National parks as lifelong classrooms : a qualitative case study exploring visitors’ dynamic learning experiences in America’s national parks.

Although the national parks are a massive industry with millions of visitors annually, not enough is known about the learning experience when visitors are in a national park. The type of education in a national park, or other informal settings, follows principles of free-choice learning and interpretation, instead of the formal education that people experience in schools. To best serve visitors of all backgrounds, researchers must learn more about the learning experience in a national park. This study adds to the research in the field of free-choice learning specific to experiences in national parks, given the variety of educational and recreational opportunities that exist.

This qualitative, holistic, single case study explored adult learners’ expectations and intentions before their visit, and experiences when visiting Kenai Fjords National Park. The study utilized the contextual model of learning as the guiding framework to understand the learners’ experiences through the personal, physical, and sociocultural contexts. The study included four different data sources throughout two phases of research. In the first phase, participants completed an online questionnaire and a Q-sort grid, which required the participants to force-rank 25 statements to show their priorities and values before the trip. In the second phase, five participants completed semi-structured interviews, and each submitted their three most memorable photographs from their trip.

The emergent themes included the visitors’ memorable experiences closely matched their pre-trip intentions, surprise moments became memorable and were not predicted, visitors often compared their visit to home or residence, other people impacted their learning experiences, and vast and open spaces played a role in memorable experiences. The results provide more insight into the learning experience when visiting Kenai Fjords, or other national parks. The findings and recommendations give those providing these experiences, including the National Park Service and other third-party companies, suggestions to enhance the overall experience for learners.