IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jenvss/v9y2019i3d10.1007_s13412-019-00555-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Immersive field experiences lead to higher-level learning and translational impacts on students

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Felege

    (University of North Dakota)

  • Rebecca Romsdahl

    (University of North Dakota)

  • Joshua Hunter

    (University of North Dakota)

  • Cheryl Hunter

    (University of North Dakota)

  • Susan Ellis-Felege

    (University of North Dakota)

Abstract

Internships in STEM disciplines, especially in fields related to conservation and sustainability, have become more widespread in recent years. Such experiences are thought to go beyond traditional classroom learning and are now required as part of the curriculum in many programs. However, benefits of such internships have largely been presumed up to this point. In this work, we developed and tested a research question asking if there is a gradient of learning that occurs across immersive educational experiences. These range from low-level immersion classroom learning to highly immersive field internships. We found that student learning increases as the level of immersion increases. Furthermore, our findings suggest that highly immersive internships lead to more translational outcomes. This is based on values and dispositional changes relevant to research that are absent in lower-level immersive experiences. These findings suggest that highly immersive internships are likely to be key foundational experiences that help undergraduate student stakeholders develop a set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that are critical to a translational workforce in conservation and sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Felege & Rebecca Romsdahl & Joshua Hunter & Cheryl Hunter & Susan Ellis-Felege, 2019. "Immersive field experiences lead to higher-level learning and translational impacts on students," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 9(3), pages 286-296, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:9:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s13412-019-00555-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s13412-019-00555-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13412-019-00555-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13412-019-00555-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heather Thiry & Sandra L. Laursen & Anne-Barrie Hunter, 2011. "What Experiences Help Students Become Scientists? A Comparative Study of Research and other Sources of Personal and Professional Gains for STEM Undergraduates," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(4), pages 357-388, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dan Klooster & Nathan Strout & David Smith, 2022. "GIS in the jungle: Experiential Environmental Education (EEE) in Panama," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 12(1), pages 164-176, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hani Mansour & Daniel I. Rees & Bryson M. Rintala & Nathan N. Wozny, 2022. "The Effects of Professor Gender on the Postgraduation Outcomes of Female Students," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(3), pages 693-715, May.
    2. Gairal-Casadó, Regina & Garcia-Yeste, Carme & Novo-Molinero, Maria Teresa & Salvadó-Belarta, Zoel, 2019. "Out of school learning scientific workshops: Stimulating institutionalized Adolescents' educational aspirations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 116-126.
    3. Maria-Teresa Novo-Molinero & Teresa Morla-Folch & Laureano Jimenez Esteller & Silvia Molina Roldan & Aitor Gomez Gonzalez, 2024. "Impacting life expectancies of incarcerated people through dialogic scientific gatherings and dialogic scientific workshops in prisons," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Paul R Hernandez & Brittany Bloodhart & Rebecca T Barnes & Amanda S Adams & Sandra M Clinton & Ilana Pollack & Elaine Godfrey & Melissa Burt & Emily V Fischer, 2017. "Promoting professional identity, motivation, and persistence: Benefits of an informal mentoring program for female undergraduate students," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, November.
    5. Katelyn M Cooper & Logan E Gin & Barierane Akeeh & Carolyn E Clark & Joshua S Hunter & Travis B Roderick & Deanna B Elliott & Luis A Gutierrez & Rebecca M Mello & Leilani D Pfeiffer & Rachel A Scott &, 2019. "Factors that predict life sciences student persistence in undergraduate research experiences," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-30, August.
    6. Christopher P. Scheitle & Ellory Dabbs & Riley Darragh, 2021. "Graduate Students’ Identification With Science: Differences by Demographics, Experiences, and Discipline," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    7. Lisa Robertson & Elizabeth Porter & M. Alex Smith & Shoshanah Jacobs, 2021. "Evidence-Based Course Modification to Support Learner-Centered and Student-Driven Teaching in A Pandemic: Leveraging Digital and Physical Space for Accessible, Equitable, and Motivating Experiential L," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(7), pages 1-96, September.
    8. Rishita Bhatt & Bernadette West & Sunita Chaudhary, 2020. "Biomedical career enrichment programs: Exploring women and minority participants’ motivators and outcomes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-27, February.
    9. Samantha Nix & Lara Perez-Felkner, 2019. "Difficulty Orientations, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity: An Intersectional Analysis of Pathways to STEM Degrees," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-29, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:9:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s13412-019-00555-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.