Learning, Idea Sharing, and Transfer From a State 4-H Camp Counselor Workshop

Making eXtreme Counselors is a winter statewide camp counselor training workshop to prepare for the camp season. This training brings teens throughout Ohio together to help prepare them to serve as camp counselors in their own counties. Participants engage in competency-focused breakout sessions led by a variety of 4-H professionals, keynote presentations, and peer-to-peer sharing and interactions. To evaluate the workshop’s impact on the summer camping program, data from both teen participants and the 4-H professionals who worked with them were collected following the program for 3 years. Results indicated high ratings on gaining or enhancing skills related to leadership, teamwork, and the campingrelated competencies covered in the workshop. In addition, the results indicated that participants shared ideas learned at the workshop with others and transferred their learning from the training to their performance as a camp counselor. Youth development professionals can adopt similar training strategies to enhance participants’ skills.


Introduction
during camp, and then transfer them to other settings (Bird & Subramaniam, 2018;Digby & Ferrari, 2007). To create an environment focusing on workforce development, professionals must identify experiences that will aid young people in gaining applied skills (Duerden et al., 2014).
Ohio 4-H's Making eXtreme Counselors (MXC) workshop is one example of creating intentional opportunities that focus on gaining specific knowledge, skills, and abilities. Conducted since 2009, the ultimate objective is that camp counselors put what they learned at the workshop into practice in the camp setting. To evaluate whether these goals were realized, we collected data for 3 years to assess (a) if skills and knowledge were gained from the MXC workshop; (b) whether or not counselors shared ideas from the workshop in their county-level camping program with peer camp counselors, adult camp staff, and/or 4-H professionals who serve as camp directors; and (c) if those skills and knowledge transferred to their role as a camp counselor in the summer camping program.

Review of Literature Competencies
Building competencies is a main goal of education. Competencies are the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with high performance (McClelland, 1973). A competency model describes what individuals need to know to perform their duties; it may contain behavior, knowledge, and motivational dimensions (Byham & Moyer, 2005).
Organizations have recognized the benefits of developing a competency model, including better processes for recruiting and selecting employees, designing training and development opportunities, and conducting performance evaluations (Campion et al., 2011). Ohio 4-H camp counselor training focuses on the 15 competencies identified by Epley (2014); Table 1 provides the competencies and their description. Epley et al., (2017) recommend designing camp counselor training in areas that enhance camp counselor competencies. By providing this intentional training, teens serving as camp counselors can develop their skills and abilities while fulfilling their camp counseling responsibilities. Those camp counselors who demonstrate high levels of perceived competencies may fulfill and perform their responsibilities to a higher degree (Wahl-Alexander et al., 2018), which lends support to the idea of focusing on camp counselor competency-based training. Personal commitment Is committed to the philosophy and goals of camp and is devoted to the position of camp counselor; has a sense of selflessness; takes ownership of and has buy-in regarding the influence and impact he or she has on the program.

Professional development
Has a willingness to be coached and challenged; accepts feedback and guidance from adults and peers; seeks opportunities to continually improve knowledge, skills, and capabilities; develops job-seeking skills (including those associated with completing an application, providing references, and undergoing screening and selection processes).

Professionalism
Demonstrates behaviors that reflect high levels of maturity, responsibility, flexibility and adaptability, honesty, and trustworthiness; has an appropriate sense of humor; has a positive attitude; energetically shares knowledge; avoids a sense of entitlement; is engaged and respects people and things; demonstrates customer service and maintains confidentiality.
Program planning Designs, creates, and plans appropriate programs and workshops to engage all participants; is prepared to implement these programs.
Role modeling Is someone who others aspire to be like; models, demonstrates, and teaches positive values; has fun in a positive and responsible way.
Self-direction Takes initiative and does things from start to finish with all the details and without being asked; works unsupervised; admits and recognizes mistakes he or she has made.

Camp and the Connection to Workforce Skills
Serving as a camp counselor is an opportunity for teens to gain valuable skills in the areas of leadership, teamwork, and communication (Bird & Subramaniam, 2018;Digby & Ferrari, 2007;Ferrari & McNeely, 2007;Ferrari & Risch, 2013;Garst et al., 2011;Garst & Johnson, 2005;Nicholson & Klem, n.d.). Not only is it desirable for camp counselors to gain these skills so they can be successful in their role, but employers desire these same specific skills and abilities (Cochran & Ferrari, 2009). Ferrari et al. (2008) discussed the importance of being able to provide youth with opportunities to develop basic skills and competencies necessary to succeed in the workplace. The camp experience is one place where individuals gain skills applicable to future workplace settings (Duerden et al., 2014). The counseling experience has also been reported to catalyze personal change by developing an improved ability to work with children and by being exposed to new people, new activities, and new experiences (Leff et al., 2015).
Camp counselors also have reported having a stronger desire to stay in school and feeling more prepared for college as a result of their counseling experience (Nicholson & Klem, n.d.).

Transfer of Learning
Central to accomplishing the workshop's goals is the concept of transfer of learning. Once learners acquire knowledge, they need to transfer it, that is, to use it and apply it in a realworld setting. Transfer of learning is the goal of camp counselor training because camp counselors must not only acquire knowledge, but they must also plan and carry out the camp (i.e., the real-world setting). Transfer of learning would indicate that meaningful learning had occurred (Mayer, 2002).
Transfer of learning is complex and involves higher-order thinking skills (Schunk, 2012). On the one hand, assessment of transfer of learning is difficult because it requires more than simply recalling or recognizing factual knowledge. However, on the other hand, camp counselors essentially create a product, a performance (which focuses on the process), or some combination of product and performance (e.g., the plan for a campfire program and actually teaching others to sing camp songs as part of the program). Therefore, an authentic assessment of transfer of learning could be made by someone viewing the camp counselors' actual implementation of camp program components. Such observation aligns with recommended methods for assessing competencies (Klieme et al., 2008).

Program Description
The Ohio 4-H program focuses on specific competencies for training camp counselors developed by Epley (2014). The extent of this training may differ from county to county based on the needs of the camping facility and local needs of the camping program. Most of the training for over 2,000 teen camp counselors takes place at the county level, but there are additional optional opportunities for camp counselors to attend so they can expand their horizons beyond what is taught at the county level. One of these is the Making eXtreme Counselor workshop, which annually hosts approximately 120 camp counselors.
Making eXtreme Counselors (MXC) is an annual statewide camp counselor training workshop that supplements the county and site-specific training opportunities that take place throughout the year (Epley et al., 2018). A committee of 4-H professionals plans this 2-day, 1-night winter weekend training. To teach important competencies, it is designed to mirror the elements of a camp experience in a setting that allows for peer-to-peer sharing and interactions.
When registering for the workshop, camp counselor participants indicate their program planning session preference. Camp counselor participants are purposefully placed into this session based on their preference, geographic location, gender, and years of experience as a camp counselor.
By mixing camp counselors with varying degrees of experience together in sessions, returning camp counselors can add value by providing insight from their past experiences (Baldwin et al., n.d.). Camp counselors self-select the remaining sessions, which supports their need for autonomy. Learners improve after the training activities when they assume primary responsibility for learning decisions (e.g., choosing learning activities; Bell & Kozlowski, 2008).
The workshop format is as follows: • The workshop begins with an opening session led by a guest speaker, who is an expert in the field.
• Camp counselor workshop participants then attend hands-on breakout sessions that address the program planning competency. Participants learn foundational knowledge about program planning and then plan for a program that will be implemented at the workshop (e.g., evening recreation, flag ceremonies, campfire, and reflections). Program planning is a competency central to the camp counselor experience, so it is included every year.
o These planned programs are embedded at various times throughout the workshop, such as planning for the evening campfire, flag lowering ceremony, or end of day reflections. Additionally, participants are encouraged to share songs, ice breakers, and other games and activities when appropriate.
• Next, there are four blocks of educational sessions, with multiple offerings in each block (seven per block for a total of 28 different offerings). These are led by the guest speaker and a variety of 4-H professionals and focus on four of the remaining 14 competencies (see Table 1; Epley, 2014;Epley et al., 2017). The competencies covered change each year until all competencies have been taught over a 3-to 4-year training cycle.
• The closing session is led by the guest speaker.
Throughout the workshop, the focus is on the experiential learning process (Kolb, 1984). There are opportunities for participants to gain a better understanding of the camping program and practice critical thinking skills. To enhance the transfer of learning from the workshop to the county camping program, participants teach and share songs, games, and activities to their peers. They are encouraged to share ideas and reflect upon how concepts can be implemented in their county camping program. By practicing certain aspects during the training and reflecting upon experiences, transferring knowledge to new contexts is maximized (Silliman et al., 2020).
At the conclusion of the workshop, all camp counselor participants complete an evaluation that includes questions regarding the quality of the sessions, guest speaker, and food. This information has been used to improve the program from year to year. They are also asked about skills they gained and whether they think those skills will assist them in their role as a camp counselor. After the MXC training, camp counselors receive additional county-level training in their respective counties, make plans for their county camp, and then implement 4-H camps during the summer. County 4-H professionals work with camp counselors and observe them during the training and implementation of the 4-H camp.

Method Design
We wanted to further assess the effectiveness of the MXC workshop in achieving the long-range goal of effective camp programs. Therefore, we decided to send a questionnaire following the camping season to camp counselor workshop participants and their respective 4-H professionals to assess perceptions of camp counselors' skills gained and used in their own county camping programs. By surveying more than one population on the same topic, different viewpoints of the same topic can be captured (Seale, 2010). Refer to Figure 1 for a visual representation of the timeline.
For the study reported here we combined data from the most recent 3 years of program year. Tables 2 and 3 provide additional demographic details.

4-H Professionals
The 4-H professionals instrument focused on three areas: skills gained, ideas shared, and program satisfaction indicators. Because camp counselors also received county training, 4-H professionals were asked to relate their responses to the camp counselor participants' workshop experience and how it impacted the camp counselors' role in the camping program. We wanted to determine if perspectives of the camp counselor workshop participants aligned with those of the 4-H professionals who worked with them. We assessed skills gained from the 4-H professionals' perspective to identify the highest rated skills. We assessed if camp counselors shared ideas with others to determine if the camp counselors transferred items they learned at the workshop (e.g., songs, games, ideas for activities) to the camping program. To assist in determining if the current workshop format met their needs, we asked questions related to program satisfaction. Demographic characteristics gathered included gender and geographic location (i.e., county). Table 6 provides examples of the questions and response options.

Data Collection and Analysis
At the conclusion of each camping season, a link to an online questionnaire was emailed to the total population of workshop participants and their respective county 4-H professionals. The questionnaire was administered through Qualtrics, a platform for the creation, distribution, and analysis of online surveys. Three reminder emails were sent to participants over the course of 2 weeks. The overall response rates were 46.9% (N = 194) for camp counselors workshop participants and 81.2% (N = 78) for 4-H professionals. Likert-type items were analyzed with frequency distributions (Boone & Boone, 2012) and open-ended responses were reviewed, coded, and categorized.

Camp Counselors
The indicated they gained skills that they will be able to transfer to other areas of life besides camp (e.g., school, work).

4-H Professionals
All 4-H professionals reported that they believed their camp counselors gained skills to use in their county camping role. The skills used in their camping role that received the highest ratings were teaching and facilitating games/icebreakers, camp planning, leadership skills, and song leading. 4-H professionals also believed camp counselors gained skills related to competencies.
Similar to the 4-H camp counselors, the program planning session, which is offered annually, is highly rated each year (overall percentage of yes responses was 74.69% with N = 63). The competencies that 4-H professionals indicated were used the most were the teaching and facilitating, self-direction, and role model competencies. Table 8 presents the findings on skills gained or improved by competency. Cultural awareness (n = 17) 11.7% Do not believe they gained or improved (n = 63) 1.5% Note. n is based on the number of responses to the specific competency question. The percentage is related to the number of respondents who indicated camp counselor workshop participants improved their skills related to the competency.
In addition to competencies, 4-H professionals reported that camp counselors gained some level of skill development related to leadership (98.5% agreement), decision making (98.4% agreement), and teamwork (97.1% agreement). Table 9 presents the extent to which 4-H professionals believed that camp counselors who attended the workshop gained skills. In addition to believing their camp counselors gained skills, the vast majority (82.5%) of 4-H professionals indicated that workshop participants shared an idea that they had learned from the workshop during the county camp counselor training process (e.g., songs, themes, team building, and particular programming efforts). When exploring workshop program indicators, 4-H professionals believed the main benefits of the workshop were for camp counselors to enhance skills (50.0%) and share ideas (35.7%). 4-H professionals indicated they were "very likely" (86.6%) or "somewhat likely" (6.6%) to send camp counselors to the workshop in future years.

Discussion and Implications
The purposes of the study were to assess ( previous research related to intentionally designing training to produce desired outcomes (Galloway et al., 2013;Gillard & Roark, 2017).
There are a few reasons why the program planning competency was highly rated. The session focused on program planning is offered annually versus on a rotation. The camp counselor participants have an opportunity to practice this competency both at the workshop and then later in their own county camping program, so have multiple chances to enhance and transfer skills. Allowing opportunities for learners to develop their learning and their experience maximizes their learning (Femrite & Flatt, 2017). Additionally, when camp counselor workshop participants implement the activity at the workshop, they are learning experientially (Kolb, 1984), which increases transfer of learning.
Teaching and facilitating and role modeling competencies were also highly rated. These competencies are used throughout their role as a camp counselor. When teens act as teachers, they report gaining skills related to teaching, including preparation and engaging with youth (Ripberger & Blalock, 2013;Weybright et al., 2016). This may occur when leading a song, giving instructions for how to make a craft, or facilitating a game. Teen camp counselors have been identified as teachers and facilitators when helping campers learn specific skills and as role models whom campers looked up to (Wilson & Sibthorp, 2018). Teen camp counselors recall what it was like when they were campers and looked up to their teen leaders, so they take their role of role modeling seriously (Bird & Subramaniam, 2018).
In addition to strengthening competencies, findings from camp counselors indicate they believed they were a better camp counselor and gained skills to use in their camping experience. Many of the skills identified from open-ended comments were related to singing, icebreakers or games, and scenarios related to handling behavior management. These skills are noticeable to the camp counselors, and in turn likely easy to observe in a camp setting. For instance, a camp counselor leads a song they learned at the workshop with fellow camp counselors during their county training and then later leads campers in the song during camp.
By taking the knowledge learned and applying it to the related role, transfer of learning occurs (Mayer, 2002). Perkins and Salomon (1992)

Limitations
A few study limitations are acknowledged. One limitation is having duplicate 4-H professional respondents over the 3-year span of the study. Even though individuals were asked to respond on the experience in the current year, there is potential that they inadvertently considered previous workshops. 4-H professionals were also asked to respond for all participants as a group. If they had multiple camp counselors attend the workshop, they did not have an opportunity to differentiate between the camp counselors and the respective impact of the workshop. There is also potential for discrepancies in whether 4-H professionals were able to attribute camp counselors' competencies to their workshop attendance, given that camp counselors participate in additional training in their county. Despite these limitations, for the intent of our study, and consistent with prior literature, the findings still enabled us to establish tentative conclusions about the workshop's impacts.

Implications for Practice and Future Directions
The findings from this study have implications for strategies that may assist youth development professionals to develop and implement similar training workshops where the goal is transfer of learning. Specific recommendations include the following: • Identify specific desired competencies or other skills and intentionally design training with such a focus.
• Allow for planning opportunities during the workshop to promote transfer of learning.
Teach games, icebreakers, songs, and other programmatic activities with active learning strategies so participants can take these ideas back to their respective camping programs to share with others and then lead them at camp. These active learning strategies assist in the transfer of learning.
• Incorporate sessions that focus on enhancing skills such as dealing with situations that may arise at camp and idea sharing, as these elements were indicated as main benefits of the workshop. Evaluating the benefits of the workshop will guide the development of future programs.
• Offer the training to individuals who span diverse locations and experiences. Having a larger audience, such as a statewide one, provides an opportunity to meet new individuals and learn new ideas. It also allows for county-and state-based 4-H professionals to interact with youth throughout the state and share their own skill set with camp counselors beyond their county lines.
• Assess specific skills and competencies by using a retrospective post-then-pre format.
Respondents would be able to consider their skills and competencies presently and prior to the workshop, which avoids pretest sensitivity and response-shift bias that result from pretest overestimation or underestimation (Klatt & Taylor-Powell, 2005).
• Include questions to assess the skills that are more challenging to observe to enable participants to self-identify the skills they have gained (e.g., "I am able to plan games that better serve the age group I am working with" instead of "I gained skills related to the child and adolescent development knowledge competency").
Participating in the workshop benefitted teen camp counselor workshop participants as they enhanced their own skills, shared ideas, and transferred what they learned; in turn, when the skills they learned were put to use, their county's camp programming benefitted. Based on the camp counselor participants' and 4-H professionals' positive comments and high ratings, we believe we have found a format that works well in meeting camp counselor training needs. The workshop provides an opportunity for youth development professionals to bring practical, research-based, hands-on learning to life through a camp format in a statewide training.