PhD

2017

Beginning the end of 2017 and following the success of Dr Sam McElligott’s project, Outlook Expeditions is working with Bangor University on two new PhD projects to improve the well-being and experience of Outlook adventurers.

Joseph Pettit – Psychology

Resilience

Overview of the research project.

• To develop a measurement tool of resilience that captures the subtypes and mechanisms of the concept.
• To examine the effects an expedition has on the subtypes and mechanisms of resilience.
• To introduce an intervention to improve or mitigate for a subtype and or mechanism deficiency of resilience in those going on expedition.

What is resilience?

An individual’s ability to adapt successfully to adverse conditions, absorbing stress while coping and functioning successfully (Masten & Tellegen, 2012; Pecillo, 2016). It can be broken down into four mechanisms: awareness and anticipation of an upcoming stressor, the ability to plan for and minimize the impact of the upcoming stressor, coping and managing during the adversity, and the capacity to recover and mend following a stressful event (Alliger et al., 2008; 2015; Chen et al., 2015).

Resilience can also be broken down by its subtypes:

Physical: Ability to resist functional decline or recover physical health during and following a stressor (Whitson, 2016).

Social: Ability to foster, engage in, and sustain positive social relationships and to endure and recover from social stressors and isolation (Cacioppo, 2011).

Mental: Ability to overcome the negative effects of stressors on cognitive functions (Staal et al., 2008).

Emotional: Ability to tolerate and regulate emotion, maintaining emotional stability in adversity (Wong, 2013).

Current status:

At present, a measurement tool called the Resilience Process Scale is being developed to capture resilience by all its mechanisms and subtypes that could be the most practically informative for those going on expedition later in the PhD project.

Although Outlook Expeditions is always happy to discuss expedition matters with you, if you have any questions directly relating to the research, please do not hesitate to contact me at the University.

Joseph Pettit

j.pettit@bangor.ac.uk

George Building
Normal Site
Bangor University
LL57 2PZ

The research is funded by the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship, the European Social Fund, Bangor University and Outlook Expeditions.

2014

In 2014 we invested in PhD research at Bangor University. The study has not only provided scientific evidence of the learning outcomes from an Outlook expedition, it has also become fundamental in the shaping of everything we do. Training, based on the PhD has already begun with our Expedition Leaders to ensure our expeditions have the greatest impact they can.

July 2014 - Final Results for Outlook Expeditions and Bangor University PhD: 3 Year Research Project

The PhD research collaboration has now completed all data collections and analyses, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the students, parents, teachers and leaders who have contributed time and energy in distributing and completing questionnaires so that we may find out more about expeditions and leadership.

Why research expeditions?

The benefits of outdoor programmes have been widely researched with expeditions shown to have a very positive developmental experience for young people. Outlook Expeditions has worked in partnership with Bangor University for the past four years to support a PhD research project. The project has expanded the current expedition research base by exploring the factors that maximise the positive experiences of young people participating in expeditions.

Overview of the Research Project

The first year of the research project involved over 800 15-19 year olds whilst on summer expeditions with Outlook, the second year included over 900 13-22 year olds, and the final data collection in 2013 saw over 1100 16-21 year olds take part. The research has examined the effect of leadership behaviours on aspects such as participants' self-esteem, teamwork and communication. Specifically, the research focuses on transformational leadership, which has demonstrated effectiveness in a variety of contexts, such as the military, the public sector, business, and more recently, teaching and higher education. For more information, please click here.

Please click here for more information about the nine transformational leadership behaviours developed as part of the expedition leadership model: PHD - Transformational Leadership

More information about the learning outcomes examined in the research is available by following this link

Results

The results from the three data collections have been very positive; with the final round of data collection supporting the findings from 2011 and 2012. The results consistently demonstrate that not only do Outlook's expeditions have a positive and significant impact on the participants' self-esteem, leadership skills, levels of responsibility, teamwork and communication skills, but that Outlook expedition leaders are currently demonstrating high levels of transformational leadership behaviours, which, in turn, impact positively on the learning outcomes of the participants. Please click on the following links for more details of the three years' results:
Results 2011-12
PhD Results 2013

In short, expeditions have a positive impact in elevating learning outcomes, and the expedition leaders' behaviours are critical in maximising the learning outcomes.

2013 Research - developing a training intervention for expedition leaders

2013 saw a large number of expedition leaders take part in a training intervention to see if transformational leadership behaviours could be modified. The training wokrshop was developed by the University research team and three selected, senior and very experienced leaders of Outlook's internal and associate staff, and consisted of a 2.5 hour workshop that focused on profiling indidivuals' leadership behaviours and forming action plans specific to each leader. Compared with a control group of leaders, who recieved the normal Outlook training as part of their CPD, the leaders who were given the intervention training scored significantly higher in all the transformational leadership behaviours. This demonstrates the validity of the intervention, and as such, the training workshops were rolled out at all of the 2014 Leader Team Training events for all expedition leaders

Ethical Approval

The research has been approved by the Ethics Approval Committee for Bangor University's School of Sports, Health and Exercise Sciences.

2014 - A Final Note

My thanks again to all students, parents, leaders, teachers, and Outlook staff members who have contributed time and data for the research project. Some fo the results and background were reported in the Institute for Outdoor Learning's (IOL) Horizons magazine late last year (you can find out more about the IOL here: IOL Home Page), and presentations at a number of sports psychology conferences have seen the work disseminated throughout the outdoor and academic world. It is the research team's aim that in the future, research papers will be published to ensure that all the results are published to a much wider audience.

Although Outlook Expeditions is always happy to discuss expedition matters with you, if you have any questions directly relating to the research, please do not hesitate to contact me at the University.

Samantha McElligott

PHD@outlookexpeditions.com
pepc2b@bangor.ac.uk http://www.bangor.ac.uk/sport
http://ipep.bangor.ac.uk/

G112 George Building
Normal Site
Bangor University
LL57 2PZ
01248 388147

The research is funded by the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship, the European Social Fund, Bangor University and Outlook Expeditions.