Course-based, service-learning, study-away opportunities for university students can result in transformational learning for students. Within the context of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory (2008), this study explored university students’ perceptions of a course-based, service-learning, study-away experience in a culture greatly different from their own. Students participated in a semester-long course with a spring break service-learning study-away experience in the Zuni Pueblo, an indigenous community in New Mexico. Data included individual and group reflections during and after the trip as well as post-graduation (i.e., 3.5–4.5 years after the course). Student reflections indicate that course-based, service-learning, study-away experiences for university students, especially one that provides cross-cultural experiences, can result in transformative learning that may have lasting personal and professional effects. The results of this project may be used by faculty and administrators in academia to provide creative, comprehensive, and transformational intercultural opportunities for students, helping to create leaders in their fields.
ArellanoI.JonesS. J. (2018). Exploration of university faculty perceptions and experiences of service-learning as engaged scholarship of teaching and learning. The Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 18(4), 111–129. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v18i4.23178
ChandraV.LassigC.TangenD. (2022). Transformative learning in Fijian primary schools: A case study of Australian university students’ international experiences. Journal of Transformative Education, 20(4), 344–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211051094
ErnestJ. (2001). An alternate approach to studying beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2(3), 337–353. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2001.2.3.6
8.
EylerJ. S.RootS.GilesD. E.Jr. (1998). Service-learning and the development of expert citizens: Service-learning and cognitive science. In BringleR. G.DuffyD. K. (Eds.), With service in mind: Concepts and models for service-learning in psychology. American Association for Higher Education.
9.
GiamboD. A. (2024). The Zuni Pueblo: Connections through student inquiry projects. i.e.: inquiry in education, 16(1). Article, 8, 1–34. https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ie/vol16/iss1/8
10.
GiamboD. A.GarridoL. E. (2024). Planning for transformative education: The development of a cross-cultural, course-based, service-learning, study-away experience in Zuni, New Mexico. College of Education, Florida Gulf Coast University. [Manuscript in preparation].
HovlandK.MusilC. M.Skilton-SylvesterE.JamisonA. (2009). It takes a curriculum: Bringing global mindedness home. In LewinR. (Ed.), The handbook of practice and research in study abroad: Higher education and the quest for global citizenship (pp. 466–484). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203876640
LaneS. H.HuffmanC.BrackneyD. E.CuddyA. (2017 July-September). Going domestic: Importing the study abroad experience. The development of a multicultural New York City study away program. Nursing Forum, 52(3), 196–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12189
LiouC. (2022). Reaching out: The lived experiences of self-becoming through international service-learning. Journal of Transformative Education, 20(2), 122–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211031930
18.
ManegoldJ. G.SchafferB.ArseneauE.KauanuiS. K. (2020). Social innovation and poster presentations: Service-learning for business students in a team-based course. The Journal of Education for Business, 95(7), 469–475. https://doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2019.1680519
19.
MezirowJ. (1990). How critical reflection triggers transformative learning. In MezirowJ. (Ed.), Fostering critical reflection in adulthood (pp. 1–20). Jossey-Bass Publishers.
20.
MezirowJ. (2000). Learning to think as an adult: Core concepts of transformation theory. In MezirowJ. (Ed.), Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress (pp. 3–33). Jossey-Bass.
21.
MezirowJ. (2008). An overview on transformative learning. In SutherlandP.CrowtherJ. (Eds.), Lifelong learning: Concepts and contexts (pp. 24–38). Routledge.
22.
O’BrienK.WittmerD.EbrahimiB. P. (2017). Behavioral ethics in practice: Integrating service learning into a graduate business ethics course. Journal of Management Education, 41(4), 599–616. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562917702495
PlaterW. M.JonesS. G.BringleR. G.ClaytonP. H. (2009). Educating globally competent citizens through international service learning. In LewinR. (Ed.), The handbook of practice and research in study abroad: Higher education and the quest for global citizenship (pp. 485–505). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203876640
26.
ScherrerC. R.SharpeJ. A. (2020). Service learning versus traditional project-based learning: A comparison study in a first year industrial and systems engineering course. International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering, Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship, 15(1), 18–32. https://doi.org/10.24908/ijsle.v15i1.13569
27.
SeiderS.GillmorS.RabinowiczS. (2011). The impact of community service learning upon the worldviews of business majors versus non-business majors at an American university. Journal of Business Ethics, 98(3), 485–503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0589-8
28.
SeiferS. D. (1998). Service-learning: Community-campus partnerships for health professions education. Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 73(3), 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-199803000-00015
29.
TinklerA.TinklerB.ReyesC.ElkinS. (2019). Critical service-learning: Learning through experience to advance teacher education. Journal of Experiential Education, 42(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825918820662
VearsD. F.GillamL. (2022). Inductive content analysis; A guide for beginning qualitative researchers. Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Professional Journal, 23(1), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.11157/fohpe.v23i1.544
32.
WalkerW.WalkerC. (2018). Do course-based service learning programs offer more benefits to students than non-course-based programs?Journal of Education and Learning, 7(6), 197–202. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v7n6p197
33.
WaltersC.CharlesJ.BinghamS. (2017). Impact of short-term study abroad experiences on transformative learning. Journal of Transformative Education, 15(2), 103–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344616670034
