Transforming the Classroom: Including Undergraduate Students in Program Evaluation

In an effort to improve the evaluation process and gain greater insight into student's perspective of the Georgia Southern University Recreation and Tourism Management (RTM) program, a unique semester-long evaluation project was integrated into the Evaluation and Research course curriculum. While University-supported course evaluations were in existence, an evaluation of the RTM program exploring issues related to curriculum, advisors, professional experiences, and internships did not exist. The most unique factor of the project was the collaboration between faculty and students as they worked side-by-side to create a student exit-survey examining various aspects of the RTM program. As a result of being a part of a real-world, collaborative effort with faculty, students experienced several benefits including (a) improved problem solving skills, (b) critical thinking ability, (c) research and evaluation skills, (d) improved professional presentation skills, and (e) participation in professional development activities beyond the classroom.