This study offers insights regarding the tactics used by institutions to implement and sustain service-learning at various levels of commitment as identified by Holland (1997). An analysis of data collected from 12 directors of service-learning centers provides a description of common practices associated with implementing and sustaining…

Outdoor leaders function in naturalistic decision-making contexts and may be influenced by personal, social, and environmental factors in making critical decisions in the field. The experience level of the outdoor instructor is posited as a critical variable in the development of his/her decision-making and overall judgment. This research measures…

This research assessed effects of brief wilderness programs on adolescents' self-concepts, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and environmental attitudes and contrasted effects for adolescents in five racial groups. A pretest-posttest design compared adolescents who participated in wilderness outings (n = 67) with adolescents on a waiting…

The use of intuition in educational decisions disposes educators to emotional arousal and biases. An excessively methodical approach is also criticized. This study tested a decision-making procedure, the Simple Decision Process (SDP), that integrates both approaches. One hundred and seventy four teachers studied a number of dilemmas (i.e.,…

The concurrent conditions of deafness and blindness present a set of unique needs within a community that highly values independence and autonomy. This project assesses the service-learning initiative in a post-secondary Interpreter Education Program (IEP) in which students learn via civic engagement with the Deaf-Blind community to employ…

This study analyzes a project involving students enrolled in an intercultural communication class that employs service-learning. Participants were given the Generalized Ethnocentrism (GENE) scale developed by Neuliep and McCroskey at the beginning and conclusion of a semester of service-learning with a cultural group different than their own.…

The Lyme Bay kayaking incident of 1993, in which four children died, led to an Act of Parliament and the introduction by the British Government of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA), a body established to regulate adventurous recreational and educational outdoor activities. The perception at the time, a view to which some …

This paper reports on a study conducted in a service-learning protected-areas management class at Colorado State University, Warner College of Natural Resources. The research questions addressed for this paper were "What are the leadership skills needed in today's culture of protected-area management?" and "Can service-learning nurture such…

The purpose of this article is to describe the results of an action-research, service-learning project aimed at increasing and enhancing urban students' knowledge and motivation to learn. The project was an extension of the students' classroom experience through a community-based, service-learning project. The study sought understanding of how…

This study evaluated the effects of a one-day ropes course on students' classroom involvement and affiliation. Middle and junior high school students who participated in the ropes course were from classes designed for students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Using the Classroom Environment Scale (CES) Short Form, students evaluated…

This qualitative study examined how participation in an extensive all-female wilderness program challenged conventional notions of femininity for adolescent girls. Interviews were conducted 4 to 5 months and 15 to 18 months after completion of a 23-day canoe expedition. Additional data collection included a focus group, a public presentation,…

This study explored the concept of outdoor leadership from the perspectives of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership. Levels of emotional intelligence, multifactor leadership, outdoor experience, and social desirability were examined using 46 individuals designated as outdoor leaders. The results revealed a number of unique…

Many people believe in the value of outdoor experiential education opportunities such as organized camps for youth, but few instruments have been developed to measure the central youth development outcomes of camp. The purpose of this paper is to present the psychometric properties including the internal consistency and validity of scales designed…

Educators continually seek effective strategies to address the educational needs of students. Two popular strategies are service-learning and after-school programs. The purpose of this study was to begin to explore the value of embedding service-learning into after-school programs. This study utilized a historical database and compared two groups…

Many studies have been designed to understand effects of challenge courses and their benefits. Few studies, however, have been conducted to understand participants' perceptions of these programs. In this study, 16 adults working at a dental office attended a one-day challenge course program designed to teach lessons about communication. Data were…