Student or Group Info
Name: Zoe DeWitt
Term: Fall 2022
Credits: 12
Title of ILC or Group Project: Right Where I Belong: Finding Self Within Nature
Field Supervisor
Field supervisor: Phoebe Reid
Title: Immersion Instructor
Organization: Wilderness Awareness School
Sponsor
Name: Sarah Williams
Title: Food and Ag Professor
Organization: Evergreen State College
Program of Project Description
Narrative: Why are humans drawn to outdoor experiential learning? Through participant-based observation and experiential learning methodologies used in Right Where I Belong: Finding Self Within Nature, the student will explore the effects of wilderness education on the sense of self. The student will participate in the Immersion program through the Wilderness Awareness School to compile research on why humans are drawn to outdoor learning. They will learn naturalist, tracking, and survival skills, while also forming a deeper relationship with nature and self through self-discovery and community building. The student’s work will be documented and then reflected on through weekly reflective posts on a WordPress ePortfolio website. The student’s fall quarter work will culminate in the development of a research project for winter quarter, including a literature review, regarding the relationship between outdoor experiential learning and “finding self within nature.”
| Learning objective | Activity | Deliverable |
| To learn about naturalist, tracking, and survival skills | Through field study work in the Immersion program, I will study naturalist skills, the art and science of tracking, working with plants, and wilderness survival skills. I will document my learning through weekly WordPress posts. | Weekly WordPress posts documenting what I have learned through field study activities |
| To explore and find an answer to the question: Why do humans choose outdoor education? | I will use what I learn through my field studies to answer the question: Why do humans choose outdoor education? I will reflect weekly on my experiences and learning to do this. | Weekly WordPress posts reflecting on my findings on the question: Why do humans choose outdoor education? |
| To explore and define a personal project of interest revolving around personal experience within the Immersion program and answering the question: Why was I drawn to outdoor/experiential learning? | I will reflect on the aspects of the Immersion that most draw me in, culminating my ideas and inspirations into a larger personal project to be pursued in winter quarter. | Weekly reflective WordPress posts that incorporate exploration of personal project interests Final WordPress post highlighting personal project and the journey to defining this project |
Evaluation of Work
- WordPress ePortfolio
- Final week ten presentation
- Narrative evaluations from field supervisor and/or subcontractor
- Narrative mid-quarter and final self-evaluations