Efficacy of a Freshman Outdoor Orientation Program on Student Transition to University Life

Download or read book Efficacy of a Freshman Outdoor Orientation Program on Student Transition to University Life written by Jessica Nendza and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Outdoor Orientation Programs (OOPs) have become a staple at many universities for first year students to assist with the transition to college life. This study examines Penn States AURORA programs to determine whether students who participated in the orientation experience transitioned to college better than students who did not participate. Constructs measured were social support, and academic success as measured by the Campus Focused-Social Provisions Scale and the College Learning Effectiveness Inventory, respectively. The sample of students were first year students who participated in an AURORA program and a control group of first year students (N= 227). Overall, the findings were not significant, however AURORA participants scored significantly higher than non-participants in Time Management (p=.019) and approached significance in Classroom Communication (p=.057). These findings suggest that more in depth studies need to be done on OOPs, specifically long term effects of OOPs and how they impact students after their first year.