Challenges to implementing an ecology-based immersion semester program for undergraduates: What influences student participation?

Background/Question/Methods

Saint Francis University and Juniata College, two small, private liberal-arts institutions located in central Pennsylvania, offer a cooperative “Immersion Semester” program for their undergraduate students. In this program, students live and take environmentally-themed courses for the semester at the Raystown Field Station, which is located adjacent to Raystown Lake and is administered by Juniata College and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Although there are many benefits to participants, such as the opportunity to take field-based courses in a small, learning-community environment, challenges remain in attracting students to the program. The objective of the study was to 1) determine the factors most responsible for limiting student participation in the program, 2) to identify the methods most effective at publicizing the program details to potential participants, and 3) to identify potential strengths of the program most likely to improve recruitment of future students. To address these objectives, web-based, anonymous surveys were completed by current students that had not participated in the Immersion Semester program.  

Results/Conclusions

The most important factors limiting participation were identified as either academic (41% of respondents) or social (39%) in nature. The leading academic concern was that of missing half of a two semester course (such as chemistry), while the leading social concern was that of being away from friends and campus life. Factors least affecting participation were concern about personal safety, concern about living/taking courses with students/faculty from another institution, and concern about a heavy workload. Regarding the effectiveness of methods used to raise awareness of the immersion semester, 92% of students indicated that they knew about the program, with 77% reporting that a professor had visited one of their classes to discuss it. However, only 35% of respondents had talked with a previous participant about the program, and only 6% had visited the immersion semester website. Lastly, when students were asked to rate the appeal of various aspects of the immersion semester, the three factors students identified as most attractive were the opportunity for outdoor recreation, the emphasis on outdoor field work, and no extra cost for participation. Overall, these results should be of value to any institutions with similar field-based immersion programs looking to improve student participation.