Winter Outdoor Life Activities, 15 ects

The target group of this course is students interested in the outdoors and sport. The course gives an introduction to various models of teaching, guiding, and learning winter activities. The study program contains four components: outdoor life activities in winter, ski play, and a project. In the following we present the aims and the content of the course.

Outdoor activities in winter

This course gives an introduction to various forms of outdoor activities in a winter environment.

Aims

Through this study the students shall acquire

-          knowledge of, and skills and experience in various forms of outdoor activities, with special focus on mountain hiking in winter

-          teaching skills with special focus on teaching winter activities

-          knowledge of security and environmentally friendly behaviour in the wilderness

-          insights into social, cultural and health benefits of outdoor life

Content

The course is organised around the following topics:

Outdoor-life theory

-          Different conceptions of outdoor life

-          Planning hikes; how to use a map and a compass; camping

-          Security; how to move about in the mountains; staying the night in the mountains in winter

Instruction

-          Hiking management and group processes

Equipment

-          Security and equipment requirements

-          The history of equipment

Nature and culture

-          Environmentally friendly hiking

Equipment requirements

-          Clothing and foot-wear

-          Sleeping bag and ground pad

-          Rucksack

-          Knife

-          Map and compass

SKI PLAY 

Aims

The course in ski play will give students

-          skills in creating learning situations for children and youths

-          insight into and experience in organising and creating ski play

-          skills in organising and carrying through ski play activities for school children

Content

How do we learn?

-          Learning conditioned by the situation

-          Task-oriented learning

What are we supposed to learn?

-          Motor function and development of reactivity

-          Development of general balance in skiing

Ski play

-          Third-generation ski arenas; planning and constructing arenas for ski play

-          Building snow profiles and making ski tracks

-          Planning situations to improve balance and motor function

-          Organising and carrying through ski play for pupils in primary school.

Equipment requirements

-          Finnmark University College will provider ski equipment and shoes for skiing

PROJECT

Aims

By working with the project assignment the student will develop skills in planning and carrying through developmental work within one winter activity dealt with in the course.

Content

Individual paper / project work (12-15 pages)

The students will choose a project assignment with an interdisciplinary orientation, aimed at shedding light on some topics that have been focused in the course.

Working methods

The project description must be approved by the teacher. Supervisors for the individual students will be appointed once the description is approved.

Assessment

The project assignment is due in the spring term. Grades are given on a scale from A to F.

The grade F is Fail.

Litterature: Flemmen, Asbjørn: Skileik. Oslo 1996

(NB: It will be a new plan with some changes for winter/spring 2008)