ODED - Outdoor Education

Prerequisite: Department approval. An opportunity to gain experience during the academic year in a professional setting. The student will complete a contract in conjunction with the faculty and facility supervisors. Signatures signify agreement to the terms of the contract. This course is repeatable for credit.

Prerequisite: ODED 6953. The course is an examination of a wide range of local, regional, and global issues facing society. Course topics include the examination of multiple models of environmental education, critiques of theories and their application to practice, and exploration of contemporary issues of environmental literacy. This course also considers the diversity of goals and practices in environmental education including place-based education and formal/informal settings. Field trips may be required.

Prerequisites: ODED 6953. The course provides an overview of administrative responsibilities and procedures related to outdoor education programs and services. Professional standards, legal perspectives, human resource development, site planning, strategic management, program evaluation/outcomes assessment, and budgeting/funding strategies are addressed.

This course is an exploration of the rights and obligations derived from and associated with legal parameters, industry standards and preferred practice, and risk and crisis management planning in outdoor education programs and services. .

An experiential examination of common adventure activities including land and water pursuits within outdoor education programs. Activity-specific technical skill development and assessment are addressed. A field trip is required.

Prerequisite: ODED 6701. An opportunity to gain professional experience serving as a teaching assistant in an academic class. The student will complete a contract in conjunction with the mentoring faculty.

Prerequisite: ODED 6702 and permission of department. This course provides students with the necessary knowledge and skills to develop of the professional portfolio. Course activities are focused on the design of the portfolio, the development of individual artifacts, and the final assessment of the professional class and reviewed by department faculty.

Prerequisites: Approval of the department Chairperson, ODED 6953, and ODED 6906. Special topics courses used in programs for a group of students or a cohort will require a DOE syllabus; otherwise a student will complete the special topic contract in conjunction with the faculty supervisor. Signatures signify agreement of the terms of the contract. This course is repeatable for credit.

Prerequisite: Approval from department. The project is comprised of a capstone experience that leads to an actual product such as a publishable journal and/or literature review article, position paper, teaching aid, instructional videotape, program or facility development, website, on-line course materials, lab manual, curriculum development, etc. The project is completed in compliance with the Department' synthesis Project Option policy. This course is repeatable for credit.

Provides theoretical understanding of group dynamics and practical application of the use of group development activities for facilitating individual and group learning. Particular emphasis will be placed on the use of group activities for staff training and development. Laboratory required.

Prerequisite: ODED 6820. A theoretical and experiential examination of the use and management of challenge course activities. Technical Competency, program planning and implementation, facilitation strategies, safety procedures, equipment management, personnel administration, and program design are addressed. Laboratory required. Field trips may be required.

Prerequisites: ODED 6953 and approval from the department. An individually designed and planned field experience. Internship selection and approval are based on the student's professional goals and sponsor suitability for offering an appropriate learning opportunity. Attendance at a pre-internship seminar is required. This course is repeatable for credit.

Prerequisite: ODED 6953. A theoretical and experiential examination of core skill sets essential to all outdoor educators. Topics such as self-assessment, site management, judgment, and program design and delivery are addressed while using adventure as the vehicle for character and/or skill development. Field trips are required.

Prerequisites ODED 6953. A theoretical and experiential examination of strategies for maximizing transfer of learning based on the development of client specific and evidence-based program outcomes. Topics may include program design, implementation, and evaluation, outcome assessment, isomorphic matching of activity components, foundations of experiential education, stages of experience, and edgework.

A study of the historical, philosophical, and theoretical foundation in Outdoor Education. Topics include experiential education, adventure education and its related applications in recreation, education, developmental, and social service settings.

Prerequisite: ODED 6953. This course is designed to engage the student with foundational research concepts, methodologies, and statistical analysis, typically employed in outdoor education. The intent is to provide the student with a conceptual understanding of theory, tools, and processes involved in reading and understanding research studies.

Prerequisite: ODED 6963. This course is designed to engage students with the decision-making processes employed in the development of a research study. The intent is to provide the student an opportunity to identify a research problem based upon a review of relevant literature, select an appropriate design, develop procedures (sampling techniques, instrumentation, data collection procedure, and appropriate statistical analysis), and intelligently speculate possible interpretations of anticipated results of the study. Additional advanced research designs and data analysis techniques will be introduced in this course. This course is repeatable for credit.

Prerequisite: Chairperson's approval. This course is designed to provide graduate students topical courses as electives that are not part of the regular program of study. Special topics courses may relate to trends in specific outdoor education contexts, preferred practice, or specific areas of interest related to student professional goals or the synthesis project. Syllabi for this course delivered to multiple students or a cohort will vary based on the topic. A syllabus for individual students taking the course in conjunction with a synthesis option is reflected in the contract approved by the faculty supervisor and the department chair. This course is repeatable for credit.

Prerequisite: Permission of the Department. This course is a self-directed research project. Students who elect the thesis option will complete six hours of thesis credit. The first 3 hours include the development and approval of thesis proposal. The second three hours include implementation of the research proposal and defense of the thesis report. The course will comply with Department of Outdoor Education Synthesis Requirement Policy and will be monitored by the chair of the thesis committee. This course is repeatable for credit.