited in the traditional schooling structures. In contrast, wilderness education is one environment that provides students opportunities to engage with the critical elements that aid in the development of these cognitive skills. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of wilderness education on students' ability to solve ISPs when compared with peers in a traditional classroom setting. Results of this study suggested that students who were engaged in a wilderness education setting showed significant gains in their ISP skills when compared with their peers.

Accuracy in emerging outdoor educators' teaching self-efficacy beliefs is critical to student safety and learning. Overinflated self-efficacy beliefs can result in delayed skilled development or inappropriate acceptance of risk. In an outdoor education context, neglecting the accuracy of teaching self-efficacy beliefs early in an educator's development may impede one's likelihood of being effective. Metacognitive monitoring interventions are a possible approach to help emerging outdoor educators accurately calibrate their teaching self-efficacy beliefs. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a metacognitive intervention on the accuracy of emerging outdoor educators' teaching self-efficacy beliefs. Results indicate metacognitive monitoring appears to significantly improve the accuracy of emerging outdoor educators' teaching self-efficacy beliefs. In contrast, control group participants appeared to consistently overestimate their likelihood of success across all domains of teaching outdoor education, thus further demonstrating the need for interventions to help emerging outdoor educators calibrate their teaching self-efficacy beliefs.

In this study of 227 students enrolled on 30-day backpacking courses, we examined how certain demographic factors relate to status within the task (goal-related) and social (interpersonal) domains of group functioning. Of particular interest were socioeconomic status (SES) and gender. Using a mixed methods approach, we found that female students had less status in task-based and social contexts, even when controlling for previous experience. Students with low SES had lower status than did their peers in the task-based contexts, but this difference disappeared when also considering previous multinight backpacking experience. As we expected, sources of status differed based on the situational context, with competence driving status for task-based contexts and interpersonal relationships taking precedence in social situations. The findings have important implications for practice in outdoor adventure education, as student demographics change and programs seek greater diversity in a field in which students are traditionally White and male.

Learners thrive when they have the capacity to regulate interest and goal direction. Through direct experiences that are interesting and goal-relevant, learners can internalize and better understand their own agency in the learning process. This article further examines this premise in an outdoor adventure education (OAE) context through two interrelated studies. The aim of the first study was to investigate the potential of OAE to afford more frequent experiences that are interesting and goal-relevant. The aim of the second study was to build on the findings from the first study and determine if exposure to OAE programs might lead to more self-directed learning. The results partially support the premise that OAE can foster experiential self-regulation.

The article focuses on benchmarking strategies used to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at summer camps in the U.S. Topics include assessing DEI policies and practices, recruiting underrepresented campers, and training staff to promote inclusion, aiming to establish benchmarks for effective DEI practices and enhance camp experiences for diverse youth.

Summer camp is a common seasonal employment setting for emerging adults in North America (American Camp Association, 2016), and although scholars have identified camp as a developmental setting for youth participants (e.g., Garst et al., 2009), far less is known about camp as a developmental employment setting that supports emerging adults' identity development (Johnson et al., 2011; Povilaitis & Sibthorp, 2022; Warner, Godwin et al., 2021). Using narrative identity as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to compare the meaning emerging adults associated with camp employment and non-camp employment, as well as examine the developmental characteristics of employment linked to how emerging adults make meaning about these experiences. To this end, former emerging adult summer camp staff (N = 66) were asked to share an account of a specific experience that made them think about who they were and who they wanted to become when working at a camp and a non-camp employment setting. Participants were also asked to identify whether developmental characteristics were present for each employment setting. The results suggested that there was evidence of more complex meaning-making in participants' accounts of camp employment than their accounts of non-camp employment experiences. The results also suggested that when participants reported having supportive coworkers and feeling they made a difference their camp employment narratives contained more evidence of complex meaning-making than the narratives of participants that did not report these characteristics. No developmental characteristics were significant predictors of meaning-making complexity present in non-camp employment narratives. The results provide support for camp employment as a developmental setting by identifying characteristics linked to the meaning emerging adults draw from their experiences working in this setting. Camp administrators may use these results as evidence of the potential non-monetary value of camp employment. Further, these results suggest that when emerging adult staff perceive their camp employment as having a supportive social environment and providing them opportunities to make a difference, the seasonal employment experience is more likely to become an experience that supports their development. These key findings can be used to communicate the value of camp employment to potential employees and those advising them, such as parents or mentors; further, increasing the perceived value of camp employment amongst current staff members only serves to bolster the advocacy for camp work as a developmental setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning transfer and prosocial behavior (PSB) are critical components of many outdoor education programs for adolescents. This study examined the effects of a theoretically grounded treatment curriculum designed to foster the transfer of learning of general and contextual PSB (also called expedition behavior) among adolescents enrolled on 14-day backpacking courses with the National Outdoor Leadership School. Results suggest that the treatment curriculum increased proximal learning of PSB more than courses that featured the traditional curriculum. Qualitative results suggested that students learned PSB primarily as a result of its relevance to the expedition environment, that it is most useful when working with or understanding others, and that it can be applied to multiple contexts post-course, including with family, at school, and with sport teams. Implications for designing a curriculum that fosters transfer and for developing PSB in participants are considered.

Many components of the social system interact with one another to produce group-level behavior that determines the functionality of the small group in outdoor adventure education (OAE). This article synthesizes the contemporary literature and theory regarding eight aspects of the OAE social system: (a) Macro Contextual Factors, (b) Student Factors, (c) Instructor Factors, (d) Goals, (e) Group Factors, (f) Group Outcomes, (g) Group Dependent Individual Outcomes, and (h) Time. Directions for future research and implications for OAE are discussed.

Liminal spaces occur separately from everyday life and are important to human development. Due to increased technological connectivity, young people are rarely separated from their home lives. Understanding young adulthood is a transitional time and summer camps can be settings for development, the purpose of this study was to understand the nature of summer camp employment as a liminal space. Individuals from a national (USA) study of summer camp employment (n = 77, M age = 21.3) participated in in-depth interviews. Participants were 77.9% White (n = 60), 9.1% Black or African American, 9.1% Multi-Racial, 2.6% Asian, and 1.3% Latinx. About 64.9% identified as female (n = 50), 33.8% identified as male, and 1.3% identified as gender non-conforming. Interview transcripts were inductively analyzed using thematic coding. Participants described camp as a liminal space with four dimensions of separation: physical, psychological, social, and technological. They also described experiencing a liminal time of life. In combination, the separation and time-of-life dimensions created an experience of liminal intensity manifested through a closed social system, blurred boundaries between work and non-work life, and increased autonomy. A revised conceptualization of liminal space is suggested and considerations regarding liminal intensity for young people are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LGBTQ+, racial/ethnic minorities, youth from low-income contexts, and youth with cognitive and/or physical disabilities often face constraints to access and participation based on social and structural inequality. Understanding access and inclusion in summertime recreation program and camp settings for LGBTQ+, racial/ethnic minorities, individuals from low-income contexts, and individuals with disabilities begins with examining promising practices and policies already applied in some of these settings. The purpose of this study is to compile current promising practices implemented by youth-serving summertime recreation programs and camps recognized for their work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice (DEIRJ). Representatives from national organizations and more localized summertime programs and camps were interviewed to compile current promising practices. The results include general recommendations as well as recommendations aimed at populations of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationships are a critical component to the experience of an outdoor adventure education (OAE) program, therefore, more fruitful ways of investigating groups is needed. Social network analysis (SNA) is an effective tool to study the relationship structure of small groups. This paper provides an explanation of SNA and shows how it was used by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) to understand the relationship patterns among different course compositions with students receiving and not receiving scholarships (course compositions included two students, 50% of students, and all students receiving scholarship). Data were collected from three 30-day courses at three different time points throughout the course and were based on two dimensions of cohesion (social and task). The findings suggest that the most homogeneous group (in regard to scholarship recipients) possessed greater social cohesion and the least homogenous group possessed greater task cohesion. Social network analysis should be used more frequently in OAE because it offers a flexible approach to understand groups and group processes.

Experiential learning techniques can be helpful in fostering learning transfer. Techniques such as project-based learning, reflective learning, and cooperative learning provide authentic platforms for developing rich learning experiences. In contrast to more didactic forms of instruction, experiential learning techniques foster a depth of learning and cognitive recall necessary for transfer. This chapter describes how experiential learning techniques can be used to encourage transfer of learning. First, the authors describe several of the key characteristics of experiential education and experiential learning. Second, they briefly summarize literature on learning transfer and experiential learning techniques. Third, they provide three examples of how experiential techniques may be integrated into adult education to optimize transfer in adult learning contexts. By the conclusion of the chapter, the reader will have a clear sense of how experiential techniques may be leveraged for transfer with adult learners. (Contains 1 table.)

This study examined trust development between participants of outdoor education programs and outdoor leaders. Participants were college students enrolled in outdoor education courses. Using a factorial survey design, the technical ability, interpersonal ability, benevolence, integrity, and gender of an outdoor leader was displayed randomly in a series of scenarios. Along with these leader attributes, the scenarios included two hypothetical situations that occur in outdoor education settings. Participants also completed a measure of dispositional optimism. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling, which revealed that displays of a leader's technical ability, interpersonal ability, benevolence, and integrity each influenced trust scores positively. Implications for future research and for outdoor leadership practice are discussed. (Contains 2 figures, 1 table, and 1 footnote.)

Transfer of learning from adventure programs remains of critical interest to adventure education professionals. Although some research has investigated what transfers, notably less has focused on mechanisms that might influence transfer. This paper explores the mechanisms of transfer reported by a stratified random sample of National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) alumni. The 538 participants reported that instructors (through a variety of means), inherent qualities of the adventure courses (e.g., group dynamics, natural setting), and curriculum (e.g., leadership progression) were critical mechanisms of transfer. Some of the literature-based mechanisms were not evident in the data; however, some (e.g., active learning, feedback) are inherent in adventure education. Thus, adventure education programs may inherently foster learning transfer through a variety of both data- and literature-based means. Ultimately, learning transfer is complex and highly individual; astute adventure educators should intentionally use a wide spectrum of techniques and tools, ranging from group dynamics to curriculum, when considering transfer in adventure education. (Contains 2 figures.)

To be effective, experiential educators need to understand the developmental characteristics of their students so that they can tailor their programs to their capabilities. Often, their primary population consists of teens or college students. Recognizing that learning is a primary objective of experiential education programs, experiential educators can specifically enhance their effectiveness by understanding their students' intellectual processes. Building from the work of Piaget and Kohlberg, Perry (1999) provides a theoretical framework for understanding the knowledge construction of collegiate students. He identifies three "positions" of learning: Dualism (knowledge is quantitative--i.e., memorized facts--and must come from an authority knower); Multiplicity (different views of knowledge can be potentially correct before the answer is known); and Relativism (opinions of peers and non-authorities are considered and weighed in with the authority knower). The purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of Perry's model of intellectual differentiation to participants in an experiential education setting. (Contains 1 figure.)

A critical element in lifelong learning is the self-regulation of motivation to learn. Learners without motivation to learn lack the drive to actively engage with ideas and content, even if they have the ability to learn. Motivation for sustained engagement can be considered a combination of goal-relevant motivation and experience-defined motivation (i.e., the degree of interest in the process; Sansone, 2009; Sansone & Thoman, 2006). Through experience, individuals learn to regulate these two sources of motivation to create more sustained and optimal levels of motivation and engagement. Such regulation leads to more optimal engagement and greater sustained effort, and is critical when considering learning. Given the recent work on lifelong learners and the self-regulation of motivation, experiential education appears well suited to provide experiences that offer optimal engagement and, ultimately, influence motivation for future learning. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to determine the effects of an experiential learning semester on both optimal engagement and orientation toward lifelong learning. (Contains 1 figure.)

Despite operating on the periphery of academic scholarship, adventure-based programs can serve as the prototype for how organized and structured youth development programs should function. Although there are clearly differences in adventure programs and other youth activities, many of the qualities of adventure programs can and should be intentionally included in a broader and more accessible spectrum of youth opportunities. Therefore, this article has two primary aims: (1) to explicate the congruency between the current literature on positive youth development and adventure programs; and (2) to generalize current tenets of adventure programs to the broader context of youth practice. (Contains 35 notes.)

Establishing trusting relationships between leaders and participants is one way that outdoor leaders can create an emotionally safe and productive milieu that supports the attainment of desirable outcomes. Multidisciplinary literature offers considerable insight into leader trust development and the outcomes that are linked to trust in a leader. This paper considers the contributions of that literature and offers findings from two studies that examined how outdoor leaders might gain the trust of participants. The results of these two studies suggest that participants develop trust in outdoor leaders in response to displays of both leader ability and character. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

Do researchers make a difference with the research they conduct? Most people would like to think so. In this paper, the author argues that much of the research conducted by researchers is guided primarily by personal interests and needs and not because of professional needs or identified gaps in knowledge. The author also argues that experiential education researchers might want to consider program quality as a central theme for future research rather than participant outcomes. The author describes some keys to helping experiential education research make a difference.