Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Adventure'

This thesis introduces the question of how to intentionally build a sustainable adventure movement, which is a grassroots effort to intentionally and significantly increase the use of outdoor adventure education as an innovative educational tool for schools, communities and businesses in perpetuity. Taking a whole-systems approach and applying leading social movement and diffusion theories, the Adventure Movement Project (AMP) seeks to develop a framework for integrating outdoor adventure education into whole communities to inspire servant leadership, achieve sustainability, and drive innovation. A socially just and sustainable planet can thrive with outdoor adventure education acting as a highly effective catalyst, which drives social, economic, educational, and environmental change. To that end, this thesis presents original applications of diffusion models and social movement theories to outdoor adventure education. The research used an original Delphi study—of outdoor adventure education experts—which explored how to build a sustainable adventure movement. The study aimed to understand ideas related to best practices and successful strategies for expanding outdoor adventure education participation. Findings exemplified for increasing outdoor adventure education include embracing a clear, unified message that establishes why outdoor adventure education matters as a tool, which can lead to achieving sustainability, driving innovation, and inspiring servant leadership. A second key finding calls for outdoor adventure education to be part of something larger and through integration into the larger experiential education and sustainability movements it may reach critical mass.

Key Words: outdoor adventure education, sustainability, servant leadership, innovation, social movement, experiential education

The goal of this master's thesis is to design and implement framework that can be used for development of agent systems. Framework is implemented in Java and encapsulates JADE library. Framework is used for implementation of adventure game. There are several characters (agents) with specific roles who cooperate and try to achieve their goals.

Adventure tourism involves travel and leisure activities pursued with the expectation that they will produce a rewarding, adventurous experience. Adventure tourism can be defined as travel to a destination to participate in adventurous activities in a natural environment. Two categories of adventure are distinguished, namely soft and hard adventure. Soft adventure includes activities such as bird–watching, hiking, camping and horseback riding, and it requires relatively little physical skill and little or no experience. Hard adventure includes activities such as rock climbing, mountaineering, survival games and caving. Hard adventure has high levels of risk and participants are more likely to engage in physically and mentally challenging outdoor activities. Magoebaskloof Adventures is one of many adventure destinations in South Africa where adventure tourists can participate in adventure activities. It is of great value for Magoebaskloof Adventures to ensure that the needs and expectations of adventure tourists are fulfilled. One way to ensure that these needs are met, is to determine what motivates adventure tourists to travel and participate in adventure activities. Knowledge of these motives will assist adventure tourism products to stay competitive and to develop relevant products. A number of researchers have found that certain travel motives can explain the existence of certain adventure tourism products. Motive can also influence or determine the behaviour of adventure tourists visiting different adventure products or destinations. Past research into adventure motives identified important motives such as escape, challenge, fun, social interaction and experience. As little research has been conducted on travel motives for adventure tourism in South Africa, the aim of this research was to determine the travel motives of adventure tourists to Magoebaskloof Adventures. iv A literature study provided the background for the empirical study. A quantitative research approach was followed, with a non–probability sampling method, namely convenience sampling. The research was conducted at Magoebaskloof Adventures for a period of nine months (March 2010 to December 2010). A total of 400 usable questionnaires were received back. The results of the study involved two sections: firstly the profile of the typical adventure tourist was determined; and secondly the travel motives of adventure tourists were determined. The profile indicated that adventure tourists are on average 33 years old, male and English–speaking. They are married, hold a diploma or degree and travel in groups of 1–5. The typical adventure tourist travels 1–3 times a year, drives a sedan vehicle and prefers self–catering accommodation. The factor analysis identified the following seven travel motives for adventure tourists: Factor 1 ? Prestige and status(an increased sense of personal growth, acquiring new skills, the feeling of success after completing the activity, overcoming fear, and interacting with people and/or the environment); Factor 2 ?Group togetherness(participation in a recreational opportunity, family recreation, spending time with someone special, experiencing fun and excitement, and spending time with friends); Factor 3 ?Knowledge seeking(learning about adventure, sharing in the challenge, and educating oneself); Factor 4 ?Escape and relaxation(exploring a new destination, getting away from routine, and relaxing); Factor 5?Photography and attraction(an opportunity to practice photography, continuing a habit of adventure that already started in childhood, and the desire to feel part of an adventure); Factor 6 ? Enhancing relations (participating because friends arranged the activity, participating in order to tell friends about the experience, and participating because the participant has the necessary experience to perform the activity); and Factor 7 ? Novelty(performing the activity before the participant is too old, enjoying the journey with family and friends, and doing ‘something different’). Escape and relaxation was the factor with the highest mean value, and this correlates with other adventure travel motive research as well as research regarding tourists’ motives for visiting nature–based attractions. An analysis of travel motives in v general indicates that Escape and relaxation is commonly an important travel motive. Magoebaskloof Adventure focuses more on soft adventure, and the travel motives of participants in this research will therefore differ from those of consumers of hard adventure products. The latter are motivated by aspects such as thrill, challenge, fear, terror, risk, daring, adrenaline, journey, expedition, excitement and success, to name a few. Group togetherness was also identified as a strong motivating factor, and existing nature–based research confirms this as an important motive to travel. In conclusion, this study found that there are differences between the travel motives of tourists to Magoebaskloof Adventures ? which provides soft adventure tourism products ? and the travel motives of tourists who pursue hard adventure activities. The results of this research can assist Magoebaskloof Adventures in the development of feature adventure tourism products and focused marketing material.
Thesis (MA (Tourism Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Changing cultural trends and increasing pressures and constraints on everyday life have led to a proliferation in the uptake of adventure pursuits in Western society. People are increasingly drawn to involvement in subcultures of high-risk extremity and adventure, and manufacturers, marketers and the media are commonly reflecting a discourse that ‘commodifies’ adventure experience in their wider cultural products and brands. This growth in the consumption of adventure has created an opportunity, and a necessity, for researchers, academics and practitioners alike to become involved in the development of adventure-leisure research and theory. This study takes the UK motorcycling subculture of adventure consumption as a unit of analysis, and employs a ‘holistic’ cultural approach to investigate meaningful consumption processes within, and relative to it. Specifically, it focuses on the role of consumers in contributing to the cultural world of motorcycling adventure consumption as well as the significance of manufacturers, service suppliers and marketers in producing and conveying it. This is achieved through employment of an ‘interpretive semiology’ research philosophy, in which a number of pioneering semiotic and narrative techniques are used and developed, to identify the key communication codes and myths that drive the construction and movement of meaning within, and relative to this consumption subculture. An ‘outside in’ approach is employed to understand the subculture from a wide crosssection of related discourse, and this is combined with an ‘inside-out’ approach, which focuses on the motorcyclist consumer psyche, on consumer involvement in motorcycling activity and use of signifying props, spaces and stories for the construction and signification of meaningful motorcyclist self-identity. Also this approach examines the role of manufacturers, service suppliers and marketers in constructing and signifying brands that purvey cultural messages and construct categories of motorcycling subculture. The results highlight that although UK motorcycling adventure subculture is enshrined with a very rich cultural heritage, it is dynamic in nature, and cultural changes can be identified by analysis of key cultural communication codes and myths. These codes and myths are influenced, and driven, by an interrelationship that exists between consumers, manufacturers, service suppliers, marketers and wider popular cultural discourse and media. They all exist in the same culturally constituted world and meaning is generated and signified through common market places and market stimuli. Overall, this study provides a contribution to adventure-leisure and interpretive, cultural consumer behaviour research and it employs and develops pioneering semiotic and narrative methodologies. It demonstrates how the field of semiotics, with rich theoretical and sometimes complicated underpinnings, can be applied in this context to achieve significant theoretical and practical implications.

The purpose of this study was to explore the role and impact of adventure therapy (AT) on student development and to identify the greatest challenges to the implementation of AT in schools. The Delphi method was used to generate consensus of opinion within a group of experts in the field of adventure therapy and school counseling. Purposive sampling was used to identify the members of the expert panel and the definition of consensus was set at 80% for each item. Content and descriptive analysis were used to develop representative statements from participant responses between rounds. Ten Caucasian respondents, 6 men and 4 women, having met at least one of the expert criteria for the study, completed three rounds of participation which resulted in the attainment of consensus on 36 items addressing the role of adventure therapy in school counseling and the impact of AT in the areas of academic/career and social/emotional development. Twelve challenges to the implementation of AT in schools were identified and put in rank order. According to the results, experts believe adventure therapy has the greatest impact on social connectedness, problem solving, and student engagement in schools. Access to appropriate training in AT, administrative support, and funding were identified as the three greatest challenges to the implementation of adventure therapy in schools.

This thesis investigates the level of difficulty of puzzles in the adventure games and the implications thereof. The thesis contains an in-depth background, and a brief history about the genre. It brings up the main problem of the genre and looks into both the cause and effect that follows. To support this process, an analysis has been made of design documents and a survey was issued on the subject of adventure game puzzles.

This thesis explores the process undertaken and the challenges encountered in staging Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi as part of the UBC Department of Theatre and Film’s season at the Frederic Wood Theatre, March 20 to April 5, 2014. As outlined in the following pages, I attempted to find a way to honor the controversy wrought by the original production in 1896 in a theatrical ecology where shocking an audience is extremely challenging. By drawing inspiration from Ubu’s Paris premiere and also from the plays origins in a collective schoolboy imagination, I created a framework within which we presented our interpretation of Jarry’s classic play.

A comparison between the traditional American playground with the adventure playground clearly shows the superiority of the latter in meeting the play needs of children. This study explores the history and characteristics of both types of playgrounds. Research also focuses on children's play needs and how playground design affects these needs. Adventure playgrounds as public school playgrounds offer a wider range of play experiences than can the traditional school playground and can enhance academic learning. Inservice training for educators can facilitate an understanding of the concept of the adventure playground and the teacher's role as play leader. Enlisting community support and involvement may lead to the use of the playground after school hours and during the summer which would result in maximum benefit for the children.

This thesis is intended to guide the reader through the production process for Southern Illinois University Department of Theater’s 2021 production of Tuck Everlasting: The Musical. The document follows the journey of a technical director’s process through preproduction, design development, production process, and postproduction reflection. By joining the adventure through the backstage experience of the production process one should come to understand the work needed to produce a theatrical production.

This thesis explores the competing jurisdiction of courts and tribunals in situations of an alleged arbitration agreement. The primary purpose of this thesis is to illustrate how careful dispute planning at the front-end of a commercial arrangement can reduce the harm caused by any future dispute. In particular, this thesis illustrates how a well-considered arbitration clause will provide flexibility to suit the individual circumstances of each party and increase the likelihood of an enforceable award. A case study is introduced in Chapter Three and referred to throughout subsequent chapters to demonstrate some of the problems which parties may experience when future disputes are not carefully planned for in advance. This thesis provides a detailed discussion of: • arbitration in both a global and Australian context; • the law which will govern the arbitration agreement, the arbitration proceedings and the enforcement of any award; • the requirements of a valid arbitration agreement; • the preliminary jurisdiction dispute which may emerge when the nature of the jurisdiction objection raises issues as to whether the court or the tribunal should hear that jurisdiction objection; • the jurisdiction dispute itself, in particular the consent requirement in light of the doctrine of separability; and • the remedies and reviews available in arbitration.

When asked what sort of novel I was writing, I always said ‘a modern adventure novel’. And then I began to question myself about the meaning of these three words together, the substance and the definition of a modern adventure novel. Does such a thing exist? In my novel ‘Alexandre Goes South’, Alexandre is a thirty-year-old Parisian from a family that enjoy wealth and privilege, facts that provide a setting but play only incidental roles in the events that unfold. Alexandre goes through a series of crises, which propel the journey that launches him onto the road to manhood. The novel begins at the exact moment of suffering, after a break-

In this paper, I survey past and present tools available to text adventure game authors, and then describe a new product: the Text Adventure Design Assistant (TA DA!), a visual programming system for creating text adventure games. My system consists of two parts: an abstract framework which defines an archetypical game, and a user interface which allows for the construction of games in a visual manner by manipulating the elements of the abstract game to produce a concrete design. The two most popular contemporary programming languages for creating text adventure games, TADS and Inform, are compared and contrasted, and my abstract framework is adapted to both of these languages. The traditional pencil-and-paper design process used by adventure game authors is studied and its application to the development of TA DA! is described. Finally, the implications of TA DA! and similar advances in visual programming are discussed and I predict future trends in the design of both adventure games and other application domains based on this work.

As video games have evolved, the focus on impressive graphics and surround-sound has become increasingly prominent. Stepping away from their roots, video games have toned down the interaction and put the cinematic parts of the experience on the forefront. However, some games stand outside the norm, taking down the sound-level to a minimum, even going as far as removing text entirely. In my essay, I explore the functions of silence, specifically in two works: the computer game Machinarium, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film, along with the novel. By analyzing these works, I highlight how silence can have widely different effects on how the users experience the work. Employing different techniques, the authors manipulate the experience, using visuals as well as audio to increase the sense of immersion and connectedness to the characters on screen. In my essay, the close ties between video games and film is central, and it discusses how the former has been influenced by the latter. Comparing the use of silence to techniques found in literature, I discover surprisingly many similarities to the narrative techniques used there. My research shows that video games employing silence can, even while being influenced by more cinematic media, still retain its core essentials and provide an experience that encourages exploration and imagination of the individual user.

The cognitive zeitgeist within the psychotherapy literature of the last decades has tended to obscure the role of emotion, emphasising instead the role of cognition and behaviour in psychotherapeutic change. It seems anomalous that clinically oriented psychologists should have neglected emotion to such a degree, as emotional distress of one type or another is the currency of psychotherapy. Concurrent with the neglect of emotion in the psychotherapy literature, within general psychology there has been a resurgence of interest in emotion as a fundamental aspect of human experience. Following the course set by Jeremy Safran & Leslie Greenberg, the individuals who have alerted the psychotherapeutic community to the need for cognisance of the general psychology work on emotion, an attempt has been made to form an amalgam which acknowledges both the therapeutic and academic knowledge about emotion. That is the first element of the discussion presented below. The second major element is Adventure Therapy. Adventure Therapy, as a means of addressing difficulties of various sorts, has been a part of the therapeutic landscape for almost one hundred years. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in Adventure Therapy, particularly as the need for alternatives to traditional ‘talking’ therapies for some populations has been recognised. The view taken here is that Adventure Therapy is indeed a form of psychotherapy and not merely a specialised form of recreation undertaken with particular populations. In much the same way as many other forms of therapy, Adventure Therapy is partially defined by the environment, procedures and techniques which constitute the practical aspect of the approach. Behind this is the theory that provides the rationale for the more tangible aspects. For instance, classical psychoanalysis has the unconscious, free association, and the ubiquitous couch, while Adventure Therapy has the outdoors and activities such as climbing, abseiling, kayaking, and tramping. As will become apparent, for Adventure Therapy, it is the activities and the environment within which they take place that is crucial to the therapeutic effect. Most psychotherapeutic schools, to greater or lesser degrees, have attempted, in the course of their theorising, to say something about the role of emotion. This does not appear to be the case for Adventure Therapy. By way of redressing this notable deficiency, the discussion below draws on the implications that stem from a synthesis emerging from both the therapeutic and academic literatures. Chapter 1 is an introduction to Adventure Therapy with particular emphasis on the existing theoretical models which have been applied to Adventure Therapy. Also discussed are the types of programs which exist and the populations to which they are directed. Similarly, Chapter 2 delineates a number of features of emotion drawing on the general academic research and theory. Chapter 3 outlines the ways in which various psychotherapeutic schools have conceptualised emotion. The emotional change processes which contribute to the purported psychotherapeutic effect are also examined. Chapter 4 describes the general therapeutic implications that emerge from the synthesis of the therapeutic and academic literatures. Chapter 5 is an examination of two particular bodies of research that relate to both emotion and adventure; coping and risk-taking. The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate that the academic research provides some useful signposts as to the role of emotion in Adventure Therapy particularly with regard to the complexity of the factors which may need to be considered when examining adventure specifically. However, what also becomes apparent are the limitations of scope and methodology that will need to be addressed for research within the Adventure Therapy context. Chapter 6 presents a model of the role of emotion in Adventure Therapy. The model, essentially an ecological constructivist analysis, draws on the preceding chapters and is designed to provide a starting point from which a research program can be undertaken. It suggests that the activities and processes which are inherent parts of Adventure Therapy provide an adaptive context within which emotion plays a central therapeutic role by way of its ability to penetrate multiple aspects of being.

This thesis contrasts the ideal of the adventure as drawn from historical-theoretical sources with the new socio-cultural form of the commodified adventure, exemplified in outdoor leisure products such as guided white water rafting, rock climbing courses and commercialb ungeej umps. It is proposedt hat, whilst the original form generatesa `taken for granted' meaning of adventure involving responsibility for ones self, the experience of uncertaintya nd personalc ommitment,t he latter kind of `adventure-as-commodityi's one of bounded responsibility, managed risks (removed uncertainty) and mere financial commitment. The meaningo f adventure,i t is suggestedh, as beenh ollowed out in order to make it palatable for consumption in the competitive marketplace. In an effort to understand the place of the adventure in late modernity, the plight of the individual is considered as they search for some respite from the monolithic structural constraints of `high' modernity. The classicala ccountso f disenchantmenitn Weber's iron cagea re contrastedp rimarily with the work of Georg Simmel, underpinned throughout by Nietzsche's ideas on the need for tensions between Apollonian and Dionysian social forms in healthy societies. The escapea ttemptso f the leisure adventurersa re thus characterizedin the study as part of the messy, complex aspect of modernity which thrives in between the regulative structural aspects which impinge on everyday life. This is the so-called forgotten broken ground of the other modernity as Lash describes it. In an effort to better understand the meanings derived from such escape behaviours, this empirical study of adventurers-atleisure examines the world of the sea kayakers on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales. A selection of data from studies of members of informal kayaking groups and consumers/professionaplr oviders is presented.T his is then analysedi n terms of the paradoxical problem of the `original' meaning of adventure contrasted with the commodified,r isk-removedv ersionss old to consumersa nd the form createdb y the independents eak ayakersw ho choosen ot to use the servicesf or sale. The conclusion is that there are adventure-like experiences available to all in all kinds of adventures ettings,a nd that momentaryf eelings of belongingnessa nd collective excitementa re accessibleth rough membershipo f temporary leisure protocultures (thiasos). The original adventure, however, is far more elusive, demanding as it does a willingness to break through beyond the expert systems and support structures which comfort the consumer of commodified adventure. Moments of letting-go; of self and of othersa re realiseablee ven in the commercial situation, but responsibility for the outcome is taken by a paid professional. Commodified adventure threatens to succumb to the Apollonian progression toward control and regulation, so that those who seek adventure but do not find its authentic form may increasingly turn toward more dangerous and socially damaging outlets for their spirit.

The aim of this thesis is to develop PC-based integrated development environment that would allow to interpret the resulting adventure game on the Android platform. This thesis describes the theory of adventure games and their history. It deals with the design and implementation of a library, that is used in other applications developed in this thesis, a development environment and platform interpreter for Android. It also describes the sample game created in the development environment. At end it contains testing of development environment and sample game on interpreter for the Android platform.

This thesis focuses on strategic analysis of the company Adventure World s. r. o. operating escape games in Prague. The goal of the thesis is to suggest strategic recommendations for further company development. The theoretical part deals with defining basic terminology and describing process of strategy formulation. In the practical part analytical tools described earlier are applied to analysis. In order to analyze external environment, the PEST framework is used. To illustrate the industry environment, 5 competitive forces analysis, map of strategic groups is used. In examining the internal firms conditions, the strategic resources and capabilities are identified through the value chain framework. Analyses findings are summarized in SWOT matrix, then strategy alternatives are generated. In conclusion, the author suggests the wording of the organization mission and updated vision, strategic goals, then author specifies actions, that are meant to fulfill those goals.

We're in an alternate universe, circa Dickensian London. Leofric Lieven, a local crime lord, is about to find the past catching up on him. The Romany Carnival has come to town, and a gypsy woman, his former lover and partner in crime, demands from him a favour which will redress his betrayal of years before: he must secure a stolen object and return it to her. But things go horribly wrong when local delivery boy Cards Bennish is kidnapped by Leofric’s competitor before he can deliver the goods that will cover Leofric's debt to the gypsy. In this world, humans can shape shift into animals, entirely or only partially, dog fighting is the favourite pastime for high stakes betting, and power belongs to the highest bidder. The gypsy’s final bet, for the highest stakes yet, will seal the fates of a number of people, for better or worse

South: A Psychometric Text Adventure is an artist’s book and a set of software programs. The South project re-conceptualises the artist’s book and wider bookforms, encouraging models of interaction that are aware of specific locations and individual subjects. These alternatives are a response to what this thesis frames as two rapidly stagnating forms. The thesis argues that both the artist’s book and electronic literature (see the glossary on page 343 for definitions of the key terms used throughout this thesis) have not made a significant impact on the cultural landscape of the early 21st century. Nor have they made a significant use of the key technological changes that have occurred since the first electronic literature emerged in the late 1970s (in the form of interactive fictions, sometimes called ‘Text Adventures’, such as Colossal Cave Adventure (Crowther, 1976)). In order to move forward from the increasingly problematic, disembodied, computational models used in these early digital works (discussed in chapters two, five and six) this thesis specifically recommends the formation of temporally specific, contextualised, relationships between readers and digital texts. The South project presents a multi-linear, situated and embodied form of intra-activity (see glossary) as an alternative to more linear forms of interaction. These ideas and their implications for electronic literature and artist’s books will be clarified and outlined throughout this thesis, as will the rationale for framing them as valid models for moving electronic literature and artist’s books into a position of cultural and technological relevance.

The turn of the millennium has heralded an explosion in the popularity of adventure sports often also referred to as alternative lifestyle sports or extreme sports. These are offering both new avenues and potential challenges to the traditional ways of conceptualising and practicing sport. This thesis analyses the development of adventure sports, in particular climbing and kayaking, as a subculture. It delivers a socio-economic history of climbing, analyses the role of the media in its development, its participation and its lived experience. Further it investigates the impact of globalisation, commercialisation and consumerism on adventure sports, and considers to what extent they are being brought into the mainstream as a result. The economic impact of participation in adventure sports is reviewed along with a study of how the make up of its participants has changed as the activities have become more accessible. Particular focus is placed on the analysis of the gender order, specifically looking at the experiences of women in adventure sports. For this purpose the sports culture found in climbing and kayaking is examined and the implications for the reconstruction of gender relations are considered. This study employs an ethnographic approach including both semi-structured and structured interviews with both adventure sports experts and participants, document and media analysis, participant observation and the more recent nethnography approach. One of the significant contributions of this thesis has been to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of the social, cultural and media environment of arguably one of the most popular lifestyle sports in the UK. It has also shown the strong interrelationship that exists between the media and adventure sports, and has demonstrated how the increased commercialisation and commodification of the activity has resulted in economic development particularly in some remoter parts of the UK through the packaging and provision of the climbing experience. At the same time some participants see this is ‘selling out’. This research has demonstrated how women’s participation in adventure sports has been subject to marginalisation, sexualisation and trivialisation similar to other mainstream sports. However, this work has also highlighted that there is room for optimism as new discourses of femininity contrary to the traditional male hegemony are emerging. Further research opportunities have been identified concerning issues of ethnicity and participation; the social, cultural and economic relationships between adventure sportspeople and rural communities. Emerging feminist discourses also warrant further investigation.

The field of supramolecular gels has attracted a great deal of attention as these versatile materials have been shown to be highly tunable and responsive to stimuli making them attractive for a multitude of potential applications such as drug delivery, energy and gas storage, and waste water treatment. Serendipity still plays a role in gel discovery. However, with the ever growing library of gels, design is becoming a greater possibility. Interactions involved in the formation of gels are closely related to those in the field of crystal engineering. There are two parts to this body of work. The first follows the exploration of factors that in uence carboxylate gel formation. The second is to examine the response of the iron(III)-carboxylate metallogels to external stimuli. For the gel formation, a range of small carboxylic acids (ligands), solvents, metal salts, and temperatures were used to investigate their respective roles. Systematic study showed that gels from ligands with carboxylate moieties in the ortho position passed the "inverted vial test" most consistently. Of the solvents used, only those with polarities between 4 and 7.2 resulted in gel formation. In general, the rate of gel formation increased with an increase in temperature. It was found that the nature of the counter ion in uences the outcome of gelation. Inorganic counter ions such as nitrate and halides resulted in gel formation, while organic counter ions such as acetylacetonate and oxalate did not. Characterisation was performed using thermal analysis, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction. It was found that the gels were ca. 95-99% solvent. The creation of xerogels, by oven or freeze drying, allowed for better characterisation. The response of the gel to stimuli was explored and they were shown to interact with their environment. Dyes bromocresol green and methyl orange were both sorbed, in different amounts, by the two carboxylate-iron(III) metallogels, Fe-5nite-DMF and Fe-tri-DMF. This was monitored using UV-visible spectrophotometry. Gas sorption experiments were performed using carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, and water vapour. This was done in order to determine the response of selected xerogels to gas as well as to examine the effect of the drying method on pore size and gas sorption capability. In all cases, water vapour was adsorbed in the greatest quantity. A range of 184.54 cm³ (STP) g⁻¹ to 577.36 cm³ (STP) g⁻¹ at a relative pressure of 0.760 was seen. Separation of compounds with similar boiling points was attempted using Fe-phens-EtOH, Fe-tri-EtOH, and Fe-5nite-EtOH. The compounds, 2- and 3-methylpiperidine, disrupted the stabilising interactions within the gel and no separation took place. During the investigation into the role of an organic counter ion in gel formation, three novel crystal structures were obtained from iron(III) acetylacetonate and 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid. The structures elucidated were found to be dependent on the temperature and length of time allowed for the reaction. Multiple factors in uence gel formation and with a better understanding of these, tunable materials for specific applications may be created.

The Life Effectiveness of Wilderness Adventure Leaders Cory Maria Dack Southern Illinois University Carbondale Introduction The call of the wild has long been accepted as a true phenomenon by mankind. Throughout history countless scores of women and men have written novels, poems, and symphonies in-spired by the ubiquitous reach of nature. As Sigurd Olson once wrote, "Wilderness to the people... is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium" (Olson & Backes, 2001, p. 61). Eventually, musings on the powerful effects of nature branched out from the realm of artistic expression and began to take root in the domain of science and research as well. As the academic world has begun to quantify the positive benefits nature has on those who immerse themselves in the wilderness, the populace has simulta-neously looked to nature for an antidote to the ever increasing stressors of life. Wilderness adventure programs are one medium that exposes participants to the numerous benefits associated with nature, including an increase in overall life effectiveness and an increase in holistic well being. Wilderness adventure programs can be recreational, educational, developmental, or therapeutic in purpose (Hans, 2000). Programming can range from an afternoon of recreation in a city park, to a week-long stay at a summer camp, to a 45 day backpacking trip through the arctic. Whatever the level or duration of the program, participants are often attracted to wilderness adventure programming by the inherent benefits of adventure and personal growth. A vast array of nature based benefits research exists (see Brown, 1999; Ewert, 1985, 1989; Klint, 1999; Rog-genbuck & Driver, 2000; Stein & Lee, 1995). Literature concerning these benefits often focuses on researching, testing, and measuring the benefits participants receive after completing a wilderness adventure program. While most of the research has shown that participating in a wilderness adventure program increases the self-confidence, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and overall life effectiveness of participants (see Caulkins, White, & Russell, 2006; Goldenberg, McAvoy, & Klenosky, 2005; and Hattie, Marsh, Neill, & Richards, 1997), there is a deficit of research on the benefits and outcomes that occur to those who guide or lead wilderness adventure programs. To truly understand how wilderness adventure program-ming affects the human mind, body, and spirit, there needs to be more research that focuses specifically on the outcomes experi-enced by those who lead wilderness adventure programs. Methods Research was conducted at two camps located in northern Minnesota over the course of the summer during the 2009 camp season. The two camps, Camp Vermilion and Camp Hiawatha, are church affiliated and offer week long canoe adventures, houseboat trips, and residential in-camp experiences. The proposed research was based off of the following research questions: a) Do in-camp counselors experience an increase in life effectiveness after working at a summer camp over the course of one summer? b) Is there a difference between the life effectiveness reported by first-year in-camp counselors compared to the life effectiveness reported by returning in-camp counselors? b) Is there a difference between the life effectiveness reported by female in-camp counselors compared to the life effectiveness reported by male in-camp counselors? Quantitative data was collected through the use of the Life Effectiveness Questionnaire (LEQ). The LEQ was given to the in-camp counselors at the start of the summer during staff training. At the end of the summer the LEQ was then re-administered to the same research participants. Qualitative data was assessed via a short answer questionnaire that asked open-ended questions about the experiences the research participants had while working at their respective camps. This short answer questionnaire was administered at the end of the summer with the second LEQ. Results After the research data were collected, the data were run through a series of dependent t-tests and independent t-tests. The t-tests were used to compare the scores of the pre-summer LEQs to the scores of the post-summer LEQs, the scores of first-year in-camp counselors and returning in-camp counselors, and the scores of female and male in-camp counselors. The results were as follows: The changes in the results of the pre and post-test LEQ scores were t (11) = .102, p = .102. The results of the changes in post-test LEQ scores between new wilderness adventure leaders and returning wilderness adventure leaders was t (18) = .713, p = .485. Female post-test LEQ scores and male post-test LEQ scores resulted in changes of t (18) = 1.256, p = .225. The difference between post-test and pre-test mean LEQ scores was .58 standard deviations, or, a .58 effect size. The qualitative data yielded by the short-answer questionnaires were assessed using the techniques of enumeration and constant comparison. The following themes were pulled from the self-reported answers of the research participants: Increased Self-Confidence, Spiritual Connections, Personal Changes/Growth, Awareness of Strengths/ Weaknesses, Positive Community, and a 100% Job Recommendation. Participants reported that after the summer they felt that they had experienced Increased Self-Confidence. One participant wrote, "My leadership has grown incredibly - I was encouraged to own my authority and truly lead this summer. I have watched my confidence and competence grow." Another participant reported, "On my application I wrote that I wanted to gain confidence in myself and the things I do. I believe I have gained tons more than I started with." Spiritual Connections were identified from research participants who reported, "I feel like I've discovered a deeper sense of peace," "I have grown spiritually and more confident in myself," and "I don't think I would be ready, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, for my next year of school if I wasn't here this summer." Awareness of Strengths/Weaknesses were supported by self-reported responses such as, "I am stronger! I learned this summer that in order to make myself stronger I had to be vulnerable and expose my fears and anxieties." Personal Changes/Growth were evident in a participant who reported, "This summer I pushed myself farther than before in my leadership skills...it has been tough at times, but at that time is when I have experienced the most growth." Many research participants reported that they felt like they were a member of a Positive Community. One participant reported, "I have never laughed so hard, had so much fun, yet felt so proud of [what]... we were doing at camp." Another stated, "It has been an amazing experience... seeing how a community of such random personalities can become so close and grow so much in... 9 short weeks." Lastly, one participant wrote, "I am more steady. I feel loved. I feel like there is a place I belong." After reviewing all of the short answer surveys, it was found that 100% of the research participants stated that they would recommend a job as a wilderness adventure leader to others. Participants stated that "The chance to serve in this capacity is incredible," and "I hope that others are able to have the same opportunity to work with youth and learn, teach, and experience [this] leadership position." Another participant reported, "This is the best job I could ever ask for and is an amazing experience you can't find anywhere else." And finally, while reflecting on the experience of being a wilderness adventure leader, one participant reported, "It is a life changing experience!" Discussion and Implications Although the t-tests did not yield statistically significant results, the research still yielded a moderate change in effect size (.58). The self-reported qualitative data from the post-summer surveys support the idea that there are many positive benefits to be gained from being a wilderness adventure leader. This qualitative data is important, as it shows that the research participants themselves feel very strongly that being a wilderness adventure leader leads to a variety of experienced positive benefits. The moderate effect size and the self-reported qualitative data both support a call for more research in this area. Further research of greater depth could lead to a higher effect size, as well as to greater statistical significance. Previous research also reveals a need for further research in this area. Although there is a copious amount of research on the outcomes that occur after participating in a wilderness adventure program, there is a lack of studies that focus specifically on how being part of a wilderness adventure program can benefit a wilder-ness adventure guide or leader. Hattie et al. (1997) stress an overall need for more wilderness adventure research in their meta-analysis of over 96 different studies on wilderness adventure programs. After noting the diverse multitude of results found in the different studies in their meta-analysis, the authors concluded that more re-search in all of the areas of wilderness adventure programming must be done in order to validate the necessity of the existence of outdoor programming (Hattie et al.). Only through the continuation of research in this field will wilderness educators and leaders be able to conclusively offer evidence that wilderness adventure pro-grams are a vital and important part of human development.

This thesis develops understanding in using outdoor adventure as a tool for learning for young people. It examines how adventure pedagogy may be applied in conjunction with classroom education to offer physical and visual means to enhance classroom theory. The core of the study was the examination of a local authority Adventure Team, identified by the Authority management as having strayed from its roots, although not perceived as ‘failing’. The researcher became insider-researcher to combine professional experience with research knowledge, envisaging this study as the pre-cursor to an action research team development project. The aims of the research were whether the Team was delivering the ‘learning’ mandated by its youth work location and whether it could strengthen its delivery. The study defines adventure, before exploring the underpinning concepts making up the elements of ‘The Adventure Team’ and its identity within the local authority. Literature advocates adventure as a powerful tool to develop social and emotional literacy, which dovetails into Government agendas on health and education. Although the study was undertaken prior to the current coalition Government, the principal agenda remains consistent with the previous regime. The Government at the time of the research promoted adventure as a means to help young people learn about the world in which they live, and the current Government has not rescinded this ambition. This work embodies learning as an interactive process whereby adventure can engage the individual on an agenda of personal and social awareness, as well as cognitive learning. Using case study as the research approach, data collection was achieved using interviews, participant observation and secondary data. The research found that the Team could achieve more by developing closer working relationships and by the Authority leadership being strengthened to offer greater direction and support. The framework of delivery was centralising the Team such that it had become isolated, with little governance and without partnerships to make the programmes as powerful as they could be. The conclusion is that the Team could fortify its delivery through alliances to provide visual and physical means to reinforce and support traditional learning, which enhances understanding. Informal learning helps young people to understand how they learn and how they can apply learning, which augments motivation and creates ownership of the learning. The research is a forerunner to at least two future research studies. Firstly an examination of the legacy of the ‘Learning Outside the Classroom’ Manifesto (2006) and secondly, an exploration of the influence of the coalition Government’s assumption of power on multi-agency partnerships, early intervention and targeted youth support, as was envisaged under the previous regime as the ‘Every Child Matters’ (2003) agenda. In addition to this, a book exploring how adventure can be used to address formal and informal learning as an ‘off the shelf’ resource to present activities and potential outcomes has enormous potential in the sustained delivery of outdoor learning as a valuable learning tool.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Literature, Communication, and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010.
Committee Chair: Murray, Janet H.; Committee Member: Bolter, Jay; Committee Member: Montfort, Nick; Committee Member: Nitsche, Michael; Committee Member: Pearce, Celia. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

This thesis explores Robert Louis Stevenson’s re-imagining of adventure narrative through the development of a unique aesthetics of adventure across his oeuvre. From a methodological perspective, it approaches a wide range of Stevenson’s work—manuscripts, letters, and essays in addition to the fiction—through an initial framework of adventure theory. Analysis of individual adventure archetypes within Stevenson’s writing is further enriched through interaction with a wide variety of secondary critical sources. The Introduction commences the investigation of Stevenson’s conceptualisation of the term adventure, with subsequent chapters considering the author’s re-casting of specific topoi central to the tradition of literary adventure. Although every chapter makes reference to a variety of the author’s works, close readings are limited to one text per chapter in which the trope under discussion is employed in an especially compelling manner. Chapter One considers Stevenson’s exploration of chance within adventure and focuses on the opposition between chance and Providence found throughout The Master of Ballantrae. Chapter Two examines the role of Stevenson’s protagonists, an investigation which culminates in the assessment of Jim Hawkins’ ethical agency in Treasure Island. Chapter Three contemplates Stevenson’s extrapolation of the darker elements of adventure narrative, probing his representation of villainy as portrayed in The Ebb-Tide. Chapter Four looks at the author’s frequently subversive manipulation of traditional adventure landscapes and maps out his presentation of the ethical connotations associated with place in The Black Arrow. Chapter Five investigates the destination of adventure, with particular attention placed upon the author’s conceptualisation of homegoing and the essence of home in Kidnapped.

In this thesis I explore the ways that atmospheres may be conceptualized and how these function affectively within school contexts. Incorporating broadly new materialisms methodologies, drawing heavily on the work of Deleuze and Deleuze and Guattari, I attempt to create an assemblage of a becoming-thesis. I consider potential atmospheres as 'hauntings', 'ethereal hazes' and 'vibrant ecstacies' which shimmer with their own agency. These are vibrant matters where I utilise the work of Stewart, Bennett and Braidotti, amongst others, to create a flatter ontology and consider all matter within this 'unholy mixture', including the nonhuman. Driven by the research film that I produced alongside children, I explore the entanglements within the school environment and wonder how school may be experienced by young people. This is fuelled by a dissatisfaction with the current school agendas and the impact this has on children, and a strong moral need to care about education and childhood. Through engaging with teachers and school staff I begin the process of questioning the ordinary everyday practices, materiality and discourses that pervade schools and education. The thesis also seeks to become atmospheric whilst resisting traditional representational models of educational research. Instead I seek an enchanting adventure through discursive and varied styles of writing. By incorporating multiple texts and writing in non-linear ways, I seek to engage with complex flows, intensities and potentialities as these constantly shift and flux. As such the reader is encouraged to negotiate an unholy mixture of traditional academic writing alongside photographs, poetry, film, personal reflective writing, and narrative story writing. These aim to act as jolts or onto-epistemological shudders hoping to mirror my own discomfort as I negotiated a doctorate in education. Both the thesis and the research aspire to be event-ful. I end in a place better able to understand the complexities that exist around 'affective school atmospheres' and see that the approaches of new materialisms are a fitting way to research the indeterminable. I also begin to consider how the next steps for this research involve a political turn to generate action and revolt, to consider how we might open the void to create space to change schools.

The thesis documents an ethnography of the finance department of a commercial subsidiary company of a renowned UK scientific research organisation. The ninemonth ethnography (which covers a one-year financial reporting cycle) addresses how accountants and non-accounting managers construct their company's earnings. Addressing issues in both internal management accounting (e.g. budgeting, performance evaluation, control) and external financial accounting (i.e. bookkeeping, monthly/year end accounts, auditing) the thesis focuses on how people: classify transactions and make professional judgements; use computer software for accounting; and prepare for and facilitate the auditing process. In tackling these questions, the thesis also addresses: accountancy training; the impact of people's affiliations to the accounting profession or other professions on their accounting and on their perceptions of financial statements; and other contingent/contextual factors that influence the choice of accounting method e.g. reward structure, management authority, time pressure, institutions. The research employs an 'ethnoaccountancy' approach which blends ethnographic practice and finitist theory (as developed by Barry Barnes and David Bloor). The motivation of this approach stemmed from the paucity of ethnographic studies of financial accounting (compared to management accounting research). A further motivation relates to the apparent gap between the academic curriculum (including orthodox academic research) and the experiences of practitioners - a gap which has led to accusations that writers of textbooks have given insufficient attention to societal issues; and that orthodox accounting research is of little relevance to accounting practice and is therefore largely ignored by practitioners. As advocated by the interdisciplinary research area, social studies of finance, the thesis finds that using social studies of science as a means to understand accounting, particularly the financial reporting process, a useful one. The thesis documents numerous examples of finitism in the definition and classification of accounting terms and of related epistemological issues: e.g. 'meaning is use', interpretation. As predicted by finitism, the meanings of terms (e.g. 'materiality', 'true and fair view') are not fixed: previous terms and acts of classification (e.g. 'asset', 'expense') are revisable; and the future applications of terms and classifications are open-ended and contingent upon the local circumstances and to previous applications e.g. upon new legislation and social expectations. Consequently, no act of accounting classification is ever indefeasibly correct. The analogy with scientific culture and Kuhnian paradigms (e.g. paradigm shifts, problem-solutions, exemplars) is strong: the accounting community's institutions and authority are central to the accounting process and to the 'truth and fairness' of accounting numbers; accounting training involves extensive use of ostensive learning and learning by doing; and both accountants and non-accounting managers have goals and interests that result in 'good enough' accounting and satisficing behaviour.

This descriptive study examines the relationship between job expectations and job satisfaction in the context of adventure education (AE) field staff. An electronic survey distributed to field instructors of the Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI) Outdoor School assessed the level to which their job expectations had been met as well as their reported job satisfaction based on the short form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Quantitative analysis of the results indicates a significant correlation between job expectations and job satisfaction. Extrinsic job satisfaction showed a stronger correlation with employee expectations than did intrinsic job satisfaction, although the difference in correlation strengths was not statistically significant. Expectations about both basic job attributes and career development opportunities correlated with job satisfaction significantly more strongly than expectations about curriculum. Factor analysis reveals that amongst other job expectations, manager communication and career development opportunities correlate strongest with job satisfaction, and represent key focus areas for AE administrators. Increasing the visibility of organizational mission statements as well as reviewing staff training models with these results in mind could help align employee expectations with reality. These results suggest that the AE industry should continue to develop its human resource savvy and monitor the evolving profile of their employees to safeguard their job satisfaction.

This paper seeks to explore the early twentieth century trend of ethnographic adventure filmmaking. A subgenre of the ethnographic film, these works blended ethnographic observations with scripted and staged adventure stories, advancing popular tropes of indigenous first contact and the superiority of Western civilization. Focusing on a 1931 expedition to the Amazon which resulted in the creation of the first sync-sound ethnographic adventure film, titled Matto Grosso: The Great Brazilian Wilderness, I argue that despite flaws in its conception, production, and media coverage, this film serves as an example of how non-academic sources of knowledge production can still create important primary documents for indigenous source communities.
Master of Arts

In the United States (U.S.), adventure education (AE) articulates a social mission: It seeks to be inclusive serving members of all communities with their respective diverse complexities. Yet, the needs of many people are not being expressed, heard, or addressed adequately. This study focused specifically on gender, one aspect of this pressing concern, offering evidence to demonstrate that AE needs to routinely examine and expand its practices to effectively meet its social claims. The topic of how women are represented in AE literature was explored by positing the question: What messages about women are manifest in the literature and during the publishing process in AE? Themes emerged regarding the status of women in AE literature by utilizing two qualitative instruments: a feminist content analysis of five major texts and semi-structured interviews on Skype with nine women authors. The third component of this research design was a citation index, created for the entire publication range of the Journal of Experiential Education (JEE) and the Australian Journal of Outdoor Education (AJOE) to display a frequency of citations comparison between female and male authors. Findings from this research demonstrated that women continue to be the predominant authors of social justice writings in AE; their work is published 25% of the time in the journals reviewed, yet once published cited as often as men; and women have found support for publishing their work when they have had opportunities to collaborate with other women. Suggestions are provided to address the ongoing disparity to help foster AE's social mission.

Growing demand for and supply of adventure tourism activities, particularly packaged adventure holidays, means there is a need to understand adventure tourists. At the start of my research journey, the embryonic nature of adventure tourism research and the limited extant literature about adventure tourists provided the impetus to develop understanding of these tourists as a unique group of adventurers. Accordingly, the aim of this programme of research is to demonstrate the empirical and conceptual contributions that my published works make to the knowledge and understanding of adventure tourism participation and consumption. My research ethos reflects an interpretivist approach and my empirical publications predominantly report on qualitative data drawn from interviews and surveys with adventure tourists. The research contribution is achieved through two Focal Concepts. Firstly, adventure tourism participation, i.e.: the different elements which influence tourists to take adventure holidays in the first place. My work explores the distinctive characteristics of adventure tourists and how these influence their decision to participate in adventure tourism, their motivational decisions, risk perceptions, flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975) as a motivation for continued participation in adventure tourism, and their lifestyles. My publications are some of the first academic studies to develop new thinking relative to key influences which drive package tourists and independent tourists to participate in adventure tourism. Secondly, adventure tourism consumption, i.e.: tourists’ experiences of actually consuming adventure activities while on holiday. Adventure is often all-consuming and challenging and this means it can prompt diverse and conflicting emotions, ranging from feelings of fear and risk to deep satisfaction and elation. Consequently, my work investigates the emotional journeys which adventure tourists experience during activity consumption. Additionally, it examines the benefits which tourists gain from consuming adventure, and the influences on their adventure tourism experiences. My publications are some of the foremost studies to develop understanding of adventure tourism consumption.