Ryan J. Gagnon

Enhancing the College Student Experience: Outcomes of a Leisure Education Program:

Background: Experiential education in higher education provides opportunities for college student development that contribute to student success. As such, a leisure education program is posited as a complement to experiential education programming. Purpose: This study explored the impact of a leisure education program (leisure skills) on dimensions of college student success, including school satisfaction, student life satisfaction, school belonging, and self-esteem. Methodology/Approach: This study compared 531 leisure skills students with a group of 136 students not enrolled in a leisure skills class. Findings/Conclusions: The results of a repeated-measures analysis indicated leisure skills students fared better than non–leisure skills students in the measured dimensions, maintaining similar levels of school satisfaction, life satisfaction, belonging, and self-esteem over the course of the semester while the non–leisure skills students experienced decreases. Implications: Students who chose leisure skills classes experienced stability and improvement in school and student life satisfaction, school belonging, and self-esteem. Therefore, leisure education programming should be further examined as a mechanism for college student success.

Fidelity and Its Importance to Experiential and Outdoor Education.

Fidelity is an important factor in the assessment and delivery of programs. However, few researchers have examined predictors of fidelity. In this study, we examined the relationship of fidelity to facilitator characteristics in a leadership program oriented toward the development of new university students. The study consisted of 25 program facilitators and 78 first-year university students. Self-report data were collected from facilitators 1 week prior to program implementation and immediately following program completion. Study results indicate that facilitator fidelity beliefs and buy-in are positively correlated with fidelity, but negatively correlated with facilitator experience and training levels. These results complement and build on prior investigation into facilitator characteristics and their contribution to fidelity.

Living Without Boys: A Retrospective Analysis of the Benefits and Skills Gained at All-Female Camps:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcomes of all-female camp experiences on women’s lives. Using a retrospective approach, this study collected qualitative data from 131 women to examine the benefits of all-female camp experiences, to analyze the skills they gained at camp, and to understand how they apply these skills to their adult lives. Benefits of an all-female camp experience identified through qualitative analysis included focused time, supportive environment, and challenging gender norms. Skills that the women gained at camp and apply to their everyday lives were developed into the following themes: social development (communication, teamwork, cultural sensitivity, respect for others, community building, tolerance, working with diverse personalities), career development (leadership, perseverance, time management, influenced career direction), and personal development (resilience, sense of self, self-reliance, self-esteem, confidence, independence). Study findings suggest that these skills have personal and professional applications across women’s lives.

Influences of Resident Camp Experiences on Career Choice: A Case Study of Female Alumnae

Abstract: Few studies have explored the long-term impacts of camp experiences on career choice, although there is a need to better understand how camp experiences may influence this decision to guide staff recruitment and retention efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of camp experiences on future career paths for women. Twenty-two camp alumnae who attended an all-girls camp completed a retrospective online survey. Salient themes related to career impacts included human service career interest, outdoor career interest, leadership and interpersonal skill development, and social-emotional skill development. Considerations for future research include a national study of a more representative sample of camp alumni to shed greater light on occupational choice and career path for camp alumni.

Place-Based Pathways to Proenvironmental Behavior: Empirical Evidence for a Conservation–Recreation Model

ABSTRACT This study expands existing models of proenvironmental behavior (PEB) to examine the potentially important and interacting influences of nature-based recreation and sense of place on participation in conservation-oriented activities. We tested hypothesized relationships using a structural equation modeling approach that accounted for common behavioral antecedents within a sample of 1,124 nature-based recreationists and property owners in rural counties of New York, USA. We found that place attachment played an important role in strengthening connections between nature-based recreation and PEB. Birdwatching and hunting participation contributed independently and significantly to PEB, both directly and indirectly through effects on place meanings and place attachment. While birdwatching appeared to influence place attachment by impacting environmental place meanings, hunting exerted similar effects by affecting sociocultural place meanings. Ultimately, our synthesis results in the articulation of a comprehensive conservation–recreation model that could help researchers and practitioners identify and explore novel pathways to PEB.

Interpreting perceived constraints to ethnic and racial recreation participation using a recreation systems approach

Ethnic and racial minority groups continue to experience limited access to leisure activities, resources, and services. To reverse this trend, leisure scholars have developed numerous models of constraints to recreation participation. The present article introduces an alternative systems approach to modeling constraints, which organizes constraints by their component parts – functions, mechanisms, or capacities – as well as their mode: social, psychological, or biological. Specifically, the article advances More and Averill’s Recreation Systems Model and recommends the model as a guide for the design, analysis, and interpretation of ethnic and racial constraints research. The utility of the model is discussed in the context of open-ended questionnaire data collected from indoor competition climbers during the winter of 2014. The authors contend that modeling constraints in a Recreation Systems framework may assist practitioners in efficiently prioritizing and consequently addressing constraints. Future research that quantitatively tests the model and investigates its use by policymakers is needed.

Efficacy of online training for improving camp staff competency

ABSTRACT Preparing competent staff is a critical issue within the camp community. This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of an online course for improving staff competency in camp healthcare practices among college-aged camp staff and a comparison group (N = 55). We hypothesized that working in camp would increase competency test scores due to opportunities for staff to experientially apply knowledge learned online. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyse the cross-level effects of a between-individuals factor (assignment to experimental or comparison group) and within-individual effects of time (pre-test, post-test #1, and post-test #2) on online course test scores. At post-test #2, the difference in average test scores between groups was ~30 points, with the treatment group scoring lower on average than the comparison group. Factors that may have influenced these findings are explored, including fatigue and the limited durability of online learning. Recommendations for research and practice are discussed.

Exploring overparenting in summer camp: adapting, developing, and implementing a measure

ABSTRACT This study explores the development and validation of a measure of overparenting (OP) within a common youth leisure context, residential summer camp. A sample of 1140 parents (primarily mothers (89%)) of campers from 18 residential camps completed an online questionnaire pertaining to behaviours commonly associated with OP including parental support, control, and parental anxieties associated with nature and people in nature. The results of the multi-phase confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the measure indicated convergent and discriminant validity of the finalized measure. Additionally, the modifications generated from the multi-phase CFA process provided preliminary evidence of an additional component of OP, excessive parental problem solving, and suggested the need for more investigation of the multiple dimensions of parental behaviour and beliefs that may contribute to OP in leisure settings.

A structural model exploring gender differences in perceived constraints to competition climbing

ABSTRACT Competition climbing has recently been thrust into the spotlight with its integration into the Olympics starting in 2020. A growing body of research has focused on the leisure experience of competition climbing and has indicated that it may be a unique setting in which gendered constraints manifest differently than previously understood. The current study seeks to continue building our understanding of leisure constraints by focusing on perceived constraints of competition climbers. Using a questionnaire adapted from White’s (2008) structural model of leisure constraints, members of USA Climbing were invited to share their experiences related to competition climbing (n = 729). The results indicate that women indicated higher levels of motivation (β = .140, p = .001, SE = 0.027) and perceived no difference in constraints to competition climbing (β = −.023, p = .379, SE = 0.046). These findings have implications for our understanding of leisure constraints and the potential gender inclusivity of particular adventure sports.

Beyond Composite Scores and Cronbach’s Alpha: Advancing Methodological Rigor in Recreation Research

Critically examining common statistical approaches and their strengths and weaknesses is an important step in advancing recreation and leisure sciences. To continue this critical examination and to inform methodological decision making, this study compared three approaches to determine how alternative approaches may result in contradictory conclusions in the interpretation of the psychometric properties of a scale and in response to a given research question. To this end, this study explored what factors best predicted parental endorsement of competition climbing in a sample of 184 parents of youth competition climbers. The study findings suggest that the three distinct approaches provided meaningfully different conclusions regarding the adapted psychometric properties of the questionnaire, but offered no meaningful differences in the primary finding of the study: Parent–coach relationship quality is the best predictor of parental endorsement of competition climbing. The results suggest that deeper examination of self-report questionnaire data may advance our understanding of complex recreation and leisure constructs beyond what can be understood with less advanced analytic techniques. Subscribe to JOREL