Effects of wilderness-based programming and facilitated reflection on social self-efficacy among college students in freshman orientation

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Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Health
Department Parks, Recreation, & Tourism
Author Zimmer, Thomas Joseph
Title Effects of wilderness-based programming and facilitated reflection on social self-efficacy among college students in freshman orientation
Date 2007-05-16
Description This study examined the effectiveness of four college orientation programs on social self-efficacy beliefs among 158 college students. It was hypothesized that an outdoor orientation would increase social self-efficacy more than an on-campus orientation, and that an orientation with facilitated reflection would increase social selfefficacy more than a traditional orientation. Students chose between an on-campus and a wilderness-based orientation. Then, the students were randomly selected into a control or treatment group within both the on-campus and wilderness orientations. Outdoor orientations involved multiple days of a specific adventure activity (i.e., rock climbing, rafting, kayaking, mountaineering) located away from the college campus. These wilderness settings provide an environment that pushes students into social interactions, which can positively increase social self-efficacy. On the other hand, on-campus orientations involved speeches, skits, group initiatives, academic advising, and other activities located on the college campus. The treatment for both wilderness based and on-campus orientations consisted of the same daily activities as the control group; however, at the end of the second day the treatment groups participated in facilitated reflective provided by the orientation staff. This allowed students to learn from each other and see other student's perspectives, which can increase social self-efficacy. Students in all four orientations increased their social self-efficacy scores; however, significant differences between orientations types were not found. Although the two hypotheses were not supported, both on-campus and wilderness orientations were found to increase social self-efficacy.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject College student orientation; Outdoor education
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name MS
Language eng
Relation is Version of Digital reproduction of "Effects of wilderness-based programming and facilitated reflection on social self-efficacy among college students in freshman orientation" J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections LB7.5 2007 .Z54
Rights Management © Thomas Joseph Zimmer
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 54,259 bytes
Identifier us-etd2,122857
Source Original: University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections
Conversion Specifications Original scanned on Epson GT-30000 as 400 dpi to pdf using ABBYY FineReader 9.0 Professional Edition.
ARK ark:/87278/s6s18h24
Setname ir_etd
ID 193324
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6s18h24