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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the growth trajectory of college and university students in core competencies between entering and exiting the Camp Adventure Child and Youth Services (CACYS) experience using Bok's (2006) framework for undergraduate education. Bok's competency framework included: communication, critical thinking, character development, citizenship, diversity, global understanding, widening of interest and career and vocational development. The sample comprised 82 college and university students serving for the first time as participants in CACYS. A repeated measures 3-phase design was used to collect data pre and post and after field service. Citizenship was the highest mean self-rating, and global understanding, communication and critical thinking were consistently the lowest across time. Results indicate that there was growth in all of participants’ core competencies from the baseline to end through the entire programme. The findings show that the core competencies can be taught and developed through experiential learning experiences. The study provides a model for linking undergraduate core competencies with parks, recreation, leisure and tourism curricula in an integrated and holistic fashion.