Background: Summer camp is an experiential learning setting that supports youth development. Due to high fees, youth from low-income backgrounds often have fewer opportunities to attend. Subsequently, there is little literature about these youth's camp experiences. Purpose: This research examined growth and the characteristics supporting growth in…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many facets of outdoor adventure and experiential education (OAEE) programs. Using past literature, four variables represent important student outcome variables associated with OAEE programs. Purpose: This study examined the effects of participation in an OAEE program on levels of anxiety, depression,…

Background: A Green school (GS) is one way to attempt to reduce the environmental crisis. Teaching in green schools, which is established on a place-based education (PBE) approach that adopts outdoor and experiential learning, should provide students with a holistic view of the environmental crisis that connects local processes to global…

Background: Continuing education programs for teachers seek to enhance outcomes for participants and their students. Experiential wilderness-based programs offer outdoor-recreational activities and experiential teaching initiatives. Research needs to be conducted to reveal how they influence individual behaviors. Purpose: This research…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way the world works and experiential and adventure education programs are no exception. These changes have significantly affected various outdoor adventure and experiential education (OAEE) programs and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Purpose: To explore changes in outcome…

Background: Experiential educators face difficulties assessing participants and programs because there are so many measurement tools to choose from, many measures have validity issues such as those based on self-reported data, objective tests may not adequately measure social or psychological outcomes, and tests in content disciplines often assess…

Background: Youth expeditions are regarded as beneficial and even "life-changing" experiences for young people, however the evidence on their perceived long-term impact is limited. Purpose: The purpose of this research was to examine the perceived long-term influence of expeditions in participants' lives 29 and more years after going on…

Background: Summer camps can promote positive youth development. Unfortunately, racial, ethnic, and economic disparities contribute to inequities in camp participation and related research on marginalized youth. Consequently, it is not clear what types of camping programs work best for marginalized youth. Purpose: To conduct a quasi-experimental…

Background: Summer camp is proposed as a context to enhance prosocial behavior. This context could be used to apply intervention programs, in addition to being a time of fun and conviviality. A camp-based intervention program to increase empathy was administered for adolescents at risk. Purpose: The aim of this study was to apply and evaluate a…

Background: Career-focused education programs in the United States increasingly emphasize 21st century workplace readiness. These programs use project-based learning to develop a holistic, noncognitive skillset linked to an entrepreneurial mindset. Purpose: This study assesses the relationship between entrepreneurial mindset development and…

Background: The State University of New York (SUNY), the nation's largest comprehensive public university system, recently proposed making experiential learning activities available to all students enrolled in an academic program. Each campus was tasked with examining the feasibility of including experiential learning activities as a degree…

Violence prevention is a key focus for many intervention programs, yet little is known about how or why certain programs are able to successfully produce effective prevention efforts. The purpose of this study was to identify the essential elements of the Play for Peace (PFP) program, how it creates change in participants, and how it is…

This study investigates the initial development of groupwork skills through outdoor adventure education (OAE) and the factors that predict the extent of this development, using the first two levels of Kirkpatrick's model of training evaluation. University students (N = 238) completed questionnaires measuring their initial reactions to OAE (Level 1…

With roots in experiential education and Outward Bound, wilderness therapy (WT) is a growing field of mental health care for youth. WT uses outdoor modalities combined with therapeutic interventions to assist youth to promote clinical changes. Previous research has shown it to be effective in improving the mental health of clients; however, little…

This research study examined the extent of long-term participation in Girls on the Run (GOTR), an experiential learning program for pre-adolescent girls, and its effect on healthy living and self-esteem. To explore these relationships, an exploratory, mixed-methods study was conducted, which involved open- and closed-ended surveys and interviews.…