Shortening outdoor adventure education courses: instructor rerceptions from the Colorado outward bound school

This study explored the trend of shifting enrollment to shorter courses in the field of outdoor adventure education, and sought to understand how shorter course lengths ( 16 days) impact course delivery. Outdoor adventure education outcomes and processes established in the academic literature served as a framework for this exploration of the impacts of course length on course delivery. The purpose of this study was to determine if course outcomes and course processes are altered due to shorter amounts of field time. Data collection took place at the Colorado Outward Bound School in the summer of 2018 with structured interviews with field instructors and program administrators. The results of this study identified which course outcomes and processes instructors perceived to be most impacted by course length and which processes are most important to instructors in order to better achieve course outcomes. This study concludes with a discussion for integration of results into current course design models, and offers a revised model for maximizing short course program design.