Beth asks about research about participants that have had
previous residential experience and their experience of
subsequent outdoor programmes.
I recall (but can't give a reference for) research that shows
that longer term outdoor programmes have more impact on personal
development. There is nothing too surprising about such a
finding! But I suspect that programmes with facilitated groupwork
and with clear personal development goals and follow-up work
have a far greater impact than programmes which are
simply a prolonged exposure to outdoor activities. Research to
support the above points will be found in van Van Welzenis (1992)
'City Bound ...' which is summarised in 'Why Adventure' (page 12)
see: http://reviewing.co.uk/wad.htm
My own research study in Outdoor Management Development did
include interviews with managers who had been on previous OMD
courses. One person valued the fact that the course confirmed
their previous learning AND took them into new territory. Another
person expressed doubt that they would learn anything new, and
surprised himself when he did. I wasn't looking at this
particular
issue but I think my research would suggest that prior experience
of a similar course INcreases the chances of valuable outcomes.
It is probably important that the learners I interviewed had
greater
responsibility for design and direction from one course to the
next.
So opportunities for progression of some kind are probably an
important ingredient for subsequent courses to have maximum
impact and value. The Van Welzenis study would support this view.
All a bit thin and speculative, I'm afraid. I hope others may
have something more concrete in response to your question, Beth.
Roger Greenaway
Reviewing Skills Training
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http://reviewing.co.uk
Save a bit of rainforest - just by going to
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