Assessing Transformative Learning: Toward a Unified Framework

This study describes the development, administration, and results of an exploratory, 30- item instrument to assess aspects of transformative learning attributable to an educational program. The instrument, TRansformative Outcomes and PrOcesses Scale (TROPOS), assesses four subscales associated with transformative learning: criticality, attitude toward uncertainty, social support, and transformative outcomes. Potential instrument items were derived from a literature review. A panel of experts evaluated these items for inclusion in the study. Study participants were alumni of the same master’s degree program who graduated during the past 10 years, 2007-2016 (N=119). This study examined overall instrument reliability (α = 0.884) and subscale reliability; correlation between criticality and transformative outcomes was determined (r = 0.541) as well as by subscale; regression analysis was performed between transformative outcomes and the remaining three subscales (r = 0.593). Analysis found no statistically significant difference in alumni responses by year of graduation. Further analysis detected alumni in their 20’s reported increased transformative outcomes scores relative to other age groups by decade (sig. = 0.021). Preliminary differences in subscale scores by gender emerged. TROPOS is intended to serve as an instrument for researchers to conduct replication studies to examine external validity and for researchers to propose new subscales to expand the instrument’s scope. This study raises subtle questions concerning processes underlying transformative learning, particularly by indicating potential constraints in critical reflection’s prominence as well as through reinforcing the potential for additional moderating or mediating constructs accounting for transformative learning outcomes.