Research

Evaluating the Impact of Integrated Environmental Studies Programs in Ontario on Students’ Environmental Actions, Behaviours, & Professional Pathways

Social Science and Humanities Research Council – Standard Research Grant (April 2010 – May 2013)

The purpose of this multi-site case study is to:

1. analyze the impact of integrated Environmental Studies Program (ESP) participation on student learning about the environment;
2. analyze the impact of ESP participation on students’ attitudes to and relationships with and to the environment and how that relationship informs pro-social and pro-environmental behaviours; and
3. longitudinally examine the impact of ESP participation on students’ environmental attitudes, knowledge, actions, and professional pathways over time.

Data collection methods included pre- and post- program teacher and principal interviews, document analysis, photo elicitation, and student focus group sessions.

The Transformative Potential of Learning Through Service & Experience While “Doing” Classroom-Based Research

Niagara Community Foundation (2014) and Brock University SSHRC Institutional Grant (2013)

This research initiative employs transformative phenomenology to explore students’ and the professor experiences within a student-directed fourth year experiential education elective course. The course includes a service-learning component and students’ and professor reports from that experience further informs the study results. Data collection methods include journals and focus group sessions.

Research Consultant

J. W. McConnell Family Foundation – Outward Bound Canada (2013)

An evaluation of Outward Bound Canada’s urban programs: What do both students and teachers learn as a result of urban program participation and are lessons transferred into their everyday lives?

Transcultural European Outdoor Studies Program

Visiting Scholar Grant (2013)

This exciting initiative provided an opportunity for knowledge exchange about the intersections of the North American view and praxis of outdoor recreation and the Scandinavian concept of friluftsliv. I served as a guest lecturer and learner at the Norwegian School of Sport Science in Oslo, Norway during my 2013 sabbatical, teaching and learning about how and where outdoor education is enacted in Scandinavia.

Sense of Community & Leadership Styles in Outdoor Pursuits Trip Groups

Brock University Advancement Fund (2009)

A primary purpose of one form of leisure experience – outdoor pursuits programs – is the development of positive interpersonal relationships and group experiences that lead to an enhanced sense of community. The purpose of this ongoing scholarship study is to understand the relationship between university students’ participation in outdoor pursuits trips and changes in their perceptions of sense of community, group cohesion, and sense of place over time. Data collection includes both quantitative and qualitative methods.