Background/Purpose Situational factors are cited as reasons why university students may not act in an ethical or moral manner. When the consequences of ‘not doing well' were life altering, student were more likely to change their responses. The nature of adventure based programs (ABP) seems well suited to positively influence moral and ethical reasoning due to the inclusion of reflection and debriefing. This study investigated the impact of a 14 week adventure based program on the moral reasoning of university students.
Method Eighty-six undergraduate students volunteered for this study, which utilized Rest's (1979) Defining Issues Test (DIT). The DIT investigates how individuals arrive at making decisions, and formulates a “P” (Principled moral reasoning) score for each subject.
Analysis/Results The data analysis was a 2 (Group) by 2 (Time) ANOVA utilizing the GLM on PCSAS. The groups were found to be homogeneous at the pretest (APB = 36.07; control = 33.58; F = 0.05). The control group did not improve from pretest to posttest (posttest = 34.13, F = 0.06). The ABP group did not improve statistically from pretest to posttest (posttest = 40.98, F= 2.75). There was a statistically significant difference on the posttest scores of the ABP participants ( = 40.98) in relation to the control group ( = 34.13) (F = 3.84).
Conclusions It is postulated, due to the significant difference in posttest scores, the ABP students did enhance their level of moral reasoning. The nature of adventure based programs seems well suited to positively influence moral and ethical reasoning.
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