Creating a Transformational Learning Experience: Immersing Students in an Intensive Interdisciplinary Learning Environment

Abstract

The Simmons World Challenge is a unique, interdisciplinary program recently developed at Simmons College. It immerses students in an intensive winter-session course that challenges them to tackle a pressing social issue, such as poverty or hunger, and create actionable solutions to the problem. The program was conceived and designed to harness the strengths of pedagogical theories on transformational teaching and learning. This article describes the Simmons World Challenge and presents assessment findings from the program's third iteration in 2013, as well as on the long-term impact of the program based on follow-up assessments with the first two cohorts of students. These assessment findings demonstrate the deep and positive impact of the program on students' engagement with learning, personal growth, academic habits and attitudes, student leadership and initiative, and sense of community at Simmons College.