Constructing self-transcendent experiences for discoveries in environmental policy and governance

Abstract

Undergraduate students admitted to the BSSENP Programme usually do not take a strong interest in the subjects and their motivation to explore and discover need to be cultivated through course taking and other educational activities. This project is aimed to address this challenge by developing extra-curriculum activities that help students to form positive attitudes toward study, to improve abilities in critical thinking, and to demonstrate capacities in scientific inquiries and discoveries. Built upon the two courses the PI is responsible for, Introduction to Environmental Policy and Governance, and Research Methods for Environmental Policy, students are encouraged to develop their own group projects and provided with individualized tutoring. A Student Public Policy Forum will be held for them to share their discoveries with the university community and to gain professional experiences. Focus group discussions and interviews will be conducted for assessing to what extent those activities offer self-transcendent experiences to voluntary participant students. Findings from the project contributes to literature on experiential learning and human transcendence. This exploratory study can inform future design of the curriculum and extra-curriculum activities that will lead to professional development of students as well as teacher guided discoveries.