The structure trap: students' perceptions of reflection on a co-curricular immersion service-learning trip

Reflection is well-established in the literature as an essential element of high-quality service-learning. This is true for all forms of service-learning including co-curricular (non-academic) immersion trips such as the week-long Alternative Spring Break trip that is the focus of this case study. As a case study, this thesis utilizes a qualitative methodology, including pre- and post-interviews, field observations with myself as a participant-observer and document analysis. Originally I set out to document the learning outcomes of fourteen students on this trip. However, evaluations clearly indicated that students had negative reactions to the trips' structured reflections. As this was in direct contradiction to the best-practices in the literature, I adjusted my focus in order to fully explore the question of this thesis: what are a selected group of northern California university students' perceptions of their reflection experiences during an alternative spring break co-curricular service-learning trip? This thesis is the result of my own reflective process in attempting to answer this question. My analysis centers around a concept I am dubbing the structure trap. I identify the nature of the trap, synthesize issues that contributed to falling into the trap, and analyze a complexity of factors that need to be considered in order to avoid the trap. Ultimately I conclude that the structure trap can be defined as a disconnection between the paradigms of service-learning model and the traditional modernist approach to education.