Graduation Year

2018

Graduation Month

May

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

School or Department

Health and Human Performance

Major

Health and Human Performance – Community Health

Faculty Mentor

Cara Nelson

Keywords

health, outdoor, education, learning, nature

Abstract

I studied the effect that outdoor education and experiential learning has on health by interviewing students who participated in the University of Montana’s Patagonia study abroad course during winter-session 2018. I interviewed participants before and after the course and asked them a series of questions about their health. Questions included how they defined health, what the greatest determinants of health are, if they have control over their health, and if they considered themselves to be in good health. Students were also asked to rate their levels of health overall, mentally, and physically in regard to both themselves and in comparison with their peers. I compared the responses from the before and after interview to determine if experiential learning like the Patagonia winter session course has any effect on health. It was my theory that outdoor education would have a positive impact on health, and most of the students did show an increase in their rating of health I cannot make any broad assumptions about the impact of outdoor education on all students’ health, however, the results from my research nevertheless aligned with studies done on outdoor education and the impacts it has on students.

Honors College Research Project

Yes

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© Copyright 2018 Tessa A. Leake