Date of Graduation

12-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology

Advisor/Mentor

Johnson, Donald

Committee Member

Rucker, Jill

Second Committee Member

Millard, Darlene

Third Committee Member

Miller, Jefferson

Keywords

4-H Camp; Experiential Education; Experiential Learning; Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model

Abstract

This study examined the effect of the debrief/reflection component of the Experiential Learning Model on attitudes of 5 - 12-year-olds (n = 58) and 13 - 15-year-old (n = 22) campers attending a three-day camp session during summer 2022. The 5- 12-year-old campers engaged in canoeing/paddleboarding, archery, rock climbing, leather crafting, and fishing. The 13 - 15-year-old campers engaged in canoeing/paddleboarding, rock climbing/giants ladder, high ropes course, and noodle boat races. Both groups of campers were randomly assigned in approximately equal numbers to either a no-debrief (control) or de-brief (treatment) group. For each camp activity the control group completed a retrospective pretest and a posttest before being de-briefed on each activity. The treatment group was de-briefed on each activity, following a standard protocol, before completing the retrospective pretest and posttest. Results indicate a slight increase in mean attitude scores about activities between the pretest and the posttest responses across all groups. However, results indicated there was not a statistically significant (p < .05) difference between the control and treatment groups in attitudes toward any camp activity for campers in either age group. These findings raise questions about the need for formal debrief activities following camp activities primarily intended to impact affective outcomes. Further research is needed to determine the extent to which informal reflection-in-action occurs during camp activities and whether this decreases the need for formal debrief activities (reflection-of-action).

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