Experiential EDU Toolkit
Foundational Elements of Experiential Education Through an Inclusive Lens
Frames: Frames create meaning & context
Student Agency: voice, choice & authority
Aligned with Outcomes: clear, intentional and measureable
Reflection: meaningful metacognition
Application: making meaning through doing
Uncertainty: becoming comfortable with the process
Learning centric: open to learning with students
Flexibility: plan carefully, but remain open to serendipity
How to use this resource
This toolkit is designed to provide you with current and timely resources to plan and incorporate new experiential teaching strategies into your classroom, as well as to guidence for aligning your efforts with complementary pedagogy.
High Impact Practices
Research shows that students involved in high-impact practices (HIPs) enjoy higher levels of learning success. These evidence-based practices include service learning, undergraduate research, and internships—to name a few. AAC&U’s Institute on High-Impact Practices and Student Success helps campus teams refine and assess their HIPs with an emphasis on quality, equity, and student engagement. Attendees participate in intentional reflection on institutional outcomes, develop comprehensive action plans, and have individualized consultations with HIPs faculty. The institute helps campus and system-level teams create sustainable student success goals and monitor progress toward achieving equity to improve educational outcomes for all students.
(Adapted from AAC&U)
Capstone Courses and Projects
These culminating experiences require students nearing the end of their college years to create a project synthesizing what they’ve learned. The project might be a research paper, a performance, a portfolio of “best work,” or an exhibit of artwork. Capstones are offered both in departmental programs and, increasingly, in general education as well.
Collaborative Assignments and Projects
Collaborative learning combines two key goals: learning to work and solve problems in the company of others and sharpening one’s own understanding by listening seriously to the insights of others, especially those with different backgrounds and life experiences.
Common Intellectual Experiences
These experiences within an organized general education program that includes introductory courses, advanced interdisciplinary courses, capstones, and internships/practicums/field experience.
Diversity/Global Learning
Diversity/Global Learning—which may address US diversity, world cultures, or both—often explore “difficult differences” such as racial, ethnic, and gender inequality, or continuing struggles around the globe for human rights, freedom, and power.
Internships
Internships are an increasingly common form of experiential learning. The idea is to provide students with direct experience in a work setting—usually related to their career interests—and to give them the benefit of supervision and coaching from professionals in the field. If the internship is taken for course credit, students complete a project or paper that is approved by a faculty member.
ePortfolios
ePortfolios enable students to electronically collect their work over time, reflect upon their personal and academic growth, and then share selected items with others, including professors, advisors, and potential employers.
Learning Communities
Students will address “wicked problems” in interdisciplinary courses where they will collaborate as a group working closely with one another and with their professors. Many learning communities explore a common topic and/or common readings through the lenses of different disciplines. Some deliberately link “liberal arts” and “professional courses”; others feature service learning.
First-Year Seminars and Experiences
University Experience 101 is our first-year course where students engage in our University of Maine at Presque Isle community.
Service Learning and Community-Based Learning
Students engage in field-based “experiential learning” with community partners is an instructional strategy—and often a required part of the course where they are learning in real-world settings and reflecting in a classroom setting on their service learning.
Writing Intensive Courses
Students are encouraged to produce and revise various forms of writing for different audiences in different disciplines throughout the General Education Curriculum.
Undergraduate Research
Connecting key concepts and questions with students’ early and active involvement in investigation and research to involve students with questions, observation, and the sense of excitement that comes from working to answer important questions.
Aligned pedagogy
UMPI has long embraced a student-centered approach to teaching and learning that prioritizes personalized learning and hands-on, relevant experiences–which is why experiential teaching methods are such a great fit.
In addition to academic programs that (by their very nature) incorporate experiential learning, such as education, biology, environmental science, fine art, and business administration, UMPI has embraced experiential teaching as a foundational element in all of our General Education courses.
Infuse Active Learning
Follow UMichigan’s guidance to incorporate more active learning in your classroom!
Group students more effectively
NextGen Learning’s grouping strategies for experiential learning.
Assessing experiential learning
Check out MCGill University’s guidelines to ee assessment!
Experiential learning online
eLearning Industry gives us a handbook on ‘How-To’
Design for Experiential Teaching
Backward design is a planning framework that can be used to design an experiential learning course. In backward design, the course is designed by starting with the desired learning outcomes and then working backward to determine the instructional activities and assessments that will help students achieve those outcomes.
To use backward design for an experiential learning course, you would begin by clearly defining the learning outcomes or objectives that you want students to achieve. These outcomes should reflect the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students will develop through the experiential learning activities.
Once the learning outcomes are established, you can then identify the types of experiential learning activities that will help students achieve those outcomes. These activities could include fieldwork, simulations, case studies, group projects, or any other hands-on experiences that align with the desired learning outcomes.
Let’s review Grant Wiggins guidance on designing with the end in mind:
ALIGNED PRACTICES
Constructivism
Blended Learning
Events of Instruction
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to re-design my entire curriculum?
Definitely not!
What is the difference between experiential learning and active learning?
The Association of Experiential Education defines experiential learning as “[e]xperiential learning occurs when carefully chosen experiences are supported by reflection, critical analysis and synthesis” (aee.org).
“Active learning is an umbrella term for a range of instructional strategies aimed at increasing student involvment and ownership of their learnin” (Roberts, 47).
Is service learning and field experience experiential?
Yes, both are examples of experiential learning with the framing of the activities as well as a reflection component to help make the learning visible.
Is experiential learning not a good fit for certain disciplines??
Experiential learning is a good fit for all disciplines.
My class is online, how can I add experiential activities?
Considering experiential activities for our online courses takes some more planning, but we have the resources to help you take your online class there.
There is so much to learn, where can I start?
Starting with reading some experiential education literature and perusing our website along with others sites about experiential education will help you begin the process of understanding experiential education.
Attribution Notes: