EDUC20070: Learning via Sport and Outdoor Education

2 x 750 word autoethnographic journal entries (15% each, both submitted at the same time 30% total) due week 10. 1 x 2500 word autoethnographic report due end of semester (70% of final mark). You won't get your final marks Released until you pay the additional fee for completing this subject as you need to pay for travel and hike instructors for the camp - it would not be more than $200. 80% attendance hurdle requirement.

Best subject at the university! Pretty much outdoor education from high school, where you get to go for a 3 day camp/hike at Wilson's Promontory National Park. The subject was initially designed for international students so that they could experience the National Park, but it is welcome for anyone, and most are local students.

The first 2 weeks of semester you get introduced to the subject and what you need to do to write an autoethnographic report. An autoethnographic report is a combination of autobiography and ethnography, so you don't need to reference it, you describe your own feelings and thoughts as you complete a fun run, or bush walk.
Then for the next 3 weeks in the lecture slot, you meet at the athletics track and participate in running training, you are split up into groups of ability and the distance you are going to run in (5km, 10km, 15km). These sessions are not hard, and if you are injured you don't have to run, you can do gym rehab work, but everyone needs to complete the fun run. You are encouraged to take autoethnographic notes during training and after the fun run, this is pretty easy, you can just write it down on your phone, or do a voice recording, or take pictures.

The fun run is on a weekend, you need to organise your own transport there, it starts at the Xavier College primary school in Kew, i got a lift in a car, but there is a bus that goes right past it. The fun run fee is included in the additional fee at the start of the subject. This fun run is usually finished by lunchtime.
That completes the first 5 weeks of the course.

The next 3 weeks of the course are dedicated to the Bush walking camps. You are allocated to groups by filling out an online form where you note your previous experience and ability to do a bush walk. So if you want to stay in a group of friends maybe try to put the same answers down, but you may be able to swap with others later but this isn't usually possible, only approved by the coordinator depending on circumstance.
If you chose the week 6 option, you have a lecture where only those who are allocated for week 6 attend, this goes over safety, what to bring, what you are going to do, who is going to share a tend with who. If you need to hire anything its worked out in that session. Everyone else has the week off.
Once you finish your camp you get the other 2 weeks off, i.e. if you camped in week 6, you get week 7, 8 off. Everyone gets week 9 as a week off to compensate you for missing one day during the week, as the camps are 3 days long and span the weekend, so you miss either friday or monday.
These camps are without a doubt the best part of the subject. If you have never hiked before or are injured, you get placed in the base camp group and only go on day trips and don't need to carry all your stuff. If you have hiked before you pair up with your tent buddy and share the responsibility of carrying your tent and food in backpacks during the hike. Once you get back home after the 3 day bush walk, then you take your autoethnographic notes, there is no need to take them when your on the camp. Its awesome, plenty of Wildlife, great views, the beach at Sealer's cove is beautiful.

So after everyone has week 9 off, weeks 10, 11, 12 get into the academic side of the course, and introduce you to the theory behind learning through outdoor education. This may be a bit challenging for some to understand, but the lecturer is great and will really help you if you need it, I didn't seek help from him but if you're stuck it would help. You really don't want to miss these sessions, as mentioned above, all of the material which you will need to reference is provided in these lectures and you only really need to reference a few paragraphs of the essay. A lot of it is introducing your autoethnographic reports from the previous assignment and interpreting your own feelings and how you felt you learned during the experience.
Assessment is very fair, and this subject isn't something you are likely to get ever again in your education, I really regret not doing outdoor education at school!

Yes, maybe a bit dodgy though.

John Quay

N/A

5 Out of 5

All of the course material is covered in lectures, and the lecturer explicitly tells you to only reference the sources he covers in the lectures, there is no need to find outside sources.

6 lectures (1-1.5 hours most finish early), 1 Fun Run (on a weekend, finished by lunchtime), 1 Bush Walking Camp (3 days over a weekend and one day during the week), 3 running training sessions (1-1.5 hours).

2014, S2.

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