This study examined the influence of part-time employment at a campus recreational sports department on full-time college students' learning. The student employees indicated they attributed their experience working in a campus recreational sports department to their perceived gains in critical thinking, integrative learning, appreciation of diverse perspectives, collaboration skills, ethical reasoning, and communication skills. Students working at a campus recreational sports department during the spring of 2011 were invited to complete an online survey, which was developed for this project. The questionnaire, containing rating scales and open-ended questions, captured the perceptions of change by the student employees regarding their learning. A concurrent triangulation mixed-method design was used to analyze the data. The quantitative data was analyzed using multiple regression for each of the learning outcomes and one-way ANOVA analyses were conducted to identify differences between the positions. The qualitative data was analyzed using open coding to identify themes. The data was triangulated with job recruitment materials.

The student employees indicated they attributed their perceived gains in learning to their experience working in a campus recreational sports department. The multiple regression analysis resulted in two significant predictors, which included collaboration skills and communication skills. While the one-way ANOVA analyses was not able to be conducted between the positions held by the students, analysis of the qualitative data about ethical reasoning showed a theme unique to intramural sports officials. The results of this study show students attribute their experience working in a campus recreational sports department to their perceived learning in specific areas. These results demonstrate the need for more in-depth study of each of the learning outcomes to gain more thorough understanding of the impact of students who work in a campus recreational sports department.