Item Detail
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27176
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0
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0
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English
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Perceived Mission Impacts on the Undergraduate College Experiences of Thirteen Returned Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Moscow, Idaho
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University of Idaho
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241
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Doctober of Philosophy thesis
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This study explored the undergraduate experiences of thirteen Latter-day Saint (LDS) returned missionaries and their perceptions of how their mission experiences impacted their undergraduate college experiences. As the goals of qualitative methodology are congruent with the purposes of the inquiry, the researcher employed a qualitative multiple-case study method, using semi-structured interviews to illicit information from respondents for the study. Two themes emerged from analysis of the data which were understood through three undergraduate student development models. First, the psychosocial development of the participants was considered, including the perceived affects serving a mission had on personal bicultural development, enhanced interpersonal relationships, and increased self-efficacy. Secondly, cognitive-structural development was assessed as it pertained to critical thinking and organizational/goal setting skills participants applied in college which were derived in part from skills learned during fulltime missionary service; for example, the influences of LDS missionary experiences on the participants affected their abilities to understand knowledge, and to question it. Thirdly, during analysis of the data, several of the desired outcomes of service-learning programs in higher education seemed concomitant with the findings of this research, these findings are also discussed.