The Effect of Outdoor Recreation Program On Self-Concept Among Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation Undergraduates

In recent years, outdoor recreation program that employs experiential learning is becoming popular in the country. It is widely accepted that outdoor recreation program contribute positive impacts on the physical and emotion development of the participants. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a three days and five days outdoor recreation program on self-concept of participants using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale in a pre and posttest design. There are five dimensions of self-concept in this study which is physical, moral, family, social and personal. The data is interpreted using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 12.0 program. The paired sample t-test and independent sample t-test were used to compare the data. The participants are 111 students from Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation, UiTM and its Associate College. The result of the study showed the significance difference (increase) in all dimensions (t = 12.094, p = 0.000) after participating in three days program. There is also a significance difference (t = 10.991, p = 0.000) after participating in five days outdoor recreation program. Both programs were effective. The changes of self-concept were observed. However, there is significance difference between three days and five days program (t = 2.05, p = 0.043). The study concluded that the participation in longer duration program is giving more positive impact to the participants.