Mikulec and McKinney - Equestrian Club Perceived Learning Outcomes - GAUISUS - Scholarship on Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University

Participation in a University Equestrian Club and Team: Perceived Learning Outcomes

Erin Mikulec
School of Teaching & Learning • Illinois State University

Erin Mikulec is Assistant Professor of Secondary Education in the School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University. Along with courses in secondary ed, she works closely with two school partners for clinical experiences, YouthBuild of McLean County and The Alliance School of Milwaukee, WI. During the Spring 2014 semester, Dr. Mikulec has been on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Helsinki to study secondary teacher education in Finland.

Kathleen McKinney
Cross Endowed Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning • Illinois State University

Kathleen McKinney is the Cross Endowed Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and Professor of Sociology, Emeritus at Illinois State University. Her areas of research are social psychology and teaching and learning in sociology. In 2003-2004 she was a Carnegie Scholar. She is active in the SoTL movement internationally both within and beyond her discipline.

Learning takes place both inside and outside of the classroom. While there is some prior research that focuses on the professional, developmental, and learning outcomes of participation in student organizations, there has been insufficient research on these outcomes in sport clubs. The poster summarizes the results of an online, questionnaire study conducted with members of collegiate student Equestrian sport clubs. Data come from 50 club members participating in such organizations at 15 institutions in the U.S. The respondents completed a mostly qualitative survey in which they were asked about their motivation for joining the organization and what they believed they learned as a result of their participation. Respondents reported equestrian and interpersonal reasons for joining, and that participation increased their development in a number of academic and professional areas, especially in terms of time management and work ethic, collaboration, communication and teamwork, and leadership.

Keywords: Student organizations, out-of-class learning, engagement, authentic learning, student development, equestrian