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Co-Designing with Veteran Students.pdf (43.02 MB)

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Co-Designing with Veteran Students: Incorporating Co-Design Thinking to Understand Current and Future Experiences of Veterans in a University Environment

Morrow, Joshua B
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8659-7594
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523558953618592

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Fine Arts, Ohio State University, Design.
The purpose of this research has been to understand the experiences of veteran students entering into higher education at The Ohio State University for the first time after having served in the military, or, those that are returning to OSU after leaving the collegiate environment to serve in military operations as is often the case for Reserve and National Guard Service members. As part of the research methodology developed, co-design thinking has been utilized in the engagement of current veteran students in order to let them guide the identification of new services, or improvements that can be applied to existing ones, with the goal of improving the transition and integration experiences of current and future veteran students. Through personal experience, observations, and conversations had with veteran students, I noticed that many veterans tended to self-segregate away from their civilian counterparts in the collegiate environment. I hypothesized, then, that this self-segregation of the veteran student subculture, individually or collectively, hindered the sociocultural integration of veteran students into the greater civilian populace, and therefore had a potentially negative impact on their success in pursuing civilian careers after college. Additionally, while OSU’s Office of Military and Veteran Services (OMVS) has been doing incredible things to help veteran students transition away from the military and into OSU, many of their practices tend to promote self-segregation rather than integration. Although it is not true across the entire population of veteran students, the research conducted showed that many sought opportunities for improved sociocultural integration programs. Opportunities lie in finding a balance between the subculture that veteran students share, and integration into the civilian culture they are now part of. Additionally, veteran students could benefit from additional support in regards to academics and logistics when navigating through OSU. The study conducted was comprised of preliminary interviews with a director of the OMVS, an initial survey, three co-design sessions with volunteer veteran students, and an evaluative survey to gain deeper insight into the possible new service concepts generated during the co-design sessions. Based on the research results, proposed new services and improvements to existing ones were presented to OSU’s OMVS. The significance of this study has been to formally develop and apply, a Co-Design toolkit and process centered on the topic of veteran student transition and integration into higher education, that is transferable for future use by other colleges and universities to explore the ways that they can best meet the needs of their own veteran students.
Elizabeth Sanders, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Peter Chan, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Michael Forrest (Committee Member)
224 p.
Design
Co-Design Thinking, Veteran Students, Experience, Self-Segregation, Transition, Integration

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Morrow, J. B. (2018). Co-Designing with Veteran Students: Incorporating Co-Design Thinking to Understand Current and Future Experiences of Veterans in a University Environment [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523558953618592

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Morrow, Joshua. Co-Designing with Veteran Students: Incorporating Co-Design Thinking to Understand Current and Future Experiences of Veterans in a University Environment . 2018. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523558953618592.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Morrow, Joshua. "Co-Designing with Veteran Students: Incorporating Co-Design Thinking to Understand Current and Future Experiences of Veterans in a University Environment ." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523558953618592

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1523558953618592
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.