Case Studies
How Experiential Learning Can Work for You
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| Challenge: Statistics show that the aging of the baby boom cohort will double the older population to 70 million by 2030, representing nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. population. A growing number of adults over the age of 50 have the time, health, and discretionary income to participate in leisure activities, with many older adults interested in outdoor recreation programming. Yet the availability of outdoor recreation programs designed specifically for this population is sparse. |
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Solution: Design, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive outdoor adventure recreation program deigned specifically for adults over 50. The program consists of hiking, kayaking, and snowshoeing through a range of introductory workshops, beginner lessons and day trips, and more advanced overnight programs. Collaborate with New Hampshire Audubon and Catholic Medical Center of Manchester, New Hampshire to attract older adults with exciting, innovative programming. View the program at OutdoorVenturesNH.com. |
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| Challenge: The Singapore Ministry of Education supports designing citizenship curriculum for all students. The Head of the Outdoor Education Division requests a system wide outdoor education school program that supports academics and whose outcomes include the designment of positive values, healthy lifestyle, and community service in school children from primary school through junior college. |
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| Solution: Design a year-long outdoor education program instituted at the primary, secondary, and junior college levels; coordinate logistics in nine school during the first year; train classroom teachers to facilitate the program; evaluate the impact of the program on participants. Based on the results of the evaluation, plan on implementing the program in 20 more schools the following year. | |
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| Challenge: Staff at a non-profit organization working with at-risk youth lacks the skills to effectively plan active, engaging programs for clients. |
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| Solution: Deliver an experiential training to help staff understand the theory and concepts of program design and implementation. Staff works in small groups designing actual programs to be utilized in the organization to help solidify learning. | |
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| Challenge: An outdoor education organization that teaches outdoor skills to people with disabilities receives a grant from the Department of Education to evaluate the impact of outdoor programming on people with disabilities. The participants have cognitive impairments resulting in low reading abilities and the inability to comprehend complex rating scales. |
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Solution: Design a paper and pencil survey instrument with easily read questions and simple visual answers. Participants read the question ("I made a new friend today") and circle one of three faces: If participants are unable to read, the question is read to them and they circle their answer independently. |
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| Challenge: A prestigious environmental education center receives a donation with the stipulation that the center purchase a pair of binoculars for all summer camp participants and teach them about the local environment through birding. Future funding from the donor is dependent on whether or not the center can prove that the campers learned about and developed positive attitudes about the environment. |
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| Solution: Design a survey instrument that evaluates camper's skill in birding and attitudes about the environment related to birding; implement a pre- and post-program evaluation; statistically analyze data and present findings to camp administrators. | |
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