Higher Education Students
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the most effective curriculum methods for undergraduate recreation students to learn leadership. METHODOLOGY This study focused on one course taught at California State University, Sacramento within the Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration (RPTA) department. The research involved RPTA 32: Leadership Group Development taught in the spring of 2018 (16 week semester). A total of 20 subjects completed the study. The subjects anonymously completed a demographic questionnaire and the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (SLPI) at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester, along with a questionnaire about the effectiveness of the course’s assignments.
KEY FINDINGS Students’ scores on the SLPI significantly increased from the start to the end of the course. In terms of the effectiveness of various assignments in teaching leadership, the rank order from most to least effective was in-class leadership game, teaching a skill, online quizzes, entire class presentation, LI-Green certificate, textbook reading, in class discussions/exercises, homework worksheets, and mid-term examination. The author concludes:
Overall, students reported more successful learning of leadership from assignments that were more involved and practical. It appears the more theoretical and less kinesthetic the assignments were, the less the students reported learning leadership (p. 89).