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Situating Semester Schools in the Landscape of High School Learning

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Title: Situating Semester Schools in the Landscape of High School Learning
Language: English
Authors: Meerts-Brandsma, Lisa (ORCID 0000-0002-9563-8220), Riley, Michael, Sibthorp, Jim
Source: Learning Environments Research. Oct 2023 26(3):663-679.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2023
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools
Secondary Education
Descriptors: Semester System, High School Students, Outcomes of Education, Student Attitudes, Teacher Student Relationship, Peer Relationship, Teaching Methods, Nontraditional Education, Learning Activities, Sense of Community, Integrated Curriculum, Boarding Schools
DOI: 10.1007/s10984-022-09438-6
ISSN: 1387-1579
1573-1855
Abstract: Semester schools provide high-school students with a relatively new type of learning environment that largely has not been empirically studied. This study used a retrospective survey (n = 797) to explore the learning outcomes that stem from semester schools and identify features within the educational environment that promote them. Participants reported that appreciation for differences was the most critical and useful outcome of participation in semester school programming, with willingness to try new things, communication and identity development following closely behind. Participants also identified specific features of semester schools that supported the development of their learning outcomes, which included relationships with faculty and peers, the pedagogical approach used by semester school teachers, the non-traditional structure of the semester, and specific coursework or learning activities. The findings pointed to the strong community that developed between students and their peers, as well as to their teachers as being a driver of the intrapersonal development participants experienced, which partially stemmed from the distinct features of semester schools such as being away from home, living together in a bounded social structure, and having an integrated curriculum. In addition, the temporary structure of a semester school could promote types of learning that students would not typically experience while at traditional four-year high schools.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2023
Accession Number: EJ1394550
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0172445067;oje01oct.23;2023Oct04.06:54;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0172445067-1">Situating semester schools in the landscape of high school learning </title> <p>Semester schools provide high-school students with a relatively new type of learning environment that largely has not been empirically studied. This study used a retrospective survey (n = 797) to explore the learning outcomes that stem from semester schools and identify features within the educational environment that promote them. Participants reported that appreciation for differences was the most critical and useful outcome of participation in semester school programming, with willingness to try new things, communication and identity development following closely behind. Participants also identified specific features of semester schools that supported the development of their learning outcomes, which included relationships with faculty and peers, the pedagogical approach used by semester school teachers, the non-traditional structure of the semester, and specific coursework or learning activities. The findings pointed to the strong community that developed between students and their peers, as well as to their teachers as being a driver of the intrapersonal development participants experienced, which partially stemmed from the distinct features of semester schools such as being away from home, living together in a bounded social structure, and having an integrated curriculum. In addition, the temporary structure of a semester school could promote types of learning that students would not typically experience while at traditional four-year high schools.</p> <p>Keywords: Experiential education; High school; Learning environment; Learning outcomes; Learning mechanisms</p> <p>Copyright comment Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-2">Introduction</hd> <p>Semester schools for high-school students have grown in popularity over the past four decades. Whereas only the Mountain School existed in the 1980s, currently at least 11 schools operate within the US (SSN, [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref1">47</reflink>]). Anecdotal reports from former students suggest that semester schools offer a powerful experience that students describe as life changing (SSN, [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref2">47</reflink>]). These schools aspire to integrate experiential and authentic, relationship-based instruction into potent learning environments for all their students. To date, little research describes what outcomes semester school students learn from attending or what specific features within the learning environment inspire this learning. As semester schools increase in both number and size, it is valuable to define and situate them in the landscape of educational opportunities that exist for high-school students.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-3">What are semester schools?</hd> <p>In general, semester school programs share the following commonalities: (a) duration is limited to one academic semester (approximately three to four months); (b) students are required to live away from home; (c) students participate in an enrollment process that involves assessing their motivation to attend semester schools and creating a curated student body with similar interests; (d) a geographically-diverse cohort of students not having previously attended school together; (e) bounded learning communities where students live in close proximity to faculty members are offered; (f) curriculum unified around a particular theme is offered; and (g) experiential education pedagogy is used to realize student learning objectives.</p> <p>Semester schools share similarities with several other educational environments, such as boarding schools, outdoor adventure education, and study abroad. Students are away from home and immersed in an educational environment with a cohort that is comprised of students who are typically new to them. Semester schools base their teaching in experiential education (Dewey, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref3">8</reflink>]/[<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref4">8</reflink>]), and many include backcountry expeditions for students, and/or solo time spent in nature. The schools also temporarily restrict access to technology for students, either intentionally or because of their remoteness. While semester schools appear to be related to boarding schools, outdoor adventure education, and study abroad, they also have distinct differences. For example, study abroad typically serves college students, students generally attend boarding schools for years rather than a single semester, and outdoor adventure education is unlikely to teach a typical high-school curriculum.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-4">Learning outcomes gained from similar learning environments</hd> <p>Because of the similarities between semester schools and other learning environments, they could promote similar learning outcomes. Therefore, we explored literature regarding learning outcomes from boarding schools, outdoor adventure education, and study abroad. Boarding school graduates reported gaining valuable social and emotional skills during attendance. Steel et al., ([<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref5">43</reflink>]) showed that, even after controlling for socioeconomic status, boarding school attendees were more likely to attend college, suggesting that boarding school could promote a college orientation. In a survey of 1,000 current and former boarding school attendees, the Art & Science Group ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref6">1</reflink>]) found that boarding school experiences helped to shape students' personal values and ethics, and around 70% of respondents noted that they developed critical thinking abilities, self-discipline, maturity, and independence from their boarding school experience. Overall, research on boarding schools is fairly limited because, like semester schools, they serve a relatively-small and specialized population, vary in their academic goals, and typically do not report standardized data (Steel et al., [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref7">43</reflink>])</p> <p>Outdoor adventure education (OAE) semester-based programs send small groups of 10 to 16 students into wilderness settings where they complete physically and/or mentally-challenging tasks under the supervision of a trained instructor (Hattie et al., [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref8">16</reflink>]). They typically last three months in duration, occur in various domestic and international locations, and are offered by organizations including Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). The challenges presented to the group require students to make collective decisions and work together to solve the problems that they encounter (Walsh & Golins, [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref9">49</reflink>]; Hattie et al., [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref10">16</reflink>]; Ewert & Sibthorp, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref11">10</reflink>]). Ultimately, outdoor activities are leveraged to promote the development of intrapersonal, interpersonal, cultural, and environmental knowledge (Hattie et al., [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref12">16</reflink>]; Gilbertson et al., [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref13">12</reflink>]; Wagstaff & Attarian, [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref14">48</reflink>]). More-recent scholarship suggests OAE participants gain valued character-related development (Furman & Sibthorp, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref15">11</reflink>]; Sibthorp et al., [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref16">40</reflink>]), relationship skills (Goldenberg et al., [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref17">13</reflink>]), self-confidence (Goldenberg et al., [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref18">13</reflink>]), self-efficacy (Propst & Koesler, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref19">31</reflink>]; Sibthorp, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref20">38</reflink>]), teamwork (Goldenberg et al., [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref21">13</reflink>]), resilience (Overholt & Ewert, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref22">28</reflink>]), and leadership skills (Sibthorp et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref23">42</reflink>]) as a result of participating in OAE courses.</p> <p>Study abroad programs offered through college and universities across the US are another educational offering whose learning environment shares similarities with semester schools. Study abroad programs offer wide-ranging curricular options including foreign language immersion, programs designed for specific academic majors, and programs that revolve around key natural or cultural features (Bell et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref24">3</reflink>]), and vary in their length, learning context, academic content, and level of immersion in the host culture (Mohajeri-Norris & Dwyer, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref25">27</reflink>]). The study abroad literature suggests that the novel physical and cultural environment encountered during study abroad programming helps to foster participants' intrapersonal, intercultural, and career-related development, as well as valued professional and psychosocial skills. Navigating the complexities of a new environment increased participants' self-confidence, self-reliance, and adaptability, and these skills were deemed helpful in future academic and career-related opportunities (Mohajeri-Norris & Gillespie, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref26">25</reflink>]). In addition, participants developed sociocultural awareness (Bell et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref27">3</reflink>]; DeLoach et al., [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref28">7</reflink>]), curtailed cultural ethnocentricity, and gained an understanding of their global citizenship (Dukes et al., [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref29">9</reflink>]; Grabowski et al., [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref30">14</reflink>]; Landon et al., [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref31">20</reflink>]; Saghafi, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref32">37</reflink>]; Tarrant et al., [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref33">45</reflink>]), fostered connections with the natural environment (Bell et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref34">3</reflink>]), and cultivated pro-social values and behaviors (Reysen & Katzarska-Miller, [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref35">34</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-5">Valued features in similar learning environments</hd> <p>In addition to understanding what learning outcomes are produced by semester schools, we also wanted to understand how they facilitated learning. In other words, what aspects or features of the schools supported the learning outcomes? While the features used by semester schools are not well established, the most powerful features of similar learning environments have been examined. Boarding schools rely on faculty members and the community they cultivate to impact student learning, while instructors working for OAE semester programs guide small groups of participants as they complete tasks and activities related to the expedition's superordinate goals. On the other hand, study abroad programs use novel physical and cultural settings to influence student learning.</p> <p>Research has noted that the community in boarding school environments affects students' learning and development (Cookson Jr. & Hodges Persell, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref36">4</reflink>]; Hagedorn et al., [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref37">15</reflink>]; Martin, Papworth, Ginns, & Liem, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref38">22</reflink>]). Seventy-five percent of students who attended boarding schools reported being around motivated peers, while those who attended private day schools (71%) and public schools (49%) noted lower percentages (Art & Science Group, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref39">1</reflink>]). Hodges, Sheffield, and Ralph ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref40">17</reflink>]) noted that the relationships formed between boarding school staff and boarders ultimately played a fundamental role in boarders' development of key social, emotional, interpersonal, and intellectual development. When comparing the one-year change in motivation levels, engagement, life satisfaction, and interpersonal relationships of boarders and day students at 12 Australian high schools, Martin, Papworth, Ginns, & Liem ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref41">22</reflink>]) found that, after controlling for demographic factors, boarding students evidenced slightly more-positive results across the four psychosocial measures which were attributed to boarders out-of-school time access to and interactions with faculty members.</p> <p>OAE programs procure the above-mentioned outcomes via five distinct features: structure-oriented; instructor-oriented; student-oriented; student- and instructor-oriented mechanisms; and mechanisms that are a result of environmental qualities (Paisley et al., [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref42">29</reflink>]). Across the literature, instructors are frequently identified by participants as an influential component of the OAE learning process (e.g. Paisley et al., [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref43">29</reflink>]; Asfeldt & Hvenegaard, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref44">2</reflink>]; Cooley et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref45">5</reflink>]). Specific OAE instructor behaviors that positively influence student outcomes include forming instructor–student relationships marked by respect, interest, and appreciation (Jostad et al., [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref46">18</reflink>]), being open and available (Sibthorp et al., [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref47">40</reflink>]), helping students to consider alternative views or perspectives (McGowan, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref48">23</reflink>]), and being supportive (Mirkin & Middleton, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref49">24</reflink>]).</p> <p>Likewise, study abroad programs use distinct and varied program features to promote student learning. To begin, participants are immersed into novel social, environmental, and educational contexts with a small group of unfamiliar peers (Bell et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref50">3</reflink>]; Tarrant et al., [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref51">46</reflink>]). Study abroad programs often employ experiential education methodologies and use a curriculum that is designed and ordered around a particular theme, is relevant to the geographic area in which the program occurs, offers opportunities for active participation (e.g. field work), and challenges students' world views (Tarrant et al., [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref52">46</reflink>]; Bell et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref53">3</reflink>]; Gabowski et al., [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref54">14</reflink>]). Moreover, study abroad programs use critical reflection, a meaning-making process that impels students to consider and evaluate the implications of their beliefs and thought processes, as a vehicle to challenge unexamined thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, and actions (Bell et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref55">3</reflink>]; Moon, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref56">26</reflink>]; Perry et al., [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref57">30</reflink>]). Ultimately, critical reflection is used to attempt to change how students view themselves and the world at large, and to help students to understand their responsibilities as global citizens (Bell et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref58">3</reflink>]; Moon, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref59">26</reflink>]; Perry et al., [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref60">30</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-6">Methods</hd> <p>In order to identify learning outcomes and educational features of semester schools, we administered a mixed-method, cross-sectional, retrospective survey to alumni from the 11 Semester School Network (SSN) schools. The SSN network is a coalition of 11 semester schools that share common traits while ultimately operating separately. They are based in the US, although several schools take students to foreign countries during the semester. Cohorts range in size from about 16 to 60 students.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-7">Measures</hd> <p>The online retrospective questionnaire used in this study was adapted from previous studies of salient outcomes in outdoor education and youth development (e.g. Richmond et al., [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref61">35</reflink>]; Sibthorp et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref62">42</reflink>]; Warner et al., [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref63">50</reflink>]) and had four distinct sections. The first section contained demographic questions. The second section asked participants to rank how critical, on a 10-point scale (1 for very false and 10 for very true), the semester school experience was to the development of 10 skills, abilities or beliefs. The third section asked participants to rank, on a 10-point scale, how important those 10 skills, beliefs and abilities have been in their daily life (1 for least important and 10 for most important).</p> <p>The 10 skills, abilities, and beliefs were culled from previous research on outcomes from residential outdoor education programs (e.g. Wilson & Sibthorp, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref64">51</reflink>]) that were consistent with the reviewed literature. These 10 outcomes were then reviewed, modified, and endorsed during interviews with three faculty members from each of the 11 semester schools to assess their content validity and relevance to semester school programming. The final 10 outcomes included identity development, willingness to try new things, appreciation for differences, communication, relationship skills, self-confidence, empathy, college/career orientation, leadership, and independence.</p> <p>The fourth section contained open-ended questions designed to capture additional outcomes that participants learned at their semester school or found important. The open-ended questions focused on four topics: (a) the most valuable learning outcomes, (b) why those outcomes were important, (c) what features within the learning environment facilitated their growth, and (d) why the indicated features were important to their learning. This laddered question structure has been used successfully in several previous educational studies (e.g. Sibthorp et al., [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref65">41</reflink>]; Warner et al., [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref66">50</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-8">Procedures and data analysis</hd> <p>After receiving approval from the Institutional Review Board, SSN schools invited alumni to participate in this study. Data were screened to ensure that all participants attended a semester school program between 2010 and 2017 and were at least 18 years old. To analyze the quantitative data, the mean score for how critical the semester school experience was to the development of each of the 10 skills, beliefs, and abilities was multiplied by how important those 10 skills, beliefs and abilities have been in participants' daily lives. The square root of the resulting products was taken, with higher values indicating that the skill, belief, and abilities were important and developed through semester school attendance (see Fig. 1). To analyze the open-ended questions, data from 30 randomly-selected participants from each of the 11 schools (<emph>n</emph> = 330) were openly coded by two independent coders using a descriptive coding scheme (Saldaña, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref67">39</reflink>]). The open-ended questions generated between a phrase and a paragraph of text, and each response was considered a unit of analysis. The coders selected a subset of data to generate a codebook. Afterwards, responses were independently classified into codes that were collapsed into themes. The coders then met to discuss any disagreements in order to ultimately reach consensus in 99% of the cases.</p> <p>Graph: Fig. 1Outcomes of semester school participation. Note : Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-9">Results</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0172445067-10">Quantitative results</hd> <p>Data were collected from 797 respondents representing each of the 11 SSN schools. Within the sample, 73% were female, 87% identified as White, and respondents ranged in age from 18–25 years with the average age being 20.28 (<emph>SD</emph> = 1.98). Before conducting the primary analyses of interest to the study, the data were cleaned and screened for outliers, and correlations were examined to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of the 10 outcomes. No outliers were identified in the data, and correlations showed acceptable discrimination among the measured outcomes. Correlations ranged from a high of <emph>r</emph> = 0.56 between communication and relationships skills to a low of <emph>r</emph> = 0.097 between communication skills and college/career orientation.</p> <p>While our primary aim was to examine the network of schools in aggregate, because they all have common goals and features, we used profile analysis (Tabachnick & Fidell, [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref68">44</reflink>]) to determine if there were systematic differences by student gender or by school. The profile analysis for student gender revealed nonsignificant effects for level (main effect of gender) and parallelism (the interaction term). Flatness, which involves differences in outcomes regardless of gender, was significant (<emph>p</emph> < 0.001, partial <emph>η</emph><sups><emph>2</emph></sups> = 0.38), demonstrating that the explained variation was primarily due to outcomes rather than gender. Likewise, we conducted a profile analysis of outcomes by school. Again, most of the explained variance was attributable to differences in the outcomes (<emph>p</emph> < 0.001, partial <emph>η</emph><sups><emph>2</emph></sups> = 0.41). While level (the main effect for school) was not significant, the test for parallelism was statistically significant, but the effect size was small (<emph>p</emph> < 0.001, partial <emph>η</emph><sups><emph>2</emph></sups> = 0.043). In examining the profile plots, systematic differences and patterns between schools were not interpretable. Given these results, we proceeded to interpret outcome differences in aggregate.</p> <p>Across the semester schools, participants reported that appreciation for differences (<emph>M</emph> = 8.90, <emph>SD</emph> = 1.58) was the most-critical and -useful outcome of participation in semester school programming, with willingness to try new things (<emph>M</emph> = 8.87, <emph>SD</emph> = 1.49), communication (<emph>M</emph> = 8.80, <emph>SD</emph> = 1.44), and identity development (<emph>M</emph> = 8.79, <emph>SD</emph> = 1.58) following closely behind (Fig. 1). On the other hand, semester school attendance had less of an influence on participants' college and career orientation (<emph>M</emph> = 7.60, <emph>SD</emph> = 2.22).</p> <p>For the four open-ended questions, the final sample was 69% female and racial demographics of the qualitative data matched the entire survey (~ 87% White). The 10 skills, beliefs, and abilities captured in the quantitative data were also noted in participants' responses to the open-ended questions, indicating that participants perceived the 10 measured outcomes relevant to their semester school experience. This method triangulation further supports the validity of the outcome measures. However, three additional codes appeared in the qualitative data that were not present in the 10 outcomes determined a priori. The unanticipated outcomes from the qualitative data included agency, sense of belonging, and the application of and appreciation for learning (see Table 1).</p> <p>Table 1 Outcomes from qualitative data</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Themes</p></th><th align="left"><p>Description of theme</p></th><th align="left"><p>Representative quote</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>Appreciation for differences*</p></td><td align="left"><p>The ability to appreciate and value differences among individuals</p></td><td align="left"><p>I learned to appreciate and value the different things that everyone brought to the semester</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Willingness to try new things*</p></td><td align="left"><p>The ability to comfortably put myself into difficult or challenging situations</p></td><td align="left"><p>Being able to step outside of my comfort zone and try new things</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Communication*</p></td><td align="left"><p>The ability to give and receive effective feedback</p></td><td align="left"><p>I've always been decent at getting along with others, but my semester school made me learn the important communication skills needed to make long term, deeply seeded connections</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Identity*</p></td><td align="left"><p>An understanding who I am and how I fit into the world</p></td><td align="left"><p>The way I grew in my understanding of myself, and of other life experiences different than my own, is one of the things for which I am most grateful to [my semester school]</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Self-confidence*</p></td><td align="left"><p>A belief that one is capable/can be relied upon/self-assurance</p><p>in one's abilities</p></td><td align="left"><p>Always, always, always trust yourself. Never let anyone dictate where you move or how you groove, and never let people hold you back</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Relationship skills*</p></td><td align="left"><p>The ability to get along with, relate to, and appreciate other people</p></td><td align="left"><p>How to create meaningful and valuable relationships with others</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Empathy*</p></td><td align="left"><p>The ability to understand and share the feelings and beliefs of others</p></td><td align="left"><p>All people have a unique perspective shaped by their background and interactions with other people of different backgrounds and it's necessary to understand this in order to understand their view of the world</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Independence*</p></td><td align="left"><p>An understanding of my place in the world as an independent individual</p></td><td align="left"><p>How to be independent, how to focus my free time, how to make new friends, quickly, with people I probably wouldn't have been friends with otherwise</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Leadership*</p></td><td align="left"><p>The ability to influence and guide others in pursuit of a common goal</p></td><td align="left"><p>One of the most important skills I learned while at [my semester school] was leadership and learning to take charge...this has helped me in my college experience, especially in student government which I am now the current President</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>College/career orientation*</p></td><td align="left"><p>An understanding of what I want to do in future academic and professional endeavors</p></td><td align="left"><p>I am grateful that [my semester school] gave me those skills that will help me achieve my career goal of Event Management</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Agency</p></td><td align="left"><p>The ability to assume ownership of key life choices</p></td><td align="left"><p>That I have so much control over my own learning and being in the world. I choose who I relate to and I choose who I learn from. It's incredibly empowering to know this</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Sense of belonging</p></td><td align="left"><p>An understanding of the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group</p></td><td align="left"><p>[My semester school] was the first place where I really formed a strong community in which I felt important and supported, and it gave me the confidence to go out and build more of those for myself in other settings</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Application of and appreciation for learning</p></td><td align="left"><p>The ability to apply learning across subjects or to problems and challenges outside of school, and an understanding that learning can occur in almost every situation</p></td><td align="left"><p>My ability to integrate my knowledge and apply it to a myriad of situations. I use my experiences from [my semester school] regularly in my studies</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <sups>*</sups>These themes confirmed findings in the quantitative data</p> <p>Second, participants were asked why the particular outcome that they identified was important or valuable to them. Responses were segmented into five separate themes: (a) the outcome created future opportunities; (b) the outcome was relevant and useful in their lives; (c) the outcome helped participants to better understand themselves; (d) the outcome changed them; or (e) the outcome exposed them to an important learning opportunity. Participant responses coded as <emph>the outcome created an opportunity</emph> focused on the ways in which the identified outcome prepared them for future experiences during their semester school program and beyond, facilitated interpersonal relationships with peers, enhanced their quality of life, or gave them confidence. While responses that were coded as <emph>helped them to understand themselves</emph> described how the identified outcome formed or reformed components of their identity, shaped their college/career orientation, and helped them to find a community of likeminded peers. Outcomes that <emph>changed them</emph> altered formerly-held perspectives, changed their way of thinking, or caused them to modify specific behaviors. Finally, some students observed that <emph>the outcome was important because of when they were exposed to it</emph>; that is, students were introduced to the skill at the right time. In essence, the interpersonal dynamics of living in bounded learning communities merged with the curricular progressions used by semester school programs to usher students into learning activities that introduced them to the importance of a particular skill set (e.g. interpersonal communication skills) and then subsequently provided opportunities to acquire the skill and practice it.</p> <p>Participants also identified specific features of the school learning environment that supported the acquisition and development of their learning outcomes: (a) relationships with faculty; (b) relationships with peers; (c) the pedagogical approach used by semester school teachers (e) curricular highlights; and (f) the non-traditional structure of the semester (Table 2). Students suggested that relationships with faculty and staff were a key component of the semester school environment. When compared with the relationships that they had with their teachers at their originating high schools, relationships with semester school faculty members tended to be more symmetrical and semester school faculty leveraged their position and authority to create learning communities that were supportive and responsive to student needs. To achieve student learning, semester school teachers relied on pedagogical techniques that were student-centered, based in experiential education, used place-based learning to capitalize on each semester school's unique setting, and helped students to make connections with content studied in other classes (e.g. science class was directly related to English).</p> <p>Table 2 Key features of the semester school learning environment</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Theme</p></th><th align="left"><p>Description of feature</p></th><th align="left"><p>Representative quote</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>Relationships with faculty</p></td><td align="left"><p>Relationships with faculty members were more symmetrical than at students' originating schools, and faculty were supportive and responsive to students' needs</p></td><td align="left"><p>The emphasis placed by the faculty of pushing yourself in your education and being able to accept failure, as well as self-discovery and openness to new things</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Pedagogical techniques used by teachers</p></td><td align="left"><p>Faculty employed experiential education techniques, and used student-centered, project-based, and place-based learning</p></td><td align="left"><p>Classes that revolved around place-based learning, being pushed to step outside of my comfort zone, brilliant teachers who presented their classes with gusto</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Curricular highlights</p></td><td align="left"><p>Specific activities that stood out for students, such as semester-long projects, outdoor adventure education expeditions, and leadership curriculum</p></td><td align="left"><p>The opportunity to spend the entire last month of the semester working on a final project that I designed myself and had ownership over</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Relationships with peers</p></td><td align="left"><p>Relationships with peers were deep, more authentic, and characterized by a combination of support and challenge stemming from the extensive time spent together discussing all types of ideas</p></td><td align="left"><p>The really challenging and absolutist viewpoints of other students who helped me develop better devil's advocate skills and how to deal with frustration</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>The non-traditional structure</p></td><td align="left"><p>Semester schools are separate in time and space from originating high schools, have small cohorts where students live with peers, complete chores to contribute to the community while also taking on leadership roles, and entirely disconnected from technology for a period of time</p></td><td align="left"><p>Being able to form our own systems and our own rules for a stable living environment were formative in our ability to see and influence those systems on a larger adult scale</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>In addition to the pedagogical techniques used by semester school teachers, certain curricular highlights were seen as having an especially-large impact on the student learning experience. Participants discussed the importance of semester-long projects, OAE expeditions (week-long backpacking trips), and leadership curriculum coupled with leadership opportunities. These highlights tended to afford them more agency and control over their learning experience, and allowed them to engage in direct experiences that provided rich opportunities for many of the previously-identified learning outcomes.</p> <p>Participants also identified their peers as a critical feature of their semester school experience. Other students engaged them in intellectually-challenging debates that pushed them to consider different perspectives and appreciate differences in perspective. The relationships were characterized not only by their deep nature and authenticity, but also by the interpersonal challenges that stemmed from their shared living experiences. Their peers were passionate about the topics that they studied, and they offered varied viewpoints that led to new ways of thinking, more diverse perspectives, and an understanding of the impacts that each person has on another.</p> <p>The non-traditional structure of semester school programs also contributed to student learning. To begin, students were relocated from their originating high school and placed into a small cohort of approximately 16 to 60 students. Throughout the semester, each student lived with their peers and faculty members, with this living arrangement presenting opportunities to interact and learn from each other during class sessions or during informal interactions when class was out-of-session. Distinct elements of the semester school structure, for example, included a complete lack of access to technology or students having opportunities to take responsibility for completing class-related activities, leading peers during school-related programming, and displaying independence, which distinguished the semester school structure from the educational opportunities available at students' originating high schools.</p> <p>Participants identified the features of the semester school learning environment as important because they provided opportunities for learning to occur, created awareness within the student, or set them up for success. To provide opportunities for learning to occur, faculty members created a safe and supportive learning environment that capitalized on students' intrinsic interest and readiness to learn. While curricular elements varied by school and were chosen based upon each school's particular thematic focus, faculty ensured that the right elements were in place for learning to occur. In addition, interpersonal relationships between students and their teachers and/or fellow classmates promoted opportunities for learning by observing the ways in which role models acted in various situations, facilitating interpersonal connections or challenging students to learn and grow. When the identified process facilitated awareness, respondents articulated the various ways in which it facilitated intrapersonal development. For example, respondents noted that the identified process was instrumental in changing their perspective, helping them to develop agency, or assisted in their identity formation process. In addition, the identified process was often important because it helped respondents to achieve personally-important goals.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-11">Discussion</hd> <p>Semester school programs are a relatively recent educational phenomenon for adolescents that, until now, have not been empirically studied. While they share similarities with existing learning environments, they are a distinct amalgam that combines the social and communal aspects of boarding schools with study abroad, experiential education and, for some of the semester school programs, outdoor adventure education. In this study, alumni representing each of the 11 schools in the SSN identified the personally-relevant outcomes of participating in semester school programming, described their importance to current academic and/or professional endeavors, and detailed the environmental features that facilitated the development of these outcomes.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-12">Semester school outcomes</hd> <p>Our data showed that the strongest outcomes of participation in semester school programs centered around students better understanding themselves, interpersonal skill development (e.g. communication), and ways of being that are more open to new and diverse experiences. Results suggested that, overall, students reported greater value in social and emotional learning outcomes than in more traditional academic subjects, although their appreciation for learning, learning modalities (e.g. active learning and experiential education), and ability to apply learning across contexts also increased.</p> <p>In considering the quantitative and qualitative data together, identity development was the most noticeable outcome of participation in semester school programming, and semester school programs provided an environment and experiences that helped students to better understand themselves. It appears that certain features of the semester school environment impel students into powerful cycles of identity exploration that lead to identity-related conclusions or commitments. Given their developmental stage (Erikson, 1968; Havighurst, 1972), undergoing a cycle of identity formation is likely to have a significant impact on semester school students' lives, and could help to explain why students frequently describe their semester school experience as life changing. Understanding who one is can give semester school graduates an advantage over peers without this experience. However, if students narrow in on a version of themselves prematurely, and engage only in similar types of experiences in the future, their development could be stunted or they might miss out on other formative experiences. Alternatively, it was unclear from our data how these new identity-related understandings transferred to contexts beyond the semester school environment.</p> <p>While identity development was a major theme in our data, other outcomes and experience remained central in the broader learning environment. By being willing to try new things, embracing differences, and communicating with others, students were impelled to grow more holistically; growth in one area nudged student learning in others. For example, the semester school environment provided opportunities for students to gain new knowledge or skills by participating in novel learning activities. When they found success, their self-confidence increased, and they were more willing to try something new in the future. As they experimented with activities, they gained an understanding of what conditions suited them, allowing them to recognize their strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. In turn, this process facilitated their understanding of who they are and aided their identity development.</p> <p>Another important theme within the data was their appreciation of certain features of the learning environment. The semester school alumni described how they came to value a close-knit community and relationships with others. Alumni used this new-found knowledge to identify what they wanted from future educational experiences and inform consequential decisions such as which college to attend. Moreover, alumni learned how to respect and value people who held different beliefs than they did, what they desired for their future careers, and came to understand their impact on people around them. The third dominant theme related to interpersonal skills, including outcomes such as empathy, communication, and relationship skills. For some, the most important thing that they learned at their semester school related to feeling a sense of belonging and building of a caring community with their classmates, and understanding how that enabled them to branch out and try new things.</p> <p>Students believed that the outcomes that they achieved at their semester schools were important because they prepared them for future endeavors. What they learned changed them in meaningful ways but, more importantly, prepared them for the next stages in their lives. This occurred because the environment at the semester school was either relevant (e.g. they had to work with others on projects in their jobs) or created opportunity (e.g. what they learned at their semester school allowed them to be successful in another context).</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-13">Semester school educational features</hd> <p>The data overwhelmingly point to the community at semester schools as being the biggest driver of learning. This finding makes sense given that the interpersonal outcomes that students reported learning at semester schools can only be gained through interactions with others, which aligns with previous research (e.g. MacMahon et al., [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref69">21</reflink>]). For many students, the most-salient component of the learning community was having opportunities to work closely with faculty members, and research suggests that teachers' relationships with students contributes to their social and cognitive development and influences their classroom motivation and engagement (Davis, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref70">6</reflink>]; Kember et al., [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref71">19</reflink>]; Read et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref72">32</reflink>]; Resnick et al., [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref73">33</reflink>]; Roorda et al., [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref74">36</reflink>]). A unique quality of the semester school environment is the amount of time that students spend with their teachers and the pedagogical approach that teachers have towards working with their students, which included a focus on experiential education, place-based learning and project-based learning. While the exact nature of student–teacher interactions varied among schools, across all schools, students lived on campus with faculty members, ate meals together, completed chores together, and spent free time together. Students specifically identified the support that faculty provided as being critical to their experience. The relationships between students and faculty were more open, egalitarian, and complex (i.e. faculty members were not considered the holders of knowledge) at semester schools than at students' originating high schools. Consequently, the faculty seemed to know their students on a more-intimate level because they interacted with them in contexts beyond the classroom.</p> <p>A second primary aspect of the community at semester schools involved the students themselves and their relationships with one another. Students came from different parts of the country and brought different perspectives with them, but they ultimately had to work together in the bounded social system of the semester school for its duration. Through the curriculum, students worked on projects and engaged in conversations that were different from what they typically experienced at home, which led to social dialogue between themselves around the content. They also faced challenges together, both of a physical nature, such as running a half-marathon, and an interpersonal nature, such as learning to share living space. The process of overcoming the challenges seemed to bring them closer together in what students described as authentic relationships in which they came to know the essence of one another without the added noise of typical daily life.</p> <p>The non-traditional structure of semester schools supported the development of the relationships between faculty and students and among students. They were divorced from their normal life because they left home to temporarily form a new community in a new place. During this time, they were largely isolated together as a small group, and focused intently on the particular theme of the school. Each school had a period of time when students entirely disconnected from technology, which seemed to bring them more into the immediate moment and potentially helped strengthen their connections to one another. Students had significantly more independence than they typically did at home, and were responsible for managing themselves, their living spaces, and their academic work without the supervision and guidance of parents. These combinations of factors appeared to work together to create the distinct experience that defines semester schools.</p> <p>Because semester schools offer educational programming, it is entirely plausible to expect the curriculum to be the main process supporting the attainment of the learning outcomes. The data suggest that the curriculum is important, and notable curricular highlights included major projects, leadership curriculum, and learning expeditions. However, the curriculum was mentioned less frequently than the other educational features discussed above. While students might not identify the curriculum as being highly influential, a closer examination of the data shows the subtle ways in which the curriculum mediated student learning. For example, students noted that interpersonal relationships aided their learning but, without curriculum, there is no content to which to react, and these valuable relationships might never have formed.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-14">Limitations</hd> <p>The retrospective design of this study could have led to recall bias or situations in which participants attributed the acquisition of certain skills to their semester school experience when, in fact, they were gained through other means. Semester schools serve a particular type of student as indicated by demographic data as well as the admissions process. Consequently, the learning outcomes and the features influencing those outcomes could be different for semester school participants who do not fall into the predominant demographic categories and semester schools might operate quite differently for students who do not fit the semester school criteria.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-15">Conclusion</hd> <p>In this study, we attempted to whittle semester schools to their essential components to understand what outcomes they produce and how they facilitate those outcomes. The curated student body creates an atmosphere in which the entire community is orientated towards similar goals. Coupled with the non-traditional structure in which students and faculty live together, this enables learning to occur in all aspects of daily life. Our main finding is that semester schools use the educational environment to help students to learn about themselves. As students gain in identity development, they might be better able to understand how to take advantage of opportunities in their lives. So, while the ostensive goal of semester schools might be educational, the predominant valued outcomes are identity formation, appreciation for differences, communication, and willingness to try new things. These appear to develop specifically through the relationships that unfold over the semester, both with the community as a whole and specifically with faculty. In sum, the most-valued outcome that semester schools foster, then, is that students have a deeper understanding of themselves and they are able to use that understanding to help them to achieve future objectives in college, career, and life.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-16">Acknowledgements</hd> <p>This study was partially funded by the Semester School Network.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-17">Data availability</hd> <p>Data will be made available through the authors' university data repository.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-18">Declarations</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0172445067-19">Conflict of interest</hd> <p>The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.</p> <hd id="AN0172445067-20">Publisher's Note</hd> <p>Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.</p> <ref id="AN0172445067-21"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref6" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Art & Science Group. (2003). 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  Data: Situating Semester Schools in the Landscape of High School Learning
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
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  Data: English
– Name: Author
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  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Meerts-Brandsma%2C+Lisa%22">Meerts-Brandsma, Lisa</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9563-8220">0000-0002-9563-8220</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Riley%2C+Michael%22">Riley, Michael</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sibthorp%2C+Jim%22">Sibthorp, Jim</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Learning+Environments+Research%22"><i>Learning Environments Research</i></searchLink>. Oct 2023 26(3):663-679.
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  Data: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
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  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 17
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2023
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Semester+System%22">Semester System</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+School+Students%22">High School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Outcomes+of+Education%22">Outcomes of Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Attitudes%22">Student Attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Student+Relationship%22">Teacher Student Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Peer+Relationship%22">Peer Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Methods%22">Teaching Methods</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nontraditional+Education%22">Nontraditional Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Learning+Activities%22">Learning Activities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sense+of+Community%22">Sense of Community</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Integrated+Curriculum%22">Integrated Curriculum</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Boarding+Schools%22">Boarding Schools</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1007/s10984-022-09438-6
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 1387-1579<br />1573-1855
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Semester schools provide high-school students with a relatively new type of learning environment that largely has not been empirically studied. This study used a retrospective survey (n = 797) to explore the learning outcomes that stem from semester schools and identify features within the educational environment that promote them. Participants reported that appreciation for differences was the most critical and useful outcome of participation in semester school programming, with willingness to try new things, communication and identity development following closely behind. Participants also identified specific features of semester schools that supported the development of their learning outcomes, which included relationships with faculty and peers, the pedagogical approach used by semester school teachers, the non-traditional structure of the semester, and specific coursework or learning activities. The findings pointed to the strong community that developed between students and their peers, as well as to their teachers as being a driver of the intrapersonal development participants experienced, which partially stemmed from the distinct features of semester schools such as being away from home, living together in a bounded social structure, and having an integrated curriculum. In addition, the temporary structure of a semester school could promote types of learning that students would not typically experience while at traditional four-year high schools.
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  Data: 2023
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  Data: EJ1394550
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        Value: 10.1007/s10984-022-09438-6
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      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 663
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Semester System
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: High School Students
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      – SubjectFull: Outcomes of Education
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      – SubjectFull: Boarding Schools
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      – TitleFull: Situating Semester Schools in the Landscape of High School Learning
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