ERIC Number: EJ1135194
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Jul
Pages: 32
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1931-4744
EISSN: N/A
Creating a Transformational Learning Experience: Immersing Students in an Intensive Interdisciplinary Learning Environment
White, Shelley K.; Nitkin, Mindell Reiss
International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, v8 n2 Article 3 Jul 2014
The Simmons World Challenge is a unique, interdisciplinary program recently developed at Simmons College. It immerses students in an intensive winter-session course that challenges them to tackle a pressing social issue, such as poverty or hunger, and create actionable solutions to the problem. The program was conceived and designed to harness the strengths of pedagogical theories on transformational teaching and learning. This article describes the Simmons World Challenge and presents assessment findings from the program's third iteration in 2013, as well as on the long-term impact of the program based on follow-up assessments with the first two cohorts of students. These assessment findings demonstrate the deep and positive impact of the program on students' engagement with learning, personal growth, academic habits and attitudes, student leadership and initiative, and sense of community at Simmons College.
Descriptors: Interdisciplinary Approach, Program Descriptions, Teaching Methods, Transformative Learning, Student Leadership, Learning Theories, Sense of Community, Student Attitudes, College Students, Learning Experience, Pretests Posttests, Student Surveys, Program Development, Statistical Analysis, Likert Scales
Centers for Teaching & Technology at Georgia Southern University. IJ-SoTL, Georgia Southern University, Henderson Library 1301, Statesboro, GA 30460. e-mail: sotlij@georgiasouthern.edu; Web site: http://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts (Boston)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A