Experiential Learning In Higher Education

This edited volume focuses on best practices in experiential learning. Chapters address service-learning, community-based research, international efforts and other experiential methods, highlighting innovative approaches, successes, and issues of concern. Further, the book also demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of experiential education, with authors hailing from psychology, sociology, education, social work, nursing, business and more. This timely and thorough volume will be useful to educators who are already involved in experiential education as well as those who are interested in the pedagogy and practice.

Despite the promise of competency-based education (CBE), learner-centered issues related to support, retention, and program completion rates remain problematic. In addition, the infrastructure for higher education, including issues related to faculty (intellectual property, workload, and curriculum), pose barriers and challenges in the design, development, implementation, and delivery of CBE. In response, administrators, faculty, designers, and developers of competency-based experiences must incorporate innovative strategies that are foreign to the traditional institution. A strong emphasis on retention and graduation rates must surround the student with support, starting with the design and development of the CBE system. There are few resources that can help prepare instructional designers, advisors, academic administrators, and faculty to meet the many challenges of designing, developing, implementing, and managing CBE. Career Ready Education Through Experiential Learning is an essential reference book that includes strategies for design and development of competency-based education (CBE) programs, as well as administrative and delivery strategies as examples of how CBE can be implemented. Through a strong theoretical framework, chapters present the best practices, strategies, and practical tips as examples and scenarios that can be used in higher education settings. While highlighting education courses, programs, and lessons across various institutions and educational domains, this book is ideal for higher education administrators and policy designers/implementors, instructional designers, curriculum developers, faculty, public policy leaders, students in curriculum and instruction and instructional technology programs, along with researchers and practitioners interested in CBE and experiential learning in higher education.

Experiential Education in the College Context provides college and university faculty with pedagogical approaches that engage students and support high-impact learning. Organized around four essential categories-active learning, integrated learning, project-based learning, and community-based learning-this resource offers examples from across disciplines to illustrate principles and best practices for designing and implementing experiential curriculum in the college and university setting. Framed by theory, this book provides practical guidance on a range of experiential teaching and learning approaches, including internships, civic engagement, project-based research, service learning, game-based learning, and inquiry learning. At a time when rising tuition, consumer-driven models, and e-learning have challenged the idea of traditional liberal education, this book provides a compelling discussion of the purposes of higher education and the role experiential education plays in sustaining and broadening notions of democratic citizenship. .

This report reviews the literature and research on the use of experiential learning in higher education, focusing on classroom-community linkages. It defines experiential learning and reviews the current employment of experiential learning in higher education. An introductory section explains the politics and policy issues of experiential learning at the higher education level and describes predominant forms of experiential education, current levels of participation, a conceptual framework, and administrative issues and concerns. The next two sections discuss the issues in programs using experiential learning in the arts and humanities, social sciences, health care, social work, science and engineering, business education, and technology programs. The fourth section focuses on experiential learning in the context of service learning with emphasis on the linking of theory and practice and cross disciplinary pedagogical and instructional issues. The fifth section reviews cooperative education initiatives which link classroom and community for benefits for faculty, community, students, and businesses. The final section provides a synthesis of successful practices. This section stresses the importance of a systematic approach to designing experiential learning activities, program administration, and evaluation. (Contains approximately 120 references.) (MDM).

This book describes how to change the way in which educators conduct business in the classroom. Our current educational systems lack ways to reach today's learners in relevant, meaningful ways. The five approaches in this book inspire and motivate students to learn. The authors provide in-depth descriptions into these overlapping approaches for experiential learning: active learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, service learning, and place-based education. Each of these five approaches includes an element of student involvement and attempts to engage students in solving problems. The chapters are presented in a consistent, easy-to-read format that provides descriptions, history, research, ways to use the approach, and resources. This book will help educators transform their classrooms into dynamic learning environments.

Experiential learning is a powerful and proven approach to teaching and learning that is based on one incontrovertible reality: people learn best through experience. Now, in this extensively updated book, David A. Kolb offers a systematic and up-to-date statement of the theory of experiential learning and its modern applications to education, work, and adult development. Experiential Learning, Second Edition builds on the intellectual origins of experiential learning as defined by figures such as John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, and L.S. Vygotsky, while also reflecting three full decades of research and practice since the classic first edition. Kolb models the underlying structures of the learning process based on the latest insights in psychology, philosophy, and physiology. Building on his comprehensive structural model, he offers an exceptionally useful typology of individual learning styles and corresponding structures of knowledge in different academic disciplines and careers. Kolb also applies experiential learning to higher education and lifelong learning, especially with regard to adult education. This edition reviews recent applications and uses of experiential learning, updates Kolb's framework to address the current organizational and educational landscape, and features current examples of experiential learning both in the field and in the classroom. It will be an indispensable resource for everyone who wants to promote more effective learning: in higher education, training, organizational development, lifelong learning environments, and online.

This book provides evidence-informed and practical advice on how to design, teach, and facilitate hands-on, experiential learning in practical higher education settings. With rich case studies and carefully considered analysis tasks, all underpinned by research evidence, it explores the functional aspects of teaching outside of regular classroom environments. Designed to enable university teachers to adapt strategies for teaching confidently and effectively, this must-read text focusses on enhancing learning and avoiding pitfalls whilst allowing students to develop and recognise the skills needed to excel in their chosen discipline. This book also provides: Reflection Points to enable application of the ideas into teaching practice, Action Summaries that distil the main recommendations into easily applicable solutions, Further Reading sections to allow for further exploration of key ideas. Practical and evidence-informed, the strategies within this book are useful for all educators teaching in practical settings including projects, labs, studios, in the field, and in practice placements.

In the field of student affairs, many are rethinking the value of a wide variety of traditional aspects associated with the student experience. Recent commentary has questioned whether students should attend college that has an all-inclusive tuition, focused primarily upon academic and support services. Given the need for changes the COVID-19 pandemic has created, it is imperative to question whether this kind of academic package is ideal for the future of higher education. As issues surrounding the traditional aspects of the student experience continue to develop, research has begun to focus on how student learning and awareness can be improved, specifically within the principles of design thinking. Applying Design Thinking to the Measurement of Experiential Learning is a forward-thinking and innovative look at assessment and design conditions that promote student learning. It proposes new models for education, conditions for student learning, and student learning assessment using design thinking and experiential learning. These topics include adjustments to curriculum, integrated learning environments, student success and student affairs, campus-wide design thinking, and testing assessments. This book is valuable for senior leaders in the field of student affairs, student affairs assessment professionals and faculty teaching in higher education programs, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in how the principles of design thinking can be applied to higher education.

This topical new book provides an illuminating overview of enterprise education, and poses the question as to whether current establishments have adequate systems in place to prepare students for the world of work. Addressing the increasing need for graduates with practical skills and expertise in the labour market, this collection of insightful chapters analyses the opportunities that are available for aspiring entrepreneurs to develop enterprise skills and experience key aspects of starting and running a business, whilst in a supported environment such as an educational program or incubator scheme. With comprehensive discussion of higher education initiatives and empirical examples of experiential learning in the workplace, this book is an important and timely read for those researching business enterprise, entrepreneurship and higher education more generally.