Background: Identity development is an important aspect of human development that extends from adolescence through late adulthood. Recent research found how Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) programs influence identity development in adolescents and emerging adults, however, less is known about how OAE programs can be developmentally beneficial for older students. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the specific events on courses that are most important for adult identity development. Methodology: This study utilizes a narrative identity approach and collected turning point narratives from 60 NOLS alumni. Narratives were analyzed to identify event-types and self-event connections. Findings: The majority of narratives focused on relationship events (e.g., peer support, instructor support, conflict) or environmental events (e.g., challenging weather and terrain). Nearly half of all narratives contained self-event connections, suggesting that OAE experiences contain a plethora of moments that can influence a person’s identity. Conclusions: Overall, OAE programs can serve as a positive developmental space for adults and influence identity development in older students. Implications: Programs seeking to support adult development should consider how to create programs that emphasize relationship events and environmental events.

Background: Communities of practice (CoPs) create a “shared practice” through engaging in joint activities, information exchange, and mutual support around a common purpose. Few studies have assessed CoPs in experiential learning contexts such as camps. Purpose: In this instrumental case study, we examined the process and outcomes of a CoP initiative aimed at enhancing character development in medical specialty camp counselors-in-training programming. Method: Over two years, we recruited professionals from 12 camps to attend meetings, identify and define context-specific character strengths important for camp professionals, and collaboratively develop a toolkit to implement those character strengths in counselors-in-training. We assessed the implementation and effectiveness of the CoP to achieve project goals through facilitator notes, meeting recordings, researcher observations, surveys, and focus group data. Findings/Implications: CoPs can facilitate knowledge exchange, foster collaboration, and enhance character development efforts in camp counselors-in-training programming when supported by structured, ongoing engagement, especially of new CoP members. Key outcomes included an increased understanding of character strengths; greater interest in promoting character; and a stronger commitment to incorporating character in camp. Future research should collect more systematic quantitative and qualitative data about CoPs and their target outcomes to understand types and size of impacts resulting from this strategy.

Background: Collegiate recreation (CR) programs present the opportunity to promote student success across campuses. Purpose: In this review, we focus on the relationship between engagement with CR and student success. Methodology/Approach: We conducted a scoping review of empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2010 and 2021 that examined the connection between CR and student success. We identified 3304 unduplicated studies to which we applied a screening process based on our selection criteria. Findings: A total of 82 articles were included for data extraction. Results reveal evidence of the multifaceted connections between CR engagement and six dimensions of student success: intrapersonal, academic, interpersonal, belonging/community, career, and institutional. Conclusions: Most of the evidence refers to “traditional” aspects of student success such as GPA and retention, often addressed through descriptive statistics. Implications: This review highlights a need for future research that employs innovative methodologies and explores more diverse populations. Moreover, we advocate for investigating the relationship between CR engagement and non-academic areas such as social, institutional, and career-related outcomes.

Background: With the arrival of virtual service-learning (vSL), educators have been able to expand service-learning (SL) opportunities beyond traditional in-person engagements. Although increasingly popular, limited research on vSL exists. Purpose: Given the overall positive impact of SL on various student learning and cognitive outcomes and the significant rise in online course offerings, it becomes essential to assess student perceptions and experiences in vSL courses. Method: We compared student responses to survey questions in the same business course offered in two different modalities taught by the same instructor. Specifically, students responded to Likert-style and open-ended questions assessing their perceptions, experiences, and individual traits. We examined three research questions: (1) How do students’ evaluative perceptions of their SL experience differ based on course modality? (2) How do students’ reports of experiential features differ based on course modality? (3) What individual factors contribute to perceived student learning in vSL courses? Findings: No significant differences were found between modalities with respect to perceived student learning and satisfaction with the course, likelihood to recommend the course to peers and friends, or motivation to help within one's community. Students in the virtual version of the SL course reported more frequent interactions with organization representatives to discuss goals for the projects and deliverables, and rated the course as more challenging than their traditional SL counterparts. Implications: These findings are meaningful in the context of enhancing the societal impact of higher education by exposing a more inclusive population of students to the opportunity to partner with nonprofit organizations to enhance their communities’ well-being.

Background: Although many educators recognize the experience-prioritizing nature of design education, studies that address students’ experiences through their reflective practices are limited. Purpose: We aimed to revisit David A. Kolb’s learning cycle by analyzing students’ reflections and, eventually, develop a design learning cycle to clarify how first-year design students construct their learning through reflection on their experiences. Method: Aligned with this scope, we conducted a case study in two pre-disciplinary design studios within the Faculty of Architecture. Twelve volunteer students participated in this process throughout an academic semester, using the notebooks we designed, which included the sections of the solicited diary and the structured weekly journal. Findings: We elaborated the stages of the learning cycle through the themes we developed by thematically analyzing students’ written reflections: “constructing the grammar of design language” for concrete experience; “observing through comparison, sympathy, and empathy” for reflective observation; “three components of conceptualisation: self, critique, and self-critique” for abstract conceptualization; and “inferences and acquisitions within limits” for active experimentation. Implications: Understanding how students articulate their learning through reflection offers new pedagogical insights for studio teaching and suggests that reframing design studios within an experiential learning framework can enhance design education practices.

Background: The transition to college can be a stressful and challenging time for young people. Research has found that taking a gap year before, or even during college, can support those who are transitioning to college. In addition, outdoor adventure education (OAE) programs have been found to be developmentally beneficial for emerging adults. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how OAE programs taken during a gap year can support emerging adults’ transition to college. Methodology/Approach: This study utilized semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data from participants. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic coding. Findings/Conclusion: OAE programs helped participants find a clearer career path, overcome challenged in college, build community, and take college more seriously. In addition, other gap year experiences, such as volunteering, traveling, and working, were also beneficial. Implications: Gap years should be considered a viable and important opportunity to support young people who are transitioning to postsecondary education.

Background: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, major transformations in the practice of field instruction in universities were instituted. For field-based academic disciplines, remote field instruction, in the form of virtually corresponding with community and organizational partners through calls and emails, became an immediate alternative to fieldwork. Purpose: This research intended to explore how this dynamic shift affected field-based classes that sourced pedagogical strength from close engagements with stakeholders in physical spaces. Methodology: Data was gathered through semistructured interviews with 18 university students enrolled in remote field-based classes, consequently analyzed through two cycles of qualitative coding. Findings/Conclusions: Findings suggest that the nature of remote field instruction positively interrogated traditionally-held assumptions about the field as a learning space. However, it also revealed a weak rapport between classes and stakeholders caused by temporal, occupational, and technological challenges—referred to as a depth deficit —which hindered effective field instruction. Implications: The rapid transition to online learning during the pandemic highlighted a knowledge and skill gap on optimizing digital spaces to nurture meaningful interactions. The research recommends further scholarly and practical exploration of virtual engagement in field instruction in an increasingly hybrid postpandemic society.

Background: Science internships have been suggested as a powerful way to engage high school students in conducting authentic science inquiry. However, despite the recognized significance of high school science internships, little research is done to examine how these experiences affect high school students’ career choices. Purpose: Our study drew on the theoretical framework of social cognitive career theory to examine how a 7-month science internship might shape high school students’ career choices. Method: 88 students were interviewed 6–8 months after their internship graduation. Findings: The analysis suggests that the science internships altered more than 90% of the participating students’ career choices by either enhancing, expanding, narrowing down, or even replacing their original career choices. Students reported that the science internships boosted their self-efficacy through their first-hand mastery of authentic STEM practices, by directly observing scientists’ STEM performance, by hearing scientists’ opinions on students’ capabilities and potential in STEM, and by the impact of the students’ own physiological and affective states on the STEM practices. Implications: These findings help educators better understand how a unique learning environment like science internship may influence high school students’ career choices; they have important implications for internship design, career counseling, and education policy.

Background: The Service-Learning Outcomes Measurement Scale (S-LOMS) with 56 items is an established tool for evaluating student developmental outcomes arising from service-learning in Hong Kong. However, its length may have deterred potential users. Hence, the current study used a shortened version (S-LOMS-SV) with 21 items for validation in Hong Kong and Singapore. Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to validate S-LOM-SV with new samples, as is required for shortened scales. Methodology/Approach: We recruited 970 respondents from Hong Kong and Singapore universities. They answered the 21-item S-LOMS-SV before and after service-learning, along with a service-learning experience questionnaire. We tested scale validity and reliability and used multisample analyses to examine factor stability and cross-cultural validity. In addition, we employed structural equation modeling to establish the relationship between service-learning experience and developmental outcomes. Findings/Conclusions: The current study established the scale validity and reliability and preliminary cross-cultural validity of the S-LOMS-SV. Results revealed developmental differences between traditional undergraduate students and adult learners and reaffirmed the positive relationships between service-learning experience and student development. Implications: The validated S-LOMS-SV provides a succinct and reliable tool for academic research and quality assurance purposes and paves the way for developing a centralized database for cross-cultural and cross-institutional comparisons.