Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1968. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Richard Kraus. Dissertation Committee: Raymond Patouillet. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 228-233).

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a blueprint for a school camping program in California based on academic, recreational and social objectives, and develping these objectives through a "real-life" situation. In order that this blueprint be founded on sound camping principles a brief history of the camping movement will be presented showing the gradual evolution from early, crude, militaristic types to the present day camp with modern educational philosophy. Also the effects of changing economic conditions on the type of camper and the need for camps available to all will be pointed out. Chapter II will present a survey of educational camps in the United States for the purpose of showing that these camps are increasing in popularity and that they do contribute to the educational program. Finally Chapter III will consist of a blueprint for California based on the approved camping practices and standards as brought out in Chapters I and II. The emphasis, however, will be on the academic approach in order to make it a truly schools camps. Its objective is to "learn by living" and thereby to aid the traditional school in its problems of motivating the students. Thus the value of the school curriculum will be increased by further developing character, health habits, and skills, knowledge, and attitudes gained during the school year.

This thesis traces the development of outdoor education in New Zealand schools. Part one deals with precursors to outdoor education, from the late nineteenth century to 1938, and in part two school camping experiments and the expansion of outdoor education are examined. Outdoor education was stimulated by subject specialists working for education boards and the Department of Education, and the end of the period studied coincides with the disestablishment of these administrative bodies in 1989. Where possible, comparison with overseas developments is made. Outdoor education was adopted and expanded in New Zealand because political, economic and ideological circumstances favoured it. Progressive-liberal influences on education fostered acceptance of physical, recreational and practical activities and emphasis on the interests and needs of individual pupils. Social and economic policies of the later 1930s to the 1960s established a climate in which innovations that broadened the school curriculum were acceptable. From the late 1960s the struggle to resource outdoor education was exacerbated by its rapid rate of growth. The government funding attained was never sufficient and community support remained vital. Safety concerns from the 1960s to the end of the period precipitated efforts to establish teacher training and by the 1980s there was a growing professionalism among outdoor educators. Links between outdoor education and the school curriculum at both primary and secondary levels were maintained by changes in terminology but its central concerns with social and moral education, environmental studies, physical activity and communal living in natural environments remained. Unlike most other curriculum innovations of its time, outdoor education was initially viewed as a teaching method and it did not attain formal subject status until the 1980s.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2008. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Aug. 28, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71).

Thesis (M. Appl. Sc.) -- Lincoln University, 2008. / Also available via the World Wide Web.

The writer's interest in outdoor education is based on a college major in Physical Education, two years as director of a day camp in the Los Angeles area, and ten years of experience as a school administrator. During this time, interest developed in the possibilities of outdoor education as a means of providing many direct learning experiences not possible in the regular classroom. The writer thus becomes especially interested in the possibility of providing a program that would more nearly meet the needs of young people than is possible through traditional classroom procedures. Extending learning to the out-of-doors through a well-planned and directed outdoor education program seemed to offer many opportunities for enriching the school curriculum. The more realistic schools become in their attempt to equip individuals for life, the more they realize the inadequacy of the traditional school environment. Many limitations imposed by tradition are being removed through revised procedures and methods of instruction. There remains certain limitations, however, of the school environment itself, such as lack of direct contact with nature and lack of opportunities for certain types of human relationships which are more nearly possible through group living. Modern educators believe that many of these limitations may be removed by extending education to an out-of-door environment by making camping experiences a part of the regular school curriculum. The conclusion was reached that one of the important reasons for the delay in acceptance of outdoor education as a part of the regular school program was due to the fact that administrators, who sooner or later must assume the responsibility for initiating new programs in education, need more information concerning methods of getting an outdoor education program started. Such administrative factors as financing, selecting a staff, planning a program, providing for health and safety, selecting a, camp site, and others, are real problems that must be faced by those who are contemplating the establishment of an outdoor education program.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Henry J. Rissetto. Dissertation Committee: Thurston A. Atkins. Includes bibliographical references.

Programs that engage middle students in participatory, real-world, and hands-on field based instruction can be a powerful asset to the educational experiences for students; motivating and inspiring some to appreciate and value school in a different way. Overnight environmental science programs have a unique opportunity to support students by creating experiences where students can participate in learning in vastly different ways from what they may engage with in the traditional 4-walled classroom, while concurrently developing a relationship with the natural world. Decreasing educational budgets and increased need to substantiate educational programs in terms of their impact on students has added pressure for overnight environmental science programs to validate their impact through quantitative means. Utilizing overnight environmental science education program attendance records and merging them with school district data relating to attendance, this study investigates the impact of one such overnight environmental science program on students' attendance rate change. Analyzing the secondary data using multiple linear regressions modeling, researchers explored how the overnight environmental program impacted student attendance rate change and how it varied by demographic characteristics to understand if and how the program addresses school district and educational policy reform targets.

First-hand narrative accounts of participants’ experiences during outdoor programmes are notably absent from the outdoor education literature. This thesis reports on an exploratory study which applied a creative qualitative approach called photo-elicitation interviews to gather student accounts about the ways in which they experienced an outdoor education programme known as ‘school camp’. A group of Year 10 (14-15 years old) students attending secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand, participated in this study, and were provided with 27-exposure, disposable cameras on which they were asked to take a series of photographs to demonstrate what a residential school camp was like for them. Follow-up, individual photo-elicitation interviews with the 32 self-selected respondents (21 female, 11 male), revealed that school camp is primarily an enjoyable, social experience where students are able to spend time with their friends and develop their peer networks in a unique environment. From the perspective of these students, school camp primarily contributed to developing a greater understanding of others, while developing greater understandings of the self and the environment were less salient. A greater understanding of others was achieved primarily through the ways in which school camp created an enjoyable, novel, experience which allowed students to see their peers from a different, more ‘real’ perspective. Aspects of this novel experience which contributed to students’ social interactions included the residential nature of these camps and the absence of ‘urban’ features associated with teenage culture such as mobile phones, clothing and make-up. Interestingly, students’ camp experiences included little specific reference to the natural environment; a finding which challenges recent discourses advocating for a shift towards a more critical outdoor education aiming to promote human-nature relationships. The use of photo-elicitation interviews in this context is critically examined. Providing students with cameras was an effective way to engage young people in academic research and to capture important aspects of the outdoor experience from their perspective. To better assess the utility of the technique, it warrants further application in other outdoor education contexts. The inclusion of participant-generated photographs, however, raises several research ethics issues. This study contributes to the growing body of qualitative literature seeking to provide a more in-depth understanding of outdoor education and complements the quantitative studies which predominate in the field.