The Impact of Transformative Learning at a Regional University

Higher education confronts criticism from stakeholders concerning the decline of rigorous standards, unwise budget expenditures, and failure to prepare students for the real world. The purpose of this study was to address these criticisms by examining the impact of transformative learning at a regional university. Transformative learning theory provided a frame of reference for this study. The study addressed students' experiences with transformative learning throughout their college years and examined differences among student perception scores on 6 tenets of transformative learning in 2011-2012. Through a nonexperimental design using an average of 2,600 surveys each year from the Graduate Student Survey, the least reported Central Six tenets of transformative learning at this university were identified, and students' reports of experiences involving the Central Six tenets were examined. An ANOVA identified service learning as the tenet least represented during students' college years. A course redesign incorporating a service learning activity focusing on the tenet of Health and Wellness was developed to create transformative learning opportunities for students in health classes. This study offers educators a unified definition of transformative learning and identifies tenets of transformative learning that support a positive student experience and academic success during college. Because university leaders believe that transformative learning addresses stakeholders' critiques and promotes positive action, this study provides a frame of reference to assist faculty members as they create a transformative learning environment for their students and promotes positive social change by developing methods to provide transformative learning experiences for the university's 17,000 students.