![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
In a society that is becoming more dynamic, complex, and diverse, the ability to solve ill-structured problems (ISPs) has become an increasingly critical skill. Students who enter adult roles with the cognitive skills to address ISPs will be better able to assume roles in the emerging economies. Opportunities to develop and practice these skills are limited in the traditional schooling structures. In contrast, wilderness education is one environment that provides students opportunities to engage with the critical elements that aid in the development of these cognitive skills. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of wilderness education on students’ ability to solve ISPs when compared with peers in a traditional classroom setting. Results of this study suggested that students who were engaged in a wilderness education setting showed significant gains in their ISP skills when compared with their peers.
References
Section:
|
Atchley, R. A., Strayer, D. L., Atchley, P. (2012). Creativity in the wild: Improving creative reasoning through immersion in natural settings. PLoS ONE, 7(12), e51474. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051474 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Bixler, B. A. (2007). The effects of scaffolding student’s problem-solving process via question prompts on problem solving and intrinsic motivation in an online learning environment (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest. (3284910) Google Scholar | |
|
Brown, M. (2010). Transfer: Outdoor adventure education’s Achilles heel? Changing participation as a viable option. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 14, 13-22. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Chen, C. H. (2010). Promoting college students’ knowledge acquisition and ill-structured problem solving: Web-based integration and procedure prompts. Computers & Education, 55, 292-303. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Choi, I., Lee, K. (2008). Designing and implementing a case-based learning environment for enhancing ill-structured problem solving: Classroom management problems for prospective teachers. Educational Technology Research & Development, 57, 99-129. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Collins, R. (2014). The effect of an extended wilderness education experience on ill-structured problem-solving skill development in emerging adult students (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://content.lib.utah.edu/utils/getfile/collection/etd3/id/2792/filename/2793.pdf Google Scholar | |
|
Ewert, A., McAvoy, L. (2000). The effects of wilderness settings on organized groups: A state-of-knowledge paper. In McCool, S. F., Cole, D. N., Borrie, W. T., O’Laughlin, J. (Eds.), Wilderness science in a time of change conference: Wilderness as a place for scientific inquiry (RMRS-P-15, Vol. 3, pp. 13-26). Missoula, MT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Google Scholar | |
|
Field, A. P. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.). London, England:Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Fleming, V. M., Alexander, J. M. (2001). The benefits of peer collaboration: A replication of delayed posttest. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 26, 588-601. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Galloway, S. (2002). Theoretical cognitive differences in expert and novice outdoor leader decision-making: Implication for training and development. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 2, 19-28. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Ge, X. (2001). Scaffolding students’ problem-solving process on an ill-structured task using prompts and peer interaction (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest. (3016657) Google Scholar | |
|
Ge, X., Chen, C., Davis, K. A. (2005). Scaffolding novice instructional designers’ problem-solving processes using question prompts in a web-based learning environment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 33, 219-248. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Gookin, J., Leach, S. (2009). Leadership educator notebook: A toolbox for leadership educators (5th ed.). Lander, WY: National Outdoor Leadership School. Google Scholar | |
|
Hattie, J. A., Marsh, H. W., Neill, J. T., Richards, G. E. (1997). Adventure education and outward bound: Out-of-class experiences that make a lasting difference. Review of Educational Research, 67, 43-87. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Jausovec, N. (1994). Metacognition in creative problem solving. In Runco, M. A. (Ed.), Problem finding, problem finding, and creativity (pp. 77-98). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Google Scholar | |
|
Johnson, S. (2006). The neuroscience of the mentor-learner relationship. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 110, 12-29. Google Scholar | |
|
Jonassen, D. H. (1997). Instructional design models for well-structured and ill-structured problem-solving learning outcomes. Educational Technology Research & Development, 45(1), 65-94. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Jonassen, D. H. (2000). Toward a design theory of problem solving. Educational Technology Research & Development, 48(4), 63-85. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Jonassen, D. H. (2004). Learning to solve problems: An instructional guide. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Google Scholar | |
|
Jostad, J., Paisley, K., Gookin, J. (2012). Wilderness-based semester learning: Understanding the NOLS experience. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, 4, 16-26. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Kaufman, J. C., Kaufman, S. B., Lichtenberger, E. O. (2011). Finding creative potential on intelligence tests via divergent production. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 26, 83-106. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
King, P. M., Kitchener, K. S. (2002). The reflective judgment model: Twenty years of research on epistemic cognition. In Hofer, B. K., Pintrich, P. R. (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 37-61). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Google Scholar | |
|
Kitchener, K., King, P. (1990). The reflective judgment model: Ten years of research. In Commons, M. L., Armon, C., Kohlberg, L., Richards, F. A., Grotzer, T. A., Sinnott, J. D. (Eds.), Adult development: Models and methods in the study of adolescent and adult thought (Vol. 2, pp. 63-78). Westport, CT: Praeger. Google Scholar | |
|
Labouvie-Vief, G. (2006). Emerging structure of adult thought. In Arnett, J., Tanner, J. (Eds.), Emerging adult in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 59-84). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Lewis, M. (2000). The promise of dynamic systems approaches for an integrated account of human development. Child Development, 71, 36-43. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Lubart, T. I., Mouchiroud, C. (2003). Creativity: A source of Difficulty in Problem Solving. In Davidson, J. E., Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.), The psychology of problem solving (pp. 127-148). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
McCaffrey, T. (2012). Innovation relies on the obscure: A key to overcoming the classic problem of functional fixedness. Psychological Science, 23, 215-218. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
McKenzie, M. (2003). Beyond “The outward bound process”: Rethinking student learning. The Journal of Experiential Education, 26, 8-23. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Morra, S., Gobbo, C., Marini, Z., Sheese, R. (2008). Cognitive development: Neo-piagetian perspectives. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum. Google Scholar | |
|
Mumford, M. D., Costanza, D. P., Threlfall, K. V., Baughman, W. A., Reiter-Palmon, R. (1993). Personality variables and problem-construction activities: An exploratory investigation. Creativity Research Journal, 6, 365-389. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Murgatroyd, S. (2010). “Wicked problems” and the work of the school. European Journal of Education, 45, 259-279. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Perry, W. (1999). Forms of ethical and intellectual development in the college years: A scheme. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (Original work published 1970) Google Scholar | |
|
Resnick, L. (1987). Education and learning to think. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Sakofs, M., Armstrong, G. P. (1996). Into the classroom: The outward bound approach to teaching and learning. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. Google Scholar | |
|
Sibthorp, J., Arthur-Banning, S. (2004). Developing life effectiveness through adventure education: The roles of participant expectations, perceptions of empowerment, and learning relevance. Journal of Experiential Education, 27, 32-50. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Sibthorp, J., Paisley, K., Gookin, J. (2007). Exploring participant development through adventure-based programming: A model from the National Outdoor Leadership School. Leisure Sciences, 29, 1-18. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Sternberg, R. J., Kaufman, J. C., Pretz, J. E. (2002). The creativity conundrum: A propulsion model of kinds of creative contributions. New York, NY: Psychology Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Strough, J., Cheng, S., Swenson, L. (2002). Preferences for collaborative and individual everyday problem solving in later adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26, 26-35. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Tanner, J., Arnett, J., Leis, J. (2008). Emerging adulthood: Learning and development during the first stage of adulthood. In Smith, M. C., DeFrates-Densch, N. (Eds.), Handbook of research on adult learning and development (pp. 34-67). New York, NY: Routledge. Google Scholar | |
|
Viadero, D. (1997, May). Adventure programs found to have lasting positive impact. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1997/05/07/32adven.h16.html Google Scholar | |
|
Wurdinger, S. D., Carlson, J. A. (2010). Teaching for experiential learning: Five approaches that work. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Google Scholar |
Author Biographies
Rachel H. Collins, PhD, is a visitor use management specialist and outdoor recreation planner at the Denver Service Center, National Park Service.
Jim Sibthorp, PhD, is a Professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, USA.
John Gookin, PhD, is the research and curriculum manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School, Lander, Wyoming, USA.
