Research into Outdoor Education Learner Attribution Theory: The Effects of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award on Learning

This study sought to answer three questions of pivotal importance to the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award (DoEIA): 1) What is the learning attribution that the Award encourages? 2) Is this attribution measurable? 3) How do these attributions translate to learning effects? In summary, this project found out that: The learning attribution of the DoEIA according to this study is intermediary. This means that the specific ways in which the DoEIA works, for example, to encourage self-reliance, effort, service to the community and persistence can be attributed to the current set of activities that the Award runs. In particular, the study found that the qualities of: 1) Self-Confidence, 2) Cope with Change, 3) Leadership Ability, 4) Overall Effectiveness, and, 5) Active Involvement, can be attributed to the DoEIA, and this learning can be measured (see quantitative results sections below). Further, the learning of the qualities of: 6) Time Efficiency, 7) Self-Efficacy, 8) Social Effectiveness, 9) Cooperative Teamwork, 10) Stress Management, and, 11) External LOC (Locus of Control) can also be attributed to the current set up of the DoEIA, but in a less compelling manner. These qualities are ranked with the largest attribution being that of ‘Self-Confidence’, and the smallest that of ‘External LOC’ according to the ROPELOC survey used in this study (see methodology section). In short, this study shows how gains in these qualities as mentioned above 1-11 can be measured and attributed as being due to participation in the DoEIA. However, this study found that there were those who sided with the total attribution option and those who denied attribution, or expressed non-attribution. Further research is required to understand more fully how and why the tendencies to exaggerate and to negate the learning effects of the DoEIA are operant in the face of such a widespread and well known program. Further, the exact connection between the specific learning effects of the Award and the types of activities 6 that the DoEIA runs was not clearly outlined or understood, due to the nature of this small scale pilot research, and the inability of the team to match survey and interview results. The tendency to overstate the manner in which the gains that the DoEIA affords the individual and the group migrate to general learning gains was observed, as was the tendency to remain sceptical with respect to the cross over from specific skills learning to general learning improvement. It is recommended that further research is required to understand this aspect of the DoEIA learning attribution project.