Adventure education is the promotion of learning through adventure centered experiences.
Adventure centered experiences can include a wide variety of activities, due to the different ways people experience adventure. Outdoor sports, challenge courses, races, and even indoor activities can be used in adventure education. Adventure education is related to adventure programming, adventure therapy, and outdoor education. It is an active process rather than a passive process of learning that requires active engagement from the learners as well as the instructors. Often adventure education is linked to an incorporation of all five senses within the experiences which can heighten the opportunities for learning and retaining information. The learning experiences within adventure education programs are structured for a potential increase in human performance and capacity. Sometimes the adventure lies more in the journey than the destination. The venture lies in the struggle, not in the prize.
Merriam-Webster defines adventure as "an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks". Danger is defined as "exposure or liability to injury, pain, harm, or loss." Danger involves two factors which are perils- the origins of injury or the causes of loss, and hazards- the conditions that emphasize the chance of injury or loss. Risk is defined as "potential loss or injury". Risk can be described as "real risk" or "perceived risk" such as bungee jumping; it seems as though there is a high level of risk, but with proper equipment it can be relatively safe. Danger, then is the exposure, or magnitude, of the harm a person may encounter; risk is the probability of that harm. These two variables are filtered through a person's perceptions, which may or may not be accurate.
Consequently, adventure is created through a person's perception of the magnitude of the potential risk, and the probability of loss. An activity with relatively low magnitude but high probability of harm (such as adventure racing or slacklining) may be just as much of an adventure as an activity with relatively high magnitude and low probability of harm (such as sport rock climbing, skydiving, or riding a roller coaster).
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