Abstract
As we come to the final issue of 2016, December 39(4), this also ends our 6-year run as editors of the Journal of Experiential Education (JEE). In its 40th volume, Dr. Jayson Seaman of the University of New Hampshire (USA) will take the helm and guide the JEE onwards and upwards. We are proud of what we have accomplished during our term: the JEE transitioned from an internal publication within AEE to a journal supported by international publishing house SAGE; the JEE moved to 4 issues a year – a major step forward in better disseminating experiential education research in a timely fashion and gaining some degree of impact factor in scholarly circles; and the JEE increased its readership/presence internationally by leaps and bounds, in part because the journal team drove that agenda, but also due to the relationship with SAGE.
We are pleased with where we’ve come, but also excited to support future growth under new editorial leadership and whatever change that may bring. With issue 39(4) we celebrate some topics that could be considered ‘old’ standards, outdoor adventure education, we see some emerging strengths in outdoor orientation program research, but we also celebrate some new ways forward with service learning and better sharing the evidence of our interventions. The five articles in this issue share knowledge from the United Kingdom, Canada, the USA, and Guatemala with a broad range of research participants and partnerships.
This issue begins with Cooley, Burns and Cumming’s study, which investigates the initial development of group work skills through outdoor adventure education. It examines the factors that predict the extent of this development, using the first two levels of Kirkpatrick’s model of training evaluation. University students completed a battery of tests and showed high levels of enjoyment and satisfaction with outdoor adventure education, as well as significant self-reported improvements in the use of group work skills, attitudes toward group work, and group work self-efficacy. Some readers may suggest these findings to be unremarkable or to be expected, but without the empirical evidence to share even the expected outcomes, the field of outdoor adventure education may continue to lack the resources to grow.
The second article by Ribbe, Cyrus and Langan adds to the growing body of literature on outdoor orientation programming. In this study, two research questions were asked regarding the transition into college: Does involvement in outdoor orientation programs improve adaptation to college? And, are there differences in adaptation between different types of outdoor orientation programs, such as wilderness trips, camp-based or urban-based? The study completed measures of adaptation to college with over 400 incoming students, who had both experienced an outdoor orientation program or not, and examined the first 8 weeks of their collegiate experience. Results indicate significant differences between the two groups (participants and non-participants) in overall adaptation to college, social adaptation, and attachment to the institution, yet few differences dependant on the type of outdoor orientation program.
McBride, Chung and Robertson examine the effectiveness of preventing disciplinary incidents in middle school by using an experiential, social and emotional learning program. A community youth development organization, two public middle schools in low-income communities and a local university collaborated to design and deliver the program to all seventh-grade students within social studies curricula. The article describes the design of the intervention and its effect on students’ suspensions, skipping class, and failing grades. Results indicate that a school-based, social and emotional learning program, with a service learning component may reduce disciplinary incidents for middle school students.
The fourth article in this issue shares a study that investigated the impact of a one-semester outdoor education program on adolescents’ perceived self-authorship. McGowan used the Self-Authorship Questionnaire (SAQ) on two Canadian high school, one-semester, outdoor education programs. Analysis of paired t tests of the intervention phase showed gains in three of four SAQ dimensions (situational coping, interpersonal leadership, and self-efficacy) as well as in overall SAQ scores.
Finally, Gass, Gough, Armas, and Dolcino report on the essential elements of the Play for Peace program, a violence prevention intervention used in Guatemala since 1998. Gass et al. examined how it creates change in participants, and how it is successfully implemented in communities. Using an intrinsic case study research design, data was collected through participant observation and interviews, and a multi-level experiential learning model emerged. This model focused on empowering individuals to be actively contributing and civically responsible citizens, striving with a strong will to achieve and maintain the peaceful coexistence of a nonviolent community (i.e., a culture of “voluntad y convivencia”).
So with this letter we bid the JEE adieu. We will continue to manage the journal until the end of the year, but we will now begin to transition some of our activities to Jayson – for what we hope will be a seamless hand off. On behalf of the JEE Editorial Team, we hope you enjoy the read, and thank you for the ability to shape the field from the Editors’ chair since 2010.