| Description |
This dissertation contains three studies that examined what outcomes participants on immersion semesters achieve and what mechanisms embedded in immersion semesters support those outcomes. Students who attend immersion semesters speak anecdotally about how powerful and transformational they found the experience, but little empirical evidence exists to explain the outcomes and how they are achieved. Most participants on immersion semesters are youth (ages 15-25). By situating immersion semesters in the landscape of developmental experiences, educators can better understand how they might help youth establish their life path and understand what about the experience supports these outcomes to help administrators build effective curriculum. The first study explored whether immersion semesters produce transformational learning experiences for participants and identified mechanisms that might be present that are known to support transformational learning. We administered the Learning Activities Survey (LAS) to participants on a semester-long outdoor adventure education course, and we found support for the 10 stages of transformational learning and the outcome of perspective transformation. Time away from home with opportunities for reflection in an environment where students faced challenges but had support seemed to drive the outcomes. The second study explored whether adolescents at semester schools experienced transformational learning. Again, we administered the LAS and found evidence to support that students underwent a cycle of identity formation rather than transformational learning. The community played an important role in the students' experience as did reflection. In the third study, we used an experimental design to compare how factors of the education context contribute to identity formation for youth on immersion semesters versus students in a waitlist control who remained at their originating school. We found that students on immersion semesters were more engaged in identity formation stages as measured by the Dimensions of Identity Development (DIDS). We found that meaningful experiences where students have opportunities to reflect were related to them thinking about their values and beliefs. Overall, the findings from these studies suggest that while some students may experience transformational learning, the majority experience identity formation whereby they explore who they are and make commitments or decisions about aspects of their identity. |
