| This study examined the influence of part-time employment at a campus recreational sports department on full-time college students' learning. The student employees indicated they attributed their experience working in a campus recreational sports department to their perceived gains in critical thinking, integrative learning, appreciation of diverse perspectives, collaboration skills, ethical reasoning, and communication skills. Students working at a campus recreational sports department during the spring of 2011 were invited to complete an online survey, which was developed for this project. The questionnaire, containing rating scales and open-ended questions, captured the perceptions of change by the student employees regarding their learning. A concurrent triangulation mixed-method design was used to analyze the data. The quantitative data was analyzed using multiple regression for each of the learning outcomes and one-way ANOVA analyses were conducted to identify differences between the positions. The qualitative data was analyzed using open coding to identify themes. The data was triangulated with job recruitment materials.;The student employees indicated they attributed their perceived gains in learning to their experience working in a campus recreational sports department. The multiple regression analysis resulted in two significant predictors, which included collaboration skills and communication skills. While the one-way ANOVA analyses was not able to be conducted between the positions held by the students, analysis of the qualitative data about ethical reasoning showed a theme unique to intramural sports officials. The results of this study show students attribute their experience working in a campus recreational sports department to their perceived learning in specific areas. These results demonstrate the need for more in-depth study of each of the learning outcomes to gain more thorough understanding of the impact of students who work in a campus recreational sports department. |
