Bridging the Campus and the Corporate Worlds: Evolving Roles

of Student Organizations in Universities

Sandhya Rao MehtaSultan Qaboos University

Oman

Teaching in the classrooms…learning outside it

• Knowledge in the 21st century is much more than what is institutionalised.

• Academic degrees (particularly in the humanities) are no longer adequate to address workplace issues.

• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) allows for a wider interaction between stakeholders and the wider community.

Learning in universities in the Gulf

This presentation looks at the way in which student organizations link institutions and the community while empowering students to control their learning in many ways and succeeding in focussing on: • Leadership Skills• Social interactions • Negotiation• Encouraging team spirit

The case study

• This research is based on a qualitative study of 30 students who were involved with the English and Translation society (ETS) of Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.

• The objective of this study was to identify the ways in which students viewed their participation in student organizations as paving the way toward their personal development.

Literature review

Generic terminology includes1. Community based and work based Learning

(Joseph A. Raelin, 2010).2. Experiential learning (Donna M. Qualters,

2010)3. Transformative learning (Rogers and

Freiberg, 1994)

Constructivist and socio-constructivist models

Carl Rogers’ idea (as articulated by Combs) suggested that learning was most productive when the learner felt least threatened and the subject matter was relevant to the learners’ context.This has been proven in sports education, nursing as well as psychology.

UNESCO programme

“Providing students with high quality learning activities in relevant situations beyond the walls of the classroom is vital for helping students with opportunities to practice skills of enquiry, value analysis and clrification and problem solving in every situation.”(May, 2014)

Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (United Kingdom)

“We believe that every young person (0-19 years) should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability and development” (May, 2014).

The Wallace Foundation (The United States)

• More than 200 universities in the United States provide for experiential learning with institutional and government support.

• Corporations have also joined in this effort by providing internships and voluntatary opportunities.

Research in the Middle East and the Gulf

• Jordan and Lebanon have successfully implemented community service programmes through (for example), the Centre for Service Learning in Jordan and the Centre for Civic Engagement in Lebanon, both of which allow for student involvement in local communities.

Research in the Gulf

• “Despite some progress in education – in school enrolment, for example, the need for innovative teaching strtegies is even more urgent here. Education reform in these countries tends to focus on the construction of new buildings, facilities and curricula. Knowledge, information and theories are presented as indisputable facts…..” (Dajani, 2014).

• Susan Madsen in “Transformational Learning Experiences of Female UAE College Students” suggests that very little research exists in the Gulf about fostering leadership skills in a hub which is commercially, socially and educationally aiming to take centrestage (Madsen, 2009).

Student based organizations

• Astin (1999) dealt with the psychosocial importance of involvement with student bodies.

• Meseus and Quaye (2007) focus on the positive role of student bodies in multicultual contexts of American universities.

• Beemyn (2003) focused on the opening up of various student bodies which encouraged different sexualities to be integrated into the campus.

Community service in Oman

• His Majesty’s prize for voluntary work was instituted in 2011.

• SABLAT, a network of voluntary organisations was established under one umbrella in 2011.

• ESO (Environment Society of Oman) attempts to involved the community.

The English and Translation Society

The ETS

• First established in 1998, it was won the first prize as a student body five times, 3 of which has been in consecutive years.

• The ETS organises a forum every day of the semester in drama, debates, translation, creative writing and world literature.

• Workshops are given by students in areas of film subtitling, debating techniques and writing for various platforms.

Annual day of the ETS

International night

A play presented by the ETS

Interviews with ETS students

• 15 members of the ETS in their fourth year were interviewed (11 boys and 4 girls).

• 10 new members of the ETS (6 girls and 4 boys) were selected on their first day of attending a workshop. These students were in the their foundation year.

Questions asked of ETS members

1. Why did you join the ETS?2. What were your expectations of the ETS?3. To what extent were your expectations

realised?4. Can you describe your experience with the

ETS?5. Which one skill do you think you developed

most?

Questions asked of new members

1. Why did you join the ETS?2. What do you hope to learn from attending

these sessions?3. Do you know what the ETS does in the whole

year?4. How regularly do you plan to attend these

workshops?

Results of the interviews

• Cognitive skills: new students expected to learn ‘content’ in terms of Omani literature, how to translate, how to debate.

• Senior students spoke of skills of reasoning, long term memory and working from experience as being most important.

Linguistic Abilities

• Students acknowledged that this was a very important area for them as they got opportunities to interact with others outside the university in English.

• Associating with fellow students and the community gave them a chance to use and recycle language in real world contexts.

Leadership opportunities

Senior students spoke about how they felt responsible for audience participation, advertising, arranging venues as well as othe areas during the organising of workshops. All that helped them to organise their annual day and international conferences as well.

Personality development

• Students from both genders said they were more comfortable and confident when asked to work together and valued that experience as helping them in their future:

“Doing the exhibion for the Brazil Night was a very good way of getting to know many boys in the ETS. We were a group of girls but we had to talk to the boys who were in-charge of the exhibition. We discussed and put up the stalls together.”

ETS activities outside the university

Literary translations

Conclusion

• Students felt they had gained much in terms of use of technology, ease of communication, introduction to various career options and a broadening of their minds.

• Further research would have to include a longer and more sustained study which would follow these students over a few years to better understand the way in which their contribution to society could be enhanced.