Skip to main content

Students impress at showpiece Outdoor Conference

UCLan Outdoor students made a big impact at the recent Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL) Northwest Conference 2015.

A group of 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates attended the event, presenting research ideas and dissertation data to expert audiences.

Feedback from the conference was extremely positive, with employers and practitioners praising the students for their exceptional skill levels, highly relevant work on reflective practice and professional development and their ability to show critical awareness across a challenging range of studies.

Tim Deighton, IOL Northern Region Professional Development Coordinator, said: "Our senior IOL Officers and conference attendees noted the quality of the research projects your students presented - their professionalism, knowledge and industry relevance.

"It was noticeable how engaged the IOL audience were with your students, many of whom are employers in the North West, and their feedback was outstanding – several of them specifically mentioned to me how great it was to have student input at this type of event.

"The research into older adults and their relationship to the outdoors was particularly well-received. This is a very pertinent subject and showed a development of the ideas that you and Professor Ashton of the Royal College of Public Health outlined at last year’s conference. You were all a great credit to UCLan."

Final year student Hannah Smith was attending her third IOL Conference, and has used the experience to develop dissertation ideas and boost her future career prospects.

She commented: "This event opened a pathway for me to publish a new theory I've created, with people there saying my research is relevant to undergraduate and postgraduate students at different universities across the country.

"I believe as ambassadors of UCLan we were helping shape discussion within workshops of theory and practice with high level managers or practitioners. Thanks for creating this opportunity to expand our opportunities above the undergraduate level, with the focus on high level research and careers.

Senior Lecturer Dr Mark Hickman said: "The quality of the students' research proposals was very high this year, and this reflects the hard work they invest in this project.

"It's very encouraging to see students engaging so knowledgeably and confidently with sector professionals and to receive such positive feedback. Once again, Allison Inkster played a pivotal role in making this a success, and I would like to extend my thanks from all concerned."

UCLan Outdoor Division are still hoping to host the Inaugural North West Higher Education Outdoor Students' Conference, possibly during 2015, with support from the IOL.

To view a selection of images from the event please click here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1st year applied work at Plas y Brenin

1 st year applied work at Plas y Brenin During their first year on the BAHons Outdoor Adventure Leadership course , students spent 5 weeks at Plas y Brenin the National Mountain Centre, in North Wales. The focus of the first week was to consider the core competencies used when operating in the outdoors, and in that first week we kayaked, spent time in a canoe, rock climbed and had a day on a mountain. Over the subsequent four weeks, each group spent one week focusing on each of these adventure sports. Staying in the centre, the students also made good use of the climbing wall and rolling pool in the evenings, as well as attending talks from the staff at Plas y Brenin. Here are some of the thoughts from 1 st year students about their experiences at Plas y Brenin: “The environment was incredible as it allowed so many options” “The instructors that work with us are really good… they have a high level of experience” “Plas y Brenin allowed me to have an outlook i...
Post a Comment
Read more
Are you Mad? An investigation into the motivations of adventure sports participants as regards risk, fear and extreme hardship; for recreation. (by  Keith McGregor)   This qualitative research investigates why some of us (me included) want to put our minds and bodies through extremes of physical and psychological trauma. On a resent trip to Ben Nevis I was amazed to see some people trying to climb the mountain in some of the worst conditions I have seen. One of our party exclaimed “what are they thinking?’ needless to say we turned back and left them to it. This is a typical example of my research area. What drives people to do such mad things and put themselves in danger (let alone others) to risk life and limb, for what? Firstly I needed to look at my motivations and to do this I have used a personal narrative to investigate this phenomenon.   The narrative is about a trip to the European Alps, which culminated in me falling into a crevasse. The falling into t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Outdoor congress attracts stellar line-up

This year's European Outdoor Summit (EOS2015) is shaping up to be an unmissable event, with an exciting line-up of motivational speakers, engaging break-out sessions and workshops already announced. UCLan Outdoors Senior Lecturer Dr Mark Hickman has accepted an invitation to deliver a keynote speech at the conference, along with Professor Colin Beard of Sheffield Hallam University. Dr Hickman will look at the need for a focused social gerontology of the outdoors to help understand how the ageing population uses adventure sports and outdoor activities, and how this impacts on the ageing process. His presentation follows on from an appearance at the recent International Adventure Conference where Dr Hickman, along with colleagues Allison Inkster and Helen Hooper, delivered separate papers on the same subject. Former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tops an impressive list of speakers, with Professor Greg Whyte from The Centre for Health & Human Performance and Public H...
Post a Comment
Read more