This study explores the role of extra-curricular activities among students. In particular, this study focuses on investigating the effects of student organization and external competition fair on creating students\u27 motivation. Flow and Student Engagement theory supports students\u27 active involvement on campus. The finding highlights the importance of extra-curricular activities on students overall

Ellington, Tameka N.

Leslie, Catherine Amoroso

Lyu, Jewon

English

This study explores the role of extra-curricular activities among students. In particular, this study focuses on investigating the effects of student organization and external competition fair on creating students' motivation. Flow and Student Engagement theory supports students' active involvement on campus. The finding highlights the importance of extra-curricular activities on students overall.</p

Leslie, Catherine

Ellington, Tameka

Digital Repository @ Iowa State University (ISU)

				Page 1 of 3  © 2018, International Textile and Apparel Association, Inc.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ITAA Proceedings, #75 – http://itaaonline.org  		2018 Proceedings           Cleveland, Ohio Promoting positive experiences:  Student perceptions and future intentions from attending a Student Organization and Competition Fair Jewon Lyu, Tameka Ellington, and Catherine Amoroso Leslie,  Kent State University, USA    Keywords: college students, student organizations, competitions, engagement    Background. A representative study of 30,000 U.S. college graduates found that participation in extracurricular activities, organizations, and intensive projects more than doubled the chances of being engaged at work and “thriving” in all aspects of their well-being (Gallup, 2014).  Facets of these findings have been reinforced and expanded in subsequent data collections (Auter, 2017; 2018), yet the literature has suggested that few graduates’ reported experiencing what Gallup calls the “Big 6”— 1) a winning combination of support from professors who cared, 2) made them excited about learning, 3) encouraged their dreams, 4) an internship or job that allowed them to apply what they were learning, 5) a long-term project, and 6) active involvement in extra-curricular activities (Busteed and Auter, 2018; Ray and Kafka, 2014). Although involvement in on-campus activities during college plays a critical role in student success, from bolstering a students’ sense of belonging to increasing retention and academic success, very few cases of success have been reported. A study conducted by the Ohio State University Center for the Study of Student Life (2017) found that “Students who are involved on campus have significantly higher cumulative grade point averages than students who are not involved (3.29 as opposed to 2.85) (p.5).   Purpose. Two important experiences that Textile and Apparel programs can offer and promote to positively impact our students and encourage success are Student Organizations and Competitions. Both of these opportunities have been found to establish a sense of belonging and contribute to the experiences students can use when seeking internships and pursuing industry careers. Design and merchandising competitions, particularly, offer students a long-term project in which they can invest their effort and resources. Often, these competitions give students an opportunity to chase their dreams and make connections with prominent figures in the fashion industry. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to explore perceptions and future intentions of first-year fashion students as a result of participation in a student organization and/or a student competition.   Theoretical Framework. Flow and Student Engagement Theory (figure 1) discusses three variables which base the level of involvement that students have with their extracurricular activities among high school students: Concentration, Interest and Enjoyment (Shernoff, Csikszentmihalyi, Schneider and Shernoff, 2003). This theory has been applied as a lens to evaluate Figure 1. Flow & Student Engagement Theory 2018 Proceedings                                                                 Cleveland, Ohio 	Page 2 of 3  © 2018, International Textile and Apparel Association, Inc.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ITAA Proceedings, #75 – http://itaaonline.org  	college students’ intentions regarding participating in student organizations and/or competitions. For the purposes of this study, the researchers utilized the variable of interest or intent as the predictor of how absorbed students plan to become, as well as the initiator of the enjoyment that students could receive from their involvement in student organizations and competitions. Method. Surveys were distributed to college freshmen students who never attended or participated in any industry-related activities at a Midwestern university. Freshmen students were invited to a half-day competition and student organization fair which allowed them to select an option to visit two different competition information sessions as well as have an opportunity to interact with eight different student organization’s board members. Because of the preliminary nature of this study, open-ended questions regarding the students’ experience during the fair and expected actions after along with a Likert-type of scale were adopted to measure future intention to participate in a student organization and/or external industry competition.   Results. A total of 80 responses were gathered and 75 usable responses were retained. By analyzing the open-ended questions regarding rationale for their participation during the fair, key themes were developed as follows: information seeking (58%), networking opportunity (24%), industry information (49%), and involvement (18%) as discussed in the previous literature. The majority of Freshman participants were surprised to learn about potential opportunities they never imagined and indicated the importance of being ‘involved’ in the extra curriculum. Regarding future action after the fair participation, 11.5% of participants indicated a strong intention to be involved in student organizations while 84.2% expressed an intention to participate in an external competition or prepare themselves to apply for a competition. To validate participants’ responses, we also asked the participants to select (1) intention to join any student organizations and (2) external competitions in the future. The results show that more than 42% of strongly agreed that they would participate in at least one student organization, 28% agree, 11% neither agree nor disagree. Regarding intent to participate in a competition, 41% strongly agree, 41% agree, 11% neither agree nor disagree.   Discussion and Implications. The findings of this study indicate that the organization and competition fair had positive impacts on students in many ways. Similar to the findings of Kuech and Sanford (2014), the results of our study confirm that student participation in the information sessions encouraged and motivated them to pursue student organizations and future competitions. The interaction at the fair was found to be meaningful because this type of motivation is difficult to provide for students in the classroom environment.  According to Neubert (2016), student participation in external competitions is expected to enhance learning in many ways including teamwork, social and emotional learning, opportunity for peer mentors, increasing intrinsic motivations, strengthening self-concept, and more (Neubert, 2016).  Future study will monitor students as they progress through their academic program to further explore the impact of this outreach on the overall experience and fostering of the “Big 6” (Gallup, 2014) among Textile and Apparel students in this program.   2018 Proceedings                                                                 Cleveland, Ohio 	Page 3 of 3  © 2018, International Textile and Apparel Association, Inc.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ITAA Proceedings, #75 – http://itaaonline.org  References: Auter, Z. (17 January 2018). Half of college students say their major leads to a good job.  Available: http://news.gallup.com/poll/225446/half-college-students-say-major-leads-good-job.aspx?version=print Auter, Z. (27 December 2017). What Gallup Learned about Higher Education in 2017.  Available: http://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/224444/gallup-learned-higher-education-2017.aspx Busteed, B., & Auter, Z. (13 February 2018). Career-Relevant Education Linked to Student Well-Being. Available: http://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/226934/career-relevant-education-linked-student.aspx?g_source=link_NEWSV9&g_medium=TOPIC&g_campaign=item_&g_content=Career-Relevant%2520Education%2520Linked%2520to%2520Student%2520Well-Being Center for the Study of Student Life (2017). Campus Involvement and Student Outcomes: Results from the 2017 Student Life Survey.  Columbus: The Ohio State University. Available: https://cssl.osu.edu/posts/documents/sls-2017-involvement-report-1.pdf Colbert, D. (26 January 2016). The Importance of Joining Student Organizations in College. Available: https://www.collegexpress.com/articles-and-advice/student-life/blog/importance-joining-student-organizations-college/ Gallup. (2014). Great Jobs Great Lives: The 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report. Available: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/gallup/reports.html Foubert, J. D. & Grainger, L. U. (2006). Effects of Involvement in Clubs and Organizations on the Psychosocial Development of First-Year and Senior College Students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 43 (1), 166-182. Kuech, R. & Sanford, R. (2014 June). Academic competitions: Perceptions of learning benefits from a science bowl competition. European Scientific Journal, Special Edition Vol. 1, 388-394. Available: http://eujournal.org/files/journals/1/books/MIFS2014.Vol.1.pdf  Neubert, J. (2016 July 4). 10 Ways Competitions Enhance Learning.  Available: https://www.competitionsciences.org/2016/07/04/10-ways-competitions-enhance-learning/ Ray, J., & Kafka, S. (2014 May 6). Life in College Matters for Life After College. Available: http://news.gallup.com/poll/168848/life-college-matters-life-college.aspx Shernoff, D.J.; Csikszentmihalyi, M.; Schneider, B. and Shernoff, E. S. (2003).	Student Engagement in High School Classrooms from the Perspective of Flow Theory.  School Psychology Quarterly, 18 (2), 158–176.  Student Competitions. (2017 August 5). How participating in competitions can benefit your student life. Available: https://studentcompetitions.com/posts/how-participating-in-competitions-can-benefit-your-student-life  Soria, K. M., J. E. Roberts, & A. P. Reinhard (2015) First-Year College Students’ Strengths Awareness and Perceived Leadership Development, Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice 52(1), 89-103, DOI: 10.1080/19496591.2015.996057 

Promoting positive experiences: Students perceptions and future intentions from attending a Student Organization and Competition Fair

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Promoting positive experiences: Students perceptions and future intentions from attending a Student Organization and Competition Fair

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