On Nov. 2, and again on Nov. 8, Wagner College faculty, administrators and students gathered to review preliminary results of the Bringing Theory to Practice research, which explores the relationships between experiential learning and student well-being. Results of a survey of first-year students and First-Year Program faculty were displayed; those reviewing the displays were invited to speculate about the meaning of the results, propose explanations for the relationships reported, and ask further questions.
“Disseminating data in this conversational, interactive way engages us in thinking about the implications of the results and spurs the next stage of data collection and analysis” said Dr. Anne Love, Associate Provost for Assessment.
All Wagner first-year students engage in experiential learning as a part of a fall semester learning community that integrates three courses around an interdisciplinary theme. The experiential learning may involve service or research at a community agency, trips to museums, labs, neighborhoods or other sites connected to course themes, or a combination of off-campus experiences. Preliminary results of the research include:
- For students who are engaged in service learning as a part of their experiential learning, having an orientation to the site was positively related to:
- Emotional well-being
- Psychological well-being
- Higher levels of faculty accompanying students to their service learning site were related to higher levels of:
- Psychological well-being of students
- Emotional well-being of students
- Students engaged in low levels of service learning reported:
- Higher levels of “enhancement of communication across difference,” and
- Higher levels of “connection of experiential learning to course and problem solving” than students engaged in high levels of service learning
- Students who were engaged in high levels of service learning, and who gave positive responses to questions about the value of service learning, also gave positive answers to questions about social well-being.
Next stages of the Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP) research will examine survey results from seniors and incorporate survey results from students about their participation in co-curricular experiences such as the Alternative Spring Break and data about student perceptions of alcohol and other drug use.
The BTtoP project “supports campus-based initiatives that demonstrate how uses of engaged forms of learning that actively involve students both within and beyond the classroom directly contribute to their cognitive, emotional, and civic development.”
For more information about BTtoP, visit the project's website.
For more information about Wagner College’s research, email Dr. Anne Love.