Background/Purpose Adventure Based Learning (ABL) incorporates sequenced team building activities with student-centered debrief sessions to promote social development (Sutherland, Ressler, & Stuhr, 2009). Recent ABL inquiry has suggested that ABL can help middle school students develop appropriate relationships in and outside the context of physical education (Stuhr, Sutherland, & Ressler, 2012). The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which elementary students were able to develop interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships from ABL, and explore these students' lived-positive emotionality (LPE).
Method The Sunday Afternoon Drive Model (Sutherland, 2011) and an ABL student outcome model (Stuhr et al., 2012) helped guide the qualitative research. The IRB approved study included an elementary physical educator who was trained and then taught a 10-session ABL unit to her 5th grade students. Data from the 28 students and their teacher were collected through observations, interviews, journals, and photo voice. Open and axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2008), and constant comparison method (Strauss & Corbin 1984) were used to analyze the data. Trustworthiness was established through prolonged engagement, member checking, peer debriefing, and negative case analysis.
Analysis/Results The data were related to each category of the student outcome model (Stuhr et al., 2012). An additional category (i.e., resisting) also emerged from the data. LPE was expressed as providing benefit for teacher and students, and as a cyclical phenomenon that motivated the teacher.
Conclusions For the participating teacher ABL and LPE were seen as important ways to promote social development at the start of the school year.
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