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Summary of a variety of articles needed for the class. Was a course workbook made for the class filled with documents and other information. This is a summary of it...

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Article 1 a) Hierarchical model of leisure constraints Deliberate Programming with Logic Models: From Theory to Outcomes (Crawford, Jackson, Godbey) -

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Positive outcomes for youth as a result of participation in recreation and leisure = enhance skills, increase friendships, learn to get along with each other and decrease negative behaviour Presenting this to the government, a school district or a foundation would require tools to construct a sound argument for the program Today, recreation is not viewed as an arena for dealing with social issues Over time, recreation and park professionals strayed from philosophy of providing services to meet the needs of youth and many focused on the fun as the main outcomes o Thus recreation used to be viewed as fun and games Today – most successful programmers and managers design programs to produce outcomes to help them position recreation as a necessary service for accomplishing: o Service goals - Decreased crime, increased safety for children who otherwise might be on the street or return to empty homes during the nonschool hours o Education goals - better test scores, graduation from high school o Behavioural goals – decreased destructive behaviours, including drug use and involvement in early and unprotected sex It is necessary for recreation service providers to find ways to explain in terms that resonate with stakeholders the business that we are in Evidence of success must be provided so that recreation services can be considered beneficial to dealing with youth issues, just as are the police, schools, and the juvenile justice system. o Important for those providing financial support for the programs; looking at their funding as social investments o Funders are willing to support programs that provide good investment and thus are increasingly interested in information that demonstrates that programs do indeed achieve their intended outcomes o There is scientific evidence of the effectiveness of programs to produce valued outcomes However, for recreation workers to offer valued programs and to effectively engage in collaborative efforts with other service providers, they need to learn to explain o (a) What they are trying to accomplish, o (b) How objectives will be achieved, and o (c) What evidence exists that the program outcomes have been accomplished. The rest of chapter will explore tools for accomplishing these goals

The Role of Theory in Program Development - programmers must be able to demonstrate that their programs are designed to meet their intended outcomes

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When programmers take the steps necessary to demonstrate that their programs are relevant and effective and they provide theoretical explanations and evaluations of how their programs achieved the targeted goals, a program is considered evidence based. o Best way to develop evidence or outcome based programs and to evaluate effectiveness is to base programs on theory  It can explain and link what is done in the program with specific outcomes

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Theory based programming o Uses established social science theories and empirical evidence as the basis for program decisions and claims about program outcomes. o Theories are used because they provide explanations or forecasts about how selected program activities and experiences will lead to particular participant outcomes Particular ways of structuring and carrying out programs may even be so common that they are generally accepted as best practices o However, even with acknowledged best practices = difficult to describe expected outcomes, explain processes by which outcomes were expected to be achieved and determine if outcomes were actually achieved o Ned to develop programs and evaluate effectiveness of them based on KNOWN linkages between elements of the program and desired outcome and AVOID fuzzy thinking about what they expect to happen in program o Less likely to make unsubstantiated claims about program outcomes AFTER the program is completed Ideally, theories: o should guide the development of programs o explain what one expects to occur as a result of participation o serve as the basis for gathering evidence on whether program goals and expectations are achieved

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Theory Based Programming: An Example Using Logic Models - in theory based programming – theory program components and outcomes  linked o program = series of successive steps with theory supporting these links o example: the logic model - ex. after school recreation program helping youth complete their homework - sequence: provision of homework assistance related activities and knowledgeable staff lead to participants completing homework  children getting their homework done might NOT be the ultimate desired outcome - homework completion is basically a short term outcome/proximal outcome but it is the first step in achieving other outcomes - staff hopes over tong term – students will improve their academic abilities enough to raise their grades and pass standardized achievement test distal outcome; something that happens further out in time - as a result of completing homework and raising grades  staff want students to graduate from high school and be able to support themselves via employment ultimate outcome - events happen in the time series with a series of casual relationships between each of the events or outcomes

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when constructing theory based model – people begin by identifying the ultimate outcome that they are seeking to achieve o what is the eventual contribution (ultimate outcome) you want the program to make o there are number of ways to choose the outcome o working backwards in this model is important because it is the clearest way to identify what the program is intended to accomplish o sometimes providing evidence for the ultimate outcome is not possible but it is included in the model to indicate the potential value of the program good planning is intentional, thoughtful, and purposeful

Theories of Intervention and Explanation - two levels of theory used to construct a logic model: o program theory or theory of intervention  how the program components lead to the program outcomes o theory of explanation  why there are linkages between the distal, proximal, and ultimate outcomes - homework assistance program: o program theory: how what happens in the program produces the desired proximal outcome  necessary to have a time for students to complete their homework (program component)  tutoring or assistance by adults who have ability to motivate students, answer questions and provide positive rewards for successful homework completion is also provided  by providing the program components of time and assistance, students should be able to complete their homework o theories of explanation – helps us to link the program, distal, and ultimate outcomes  in the case of homework assistance program: research suggests that children who complete their homework are likely to get higher grades and test scores  thus they are more likely to graduate from high school and get better paying jobs Using Theory and Focusing on Outcomes - theory based programming and program logic models explain exactly how these programs led to specific outcomes - logical models illustrate the successive steps as logically time ordered: program components leading to proximal, distal and ultimate outcomes - these successive steps model how the program activities produced new skills which have in turn led to outcomes that led to achieving the ultimate outcome - theory and research used to justify the linkages across the successive steps Constructing a theory-based program: An example

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first- determine the ultimate outcome of your youth development program o selection of outcomes will reflect things associated with healthy youth development after, you search for the social science literature to gain as much information as possible about desired ultimate outcome and the theories explaining how it might be achieved o must have clear idea of what the term we are exploring truly means and how it is defined so that others know what we mean when the program is presented to them o with science literature you will also be able to find key determinants of the ultimate outcomes  these are factors that explain the ultimate outcome and will be found within a theory of explanation  literature review is critical as it sometimes leads to conclusions that differ from common or folk knowledge  it may also include insights about the consequences or importance of a particular behaviour or attitude  using the literature to understand that is and is not connected to the ultimate outcome is of utmost importance  the more evidence you have supporting how you program works, the stronger your argument for your program will be the value of reading the social science literature is developing a specific definition of the targeted outcome, understanding a theory that explains what affects the outcome and identifying empirical evidence of a link between one or more determinants and an ultimate outcome

Developing the Program Theory - connections between proximal, distal and ultimate outcomes = explanatory theory - links between the program components and proximal outcomes = are sometimes less evident and require an analysis of the processes and elements of the program components - links between the program components and the proximal outcomes are based part on understanding kinds of activities or programs features that affect the proximal and distal outcomes - knowing the connection with proximal outcomes is important so that these connections are built into program deliberately - think of program components as things that can be changed or manipulated Issues in the Development of Theory Based Programming - program logic model – conceptual thus there is some degree of abstraction between the model and everything that happens to carry out the program - unlikely that the logic model will provide detail about all that happens in the program experience - Logic model helps identify the implicit beliefs that program staff have about how the program works o Reviewing these may reveal that different staff members have different interpretations of a program’s purpose and benefits as well as how the activities work

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o Can strengthen the quality of a program by making sure all stakeholders share a common understanding of the program and its impacts o Thus constructing a logic model helps one to move from implicit to shared explicit beliefs about the relationship between program design and outcomes Weiss – suggested that when constructing a program logic model staff should focus on the most salient and enduring aspects of the program experience Focusing on the most important and most enduring benefits should, at the very least, help programmers to scale back long lists of desired outcomes to those deemed most important and most connected to the program activities Logic models should be used as a guide to make sure that desired outcomes are achieved but should NOT unduly limit the range of impacts that a program might actually produce

The role of the program logic model in program evaluation - Necessary to have considerable resources, individuals with research methods expertise, and a large number of program participants - Programmers should focus on the underlying assumptions and theory linking the program components and proximal outcomes - Since logic model supplies predictions about what happens in a program, it may be useful to begin evaluation process by assessing these steps and assumptions - Always can ask to fill out surveys, open ended questions or data collection strategy based on the program logic model that measures both outcomes and program processes - Evaluation strategy should examine fundamental beliefs about how the program works Article 1 b) EDRD 3500 DE Exam Reading Summary 1. Deliberate Programming with Logic Models: From Theory to Outcomes 

From participation in recreation and leisure, young people can - enhance their skills - increase friendships - learn to get along with each other - decrease negative behaviors

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Today, the most successful programmers and managers design programs to produce outcomes to help them position recreation as a necessary service for accomplishing critical goals

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There’s scientific evidence of effectiveness of programs to produce valued outcomes - Youth development researchers increasingly exploring impact of young people’s involvement in school-based/community-based night and weekend programs.

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Evidence-based program: When programmers take steps to demonstrate that the programs are relevant and effective and they provide theoretical explanations and evaluations on how the programs achieve the goals

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Theory-based programming: Uses established social science theories and empirical evidence as basis for program decision and claims about program outcomes - theory, program components and outcomes are all linked - Uses logic model

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Proximal Outcome: short-term or near-term outcome

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Distal Outcome: Outcome occurring further out in time

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Ultimate Outcome: Long term Result

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2 Types or levels of theory used to construct a logic model - Program theory or Theory of intervention (to explain how the program components lead to the program outcomes) - Theory of explanation (why there are linkages between distal, proximal, and ultimate outcomes)

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Constructing a Theory-based program - Determine the ultimate outcome of the program - Further Search the social science literature to gain as much info as possible about desired ultimate outcome and theories explaining how it might be achieved - Need very specific definition of the ultimate outcome.

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Developing Autonomy - one of the important developmental tasks - Autonomy: acting in a self-determined manner, characterized by experiencing what one does as volitional. - Autonomous individual sees his/her actions as motivated by one’s own interests, beliefs, and values - For adolescents, autonomy defined as independence from one’s parents.

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Autonomy Theory - Autonomy develops with those in authority support self-initiated behaviors and give youth choices in regard to what transpired in the home, school or extracurricular program settings. - Autonomy also reflected in a youth’s decision-making skills, including ability to think

ahead, to seek support, to assess outcomes associated with alternatives 

Autonomy Program Logic Model - Has 3 main distal outcomes thought to influence the ultimate outcome (Youth’s sense of choice, negotiation skills, and decision-making skills) - distal outcomes influenced by proximal outcomes - leadership and planning and managing an activity influence youth’s perceptions of autonomy through how leaders interact with youth

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Issues in developing theory-based programming - program logic model is conceptual, meaning that there is some degree of abstraction between model and everything that happens to carry out a program

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Role of program logic model in program evaluation - Serves as basis for systematic program evaluation by specifying types expected outcomes to occur and pathways to those effects - Goal of these large-scale evaluation studies is both to demonstrate that a program produced outcomes and to examine how the program produced those effects - In early stages, programmers should focus on underlying assumptions and theory linking the program components and proximal outcome

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Future of Theory-based programming - As youth’s free-time activities grow, need for quality programming increases - Quality of programs depends on a programmers’ ability to effectively construct and manage programs based on theory and evidence of program outcomes

Article 2 Article 3 Found in course pack Article 4 – also Found in Course pack Edginton, C., DeGraaf, G., Dieser, R., & Edginton, S. (2006). Leisure: A historical perspective. In C. Edginton, G. DeGraaf, R. Dieser, & S. Edginton (Eds.) Leisure and life satisfaction (4th ed.), (pp. 67-84). New York: McGraw Hill.

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Studying history provides a view of evolving concepts of leisure, changes, what people have done during their leisure, and what institutions have emerged in order to meet needs

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◦ can be tied to societal trends History is the record of important activities that have occurred in relation to an individual concept, person, institution, or geographical location. ◦ describe what has happened and determine cause and effect Historical research can be thought of as an orderly and systematic reconstruction of the past Why do we study history?

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Knowledge or history provides reference points from the past that can be used to trace events and to make comparisons with other eras and cultures. Provides a knowledge of leisure concepts by which to develop an appreciation for the foundations of the profession, to understand the roles of people in history, to gain knowledge of historical events and places, and to understand our place in history Knowledge of leisure concepts

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Most important reason to study history: to understand the evolution of concepts of leisure Forces in society change influencing work, religion, politics, AND leisure Industrial era: clearly defined work time and free time occurred at regularly scheduled times Information era (today): flexible work times and attitudes toward work and leisure are more fluid ◦ for some, work is so interesting and rewarding that it could be viewed as leisure ◦ generally, however, leisure tends to be found after work hours Appreciation for the foundations of the profession

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The study of history imparts knowledge re: the foundations of the leisure service profession Reveals social conditions that led to the establishment of agencies and institutions providing leisure services The modern park and recreation movement grew out of the need for social reforms that occurred during the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s in the US. ◦ many things created the need for social reform ◦ public baths, parks, play places for kids, etc. were created to improve the human condition Understanding people in history

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History is a story about people and their actions and behaviours A study of these behaviours can provide a real understanding of how events were shaped Many of early leaders of the park and rec movement were leading thinkers whose concepts influenced a variety of fields ◦ i.e. social welfare, city planning, landscaping, and youth serving organizations

Knowledge of significant historical events and places 1. Studying history enables people to gain knowledge about historical events and places 0 cause and effect information to trace the impact of events 1 we can determine the factors that caused specific events to occur 2. Knowledge of events coupled with the reasons why they occurred and their impact provides critical insight into the historical evolution of the profession Knowledge that can be useful – present and future • •

Study of history helps in decision making ◦ provides relevant information for the present and future ◦ can help in current planning efforts Many institutions we know today emerged from 1800s as part of social reform movement that grew out of industrial revolution ◦ reformers saw potential of using play and recreation to improve people's quality of life ◦ Boston Sand Gardens (the first playground) met play needs of disadvantaged children and gave them a safe place to play Understanding our place in history

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Understanding how one's actions...