Aiding Transition to University Through an Outdoor Orientation Program: Accelerated Friendships

Luke Pickard; Julie Brunton; James McKenna; Andrea Utley

doi:10.24926/jcotr.v27i2.2433

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Published

2020-12-07

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Feature Articles

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright of all articles published in JCOTR belong to the author(s) and are published under a CC BY-NC license.

How to Cite

Pickard, L., Brunton, J., McKenna, J., & Utley, A. (2020). Aiding Transition to University Through an Outdoor Orientation Program: Accelerated Friendships. Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention, 27(2). https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v27i2.2433

Aiding Transition to University Through an Outdoor Orientation Program: Accelerated Friendships

Luke Pickard

Leeds Trinity University

Julie Brunton

Sheffield Hallam University

James McKenna

Leeds Beckett University

Andrea Utley

University of Leeds

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v27i2.2433

Keywords: university transition, outdoor orientation program, social groups, belonging, friendships

Abstract

Outdoor orientation programs are used to provide experiences which aid transition to university. We investigated how an outdoor orientation program for first-year university students in England, UK accelerates social group development, which in turn aids transition and adaptation to university. We employed mixed methods data collection, including the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) (Baker & Siryk, 1989) and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire indicated that the outdoor orientation program significantly aided adaptation to university. The benefits of accelerated social group formation for transitioning young adults are explored through thematic analysis and explained through psychological theory.

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