Project Investigator(s): Suzie Lavallee, Senior Instructor, Forestry and Conservation Sciences
Project Description
This study will examine the dimensions of affective domain learning in a capstone field course for a program (Natural Resources Conservation – Science and Management major) in UBC Faculty of Forestry. Assessments of attitudes, beliefs, professionalism, and ethics will be provided over a period of a year, at various stages of students progress through the program. Through this assessment, I seek to identify and quantify student development that is gained through intensive experiential learning programs.
Research Questions
- What aspects of personal development in the affective domain are most prominent in students who undergo experiential learning?
- Along their trajectory through the course, are there any moments of significant change that are identified?
- Are there negative implications to affective domain learning resulting from experiential learning?
- Are there differences in affective domain development among students in the natural sciences as compared to the humanities?
Impact on teaching and learning at UBC
This study examines a tool for assessment that is relatively easy to employ and would have implications for any program at UBC that employs experiential learning (e.g. field courses). Programs in the natural and applied sciences that must receive professional association accreditation have particular need to assess affective domain learning in students.