Curriculum and Co-Curriculum Embedded EL Activities

Experiential Education and Experiential Learning

Often the terms of experiential education and experiential learning are used interchangeably. Although they most certainly go hand-in-hand, there are important components and differences to know on your journey to becoming an experiential educator.

Experiential Education (EE), also known as EE, is a philosophy that informs many methodologies, in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop people's capacity to contribute to their communities (AEE, 2013).
Experiential Learning (EL) also known as applied learning, is an engaged process of learning whereby students “learn by doing” and “reflecting on that experience" (Kolb, 1984). Rather than through lecture alone, experiential learning actively involves students in hands-on experiences within real-world, expert guided, laboratory, role-play, or simulated situations and settings. As a result, students are placed in the center of the learning process, and the entire campus and world becomes their classroom. This provides for authentic and meaningful learning for students, through which their potential and transformation is unleashed. Across the university, experiential learning activities integrated throughout the curriculum and co-curriculum both on- and off-campus take many different forms for students such as capstones, entrepreneurship, internships, research, study abroad, and much more. However, all of these types of experiential learning activities allow students to have "direct hands-on experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop individual capacity to contribute to their communities" (AEE, 2024).

Experiential Education vs. Experiential Ldeaerning

Experiential Learning Theory and Cycle

David Kolb's experiential learning theory and model is one of the most widely recognized and used theoretical frameworks in higher education. Experiential Learning Theory, also known as ELT, emphasizes the importance of experience and its role in the learning process (Kolb, 1984). Kolb attested that, “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” Since learning is the primary process used to navigate life, people can use this process for all forms of learning, development, and change. Indeed, learning occurs in all settings and continues throughout life. The experiential learning process supports not only learning, but also performance improvement and development

Experiential Learning Theory proposes that any experience may be transformed into a reliable source of knowledge. To make an experience a more meaningful and reliable source of knowledge, learners should go through the four-stage learning cycle — Concrete Learning, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation. The learning processes found within this four-stage cycle may be further conceptuzlied through through the constructs of Experiencing, Reflecting, Thinking, and Acting upon an experience.

These concepts address the stages of the cycle of experiential learning theory, which starts with learners having a new experience. After having a “real” experience, learners can reflect on the experience and then move to the next stage, thinking of possible ways to accommodate the experience. After having the chance to reflect and think, learners can transfer their thoughts into actions that result in the construct of learning and/or create new experiences, leading them to go through the process again (Egbert & Roe, 2020). By doing so, learners can learn more meaningfully.

Although experience itself plays a key role in the learning, it is only one of the stages found in Kolb's experiential learning cycle. Kolb argued that effective learning is seen as the learner goes through the cycle (1984). Student can enter learning at any point or stage of the cycle, but all stages in the cycle must be addressed for meaningful learning to occur. The first two stages of the cycle involve grasping an experience, the second two focus on transforming an experience. Ultimately, this is the process whereby knowlege and skills are created through the transformation of experience (Kolb, 2015). Knowledge and skills result from the combination of grasping and transforming experience (Kolb and Kolb, 2013).

Four Stages of the Experiential Learning Cycle:

Concrete Experience (Experiencing): Learning begins when a student uses senses and perceptions to engage in what is happening now.
Reflective Observation (Reflecting): After the experience, a student reflects on what happened and connects feelings with ideas about the experience.
Conceptual Thinking (Thinking): The student engages in thinking to reach conclusions and form theories, concepts, or general principles that can be tested.
Active Experimentation Experimenting): The student tests the theory and applies what was learned to get feedback and create the next experience.

Embedding Experiential Learning Activities in Courses and Co-Curricular Programs

Follow the steps below to learn how to embed an experiential learning activity in your course or co-curriuclar program.

Questions to Ask Yourself
- What do I know about experiential learning and high-impact practices?
- Why do experiential learning and high-impact practices matter?
Information
- Experiential Learning (EL), also known as "EL," is an engaged learning process whereby students “learn by doing” and "reflecting on the experience" (Kolb, 1984). Experiential learning opportunities take many different forms immersing students in transformational experience, all of which allow learners to have "direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop individual capacity to contribute to their communities" (AEE, 2024). Experiential learning activities give students direct experience with issues they are studying in the curriculum and allow them to apply what they are learning in real world settings (AACU, 2023). As a part of these activities, students are encouraged to review their experiences through guided or structured reflection to process and make conclusions about their learning as well as to implement what they have learned.
- High-Impact Practices (HIPs) as defined by the AACU are "techniques and designs for teaching and learning that have proven to be beneficial for student engagement and successful learning among students from many backgrounds. Through intentional program design and advanced pedagogy, these types of practices can enhance student learning and work to narrow gaps in achievement across student populations" (AACU, 2024). High-impact practices, or HIPs, are active learning practices that promote deep learning by promoting student engagement as measured by the National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE). To be a high-impact practice, the experience must satisfy the definition established by George Kuh (2008, Kuh & O’Donnell, 2013) and his colleagues at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U): achievement of deep learning, significant engagement gains, and positive differential impact on historically underserved student populations.
Resources
Questions to Ask Yourself
- What are the different types of experiential learning activities?
- Which type of experiential learning activity best suits my learning objectives and outcomes, course or program content, and learning environment?
Information
- Experiential learning is a broad term that encompases a variety of types of experiential learning activities that immerse students in real-world, hands-on and reflective experiences that are a transformation component of the BSU undergraudate and graduate education. Experiential learning can come in many different forms, and these experiential learning activities can occur both in and outside the classroom. The university has categorized these experiential learning activities into three categories: Field and Work-Based Learning, Global and Community-Based Learning, and Problem and Project-Based Learning.
- High-Impact Practices currently include First-Year Experiences, Common Intellectual Experiences, Learning Communities, Writing-Intensive Courses, Collaborative Assignments and Projects, Undergraduate Research, Diversity/Global Learning, Service Learning and Community-Based Learning, Internships, Capstone Courses and Projects, ePortfolios.
Resources
- Experiential Learning Activity Types and Definitions
- High-Impact Practices Types and Definitions
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Section currently under construction. Check back soon!
Information
- Section currently under construction. Check back soon!
Resources
- Key Features of High-Impact Practices (AACU, 2013)
- High-Impact Practices: An Educators Guide (National Association of System Heads, 2024)
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Section currently under construction. Check back soon!
Information
- Section currently under construction. Check back soon!
Resources
- Section currently under construction. Check back soon!
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Section currently under construction. Check back soon!
Information
- Section currently under construction. Check back soon!
Resources
- Section currently under construction. Check back soon!
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Do I want my course or co-curricular program to be recognized with the official BSU EL Designation?
- Am I ready to apply and how do I apply for the official BSU EL Designation?
Information
- The official BSU “EL Designation” means that a course or co-curricular opportunity with an integrated experiential learning activity has met the criteria set forth by the university regarding the experiential learning components for both the Activity Type Definition and Experience Classification Level as approved through EL Designation Application in the PeopleGrove/Student Opportunity Center System (SOC) by the EL Review Committee.
- The Application for EL Designation is used by faculty and staff to apply for the BSU official "EL Designation" for your course or co-curricular program that has an embedded experiential learning activity. Please take the time beforehand to review each question of the application to ensure that you have all of the required content and materials. After you submit your application, the EL Review Committee will review the application and then provide an approval -or- constructive feedback for resubmission. Once your application is approved, you will receive communication from the Chair of the EL Review Committee with congratulations and instructions on how to update your course syllabus with the BSU official “EL Designation” and assigned “Experience Classification Level”. The university does not permit a course to use the "EL Designation" and “Experience Classification Level” without an approved and unexpired application on file with the Office of Experiential and Integrative Learning.
Resources
- Application for EL Designation