24 Importance of Outdoor Education to Earth Sciences (Posters)

Thursday, 20 March 2008
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM

YEAR TWO FINDINGS OF THE DISCOVER MOJAVE OUTDOOR WORLD PROGRAM

Paper number: 24-7
Program: THEME SESSIONS
Time: 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

Discover Mojave Outdoor World is a hands-on outdoor recreation program for urban, economically disadvantaged youth. In Year One of the program, knowledge, attitude, and performance assessments were developed to document the effectiveness of program events over the duration of the program. Five half-day activities were developed called (1) Wetlands Bird Safari, (2) Fun with Fishing, (3) Kids in Kayaks, (4), Adventures in Art, and (5) Cool Canoeing. Each event provided students with an opportunity to visit a local outdoor park or public land site.

Year One findings revealed that knowledge, attitudes, and performance increased substantially as a result of participating in the outdoor recreation events. The assessment plan was modified in Year Two by creating assessments for teachers and parents. Findings from Year Two's assessment plan again demonstrated the effectiveness of Discover Mojave Outdoor World in that participants' knowledge, attitudes, and performance increased over the course of program events. Additionally, results demonstrated that teachers and parents had very favorable attitudes towards the program.