Experiential Education- A Learning Journey

Rob Macpherson, Network Leader, Tourism, Leisure & Sport

Rhiannon Tinsley, Assistant Registrar

Location

Vineyard Haven

The Institute

“Reflective Practice in Experiential Education”

With Joe Raelin

Center for Work and Learning

Northeastern University

June 27, 2008

A Formative Exercise in Real-Time

The 2008 Martha’s Vineyard Summer Institute

Our Colleagues

Our Mentor

Dr. Paul J. Stonely Chief Executive Officer World Association for Co-operative

Education

Our objective for the end of the workshop was:

“to produce a plan for better integration of experiential

education within UHI”

Process

♦ Goals

♦ Needs

♦ Objectives

♦ Methods

♦ Evaluation

PLANNING GNOME

Gnome Planning♦ G- oals “Big picture”

♦ N- eeds 3 prong

♦ O-bjectives Action Language

♦ M-ethods The nitty-gritty

♦ E-valuation Critical and often not part of the planning process

ProgrammeParticipantsInstitution

Who benefits?PROGRAMME

Evaluation surveysSmile sheets

InterviewsFocus groups

LEARNING Student case studies Video-taped lessons

Observations/shadowing Links with industry

INSTITUTIONMatch with mission

Grades improve Statistics – graduation rates

Post graduation employability

Experiential Education

Job Shadowing

Simulations

Study Abroad

Work Placement

Summer Schools

InternshipField Trips

Research Projects

Volunteering

Service Learning

Guest Lectures

Clinical Practice

Co-operative Education

Capstone Course

Case Studies

Community Engagement

Objective

Can these be combined?

ExperienceExperience

ClassroomClassroom

ExperienceExperience

ClassroomClassroom

Integrating Learning

Objective

Explicit Knowledge

Retrievable Tacit Knowledge

Non-retrievable Tacit Knowledge

Start of the Week

?

End of the Week

?

End of the Week

So why do it?

Experiential learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.

Experiential Learning

So why do it?

Key Principles• Integrated Learning

– provide educationally sound learning strategies to maximize community learning opportunities while and realizing course learning objectives – minimize distinction between students’ community learning role and classroom learning role

• High Quality Service– do not compromise academic rigor

• Collaboration– establish criteria for selection of service placements to match learning objectives

• Student Voice– be prepared for variation in, and some loss of control with, student learning outcomes

• Civic Engagement– maximize the community orientation and community responsibility components of course – prepare students for learning from community

• Reflection– rethink the instructional role of staff

• Assessment & Evaluation– academic credit is for learning outcomes, not service

BenefitsStudent Benefits• Increased reported learning and motivation to learn• Deeper understanding of subject matter and complex social issues• Ability to apply material learned in class to “real world” issues• Opportunity to learn from classmates experiences• Gain hands on skills related to academic and professional area of

interest

Staff Benefits• Addition of new areas for research and publication, and increased

opportunities for professional recognition and reward• Improved student discussion and participation• Enriched approach for delivering subject matter• Increased opportunity to engage students of all learning styles• New relationship with students and community members• Improved understanding of how learning occurs • Greater awareness of social issues as they relate to academic areas

of interest

BenefitsCommunity Benefits• Additional energy, enthusiasm and resources for addressing issues • Improved relationship with university and access to university

resources• Increased awareness of and support for community organizations

and issues• Opportunity to impress upon students the importance of

participation in service• Opportunity to recruit and nurture future volunteers, interns, coops,

and full employees or advocates

University Benefits• Increased opportunity to engage students of all learning styles • Opportunity to be a model Service-Learning program for other

universities• Improved student retention and school to work transition• Access to community partners as potential co-teachers• Improve awareness of universities commitment to the community

Beneficiaries

Learning Focus

Primary Intended Beneficiary

Recipient

Learner

Field-trips

Service-Learning

Community Engagement

Volunteering

(Furco & Duffy 2005)

Internships

Process

Experiential Education is an academically rigorous educational activity in which students:

1) participate in organized service activities/project(s) that meet needs identified by the community

2) reflect on the service activities/project(s) in such a way as to gain further understanding of course/programme content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility.

(Bringle & Hatcher, 1995)

Process

The theory can be expanded to reflect Kolb’s Learning Circle.

Reflection

Action PlanAction PlanIf it arose again, If it arose again,

what would you do?what would you do?

DescribeDescribeWhat happened?What happened?

What were you thinking and What were you thinking and feeling?feeling?

EvaluateEvaluateWhat was good/bad What was good/bad about the about the

experience?experience?

AnalysisAnalysisWhat sense can you make of this? What What sense can you make of this? What

were your biases, assumptions? were your biases, assumptions?

Are they true?Are they true?

AlternativesAlternativesWhat else could have you What else could have you

done?done?

Reflective Learner

Reflective learners are more likely to be:– more self-aware and self-critical– motivated to improve– more able to carry through

independent learning

(Oxford University, 2005)

Types of Reflection

• Reading: Literature & Written material case studies, books, professional journals, poems

• Writing: Written exercises blogging, journaling, essays, self-evaluations, creating

portfolios, analysis paper, poems, case studies, song lyrics

• Doing: Projects & Activities role playing, video development, musical performance, analyzing/creating budgets, watch & debrief related

movie

• Telling: Oral exercisesinformal/formal discussions, storytelling, teaching a

class, presentations, legislative testimony, debate

Opportunities for students to demonstrate knowledge and for you to evaluate what they have learned

Key Principles• Continuous

Reflection should be ongoing, occurring before, during and after students' experiences.

• Connected Reflection provides opportunity to integrate learning from experience within the academic content or personal development, including ways in which the experiences illustrate concepts, theories and trends.

• ChallengingReflection both supports and challenges students to engage issues by thinking critically, pushing them to pose stimulating questions and to develop alternative explanations for their initial perceptions and observations of their experiences.

• ContextualizedReflection relies on the analysis of the context of the issues being discussed and the setting. It occurs in various forms and settings.

(Eyler, Giles, & Schmiede, 1996)

AssessmentAssessment should be:• on-going• aimed at understanding and improving learning• makes expectations explicit and public• sets appropriate standards for learning quality• systematically gathers, analyzes, and interprets

evidence• uses the results to document/explain/improve

performance• assessment ≠ evaluation

(Angelo, 1996)

Assessment Spiral

SET LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Assessment Spiral

GATHER DATAANALYZE DATA

DESIGN ASSESSMENTMEASURES

SET NEW LEARNING OBJECTIVES

DESIGN NEW MEASURES

GATHER NEW DATA

Define Outcomes

Challenges To integrate experiential education

effectively within a wide range of programmes, there are a number of challenges (or barriers) which have to be overcome.

Challenges• Logistics – student numbers

• Logistics – experiential placement site numbers

• Negotiations of goals/objectives between external agency and the students

• Town/gown barriers

• Time commitment of all parties – students, staff and community partners

• Ethical challenges

• Balancing integration of students’ personal feelings about workplace and/or social issues (of which they often become aware of during the reflective process) with the academic learning they need to express to be evaluated

Challenges• Finding appropriate placements for the course

• Impact on student funding of placement study

• Impact on staff in determining more effective tools for assessment and evaluation

• Varied levels of commitment among students and/or partners

• Short and long-term effects on the external agency viz future relationship; future placement opportunities; future employment opportunities

• Communication of challenges in timely manner

• Poor implementation of best practice by student, staff and/or partners

Solutions? All of our colleagues at Martha’s Vineyard came

from institutions with a specific department/unit that looked after experiential education and co-ordinated placement study.

In the main, these were independent of any particular faculty and were not large – 2-5 staff.

All their institutions saw them as customer facing (be it students or external partners) and a significant part of their community engagement activity.

Currently, experiential education within UHI is conducted on a programme-by-programme basis. This may prove challenging if experiential learning is to be integrated in a meaningful way post modularisation.

Northeastern At Northeastern, the service-learning unit provides

technical assistance and resources to all academic departments such as:

a. identifying appropriate partners b. acting as initial liaison with partners

c. administration, resources & forms (work permits)d. orientating students and partners

e. providing best practice tools for reflection, evaluation and assessment

f. facilitating validation, assessment & evaluation process g. staff development – funding conferences/workshops

h. staff training and support (teaching assistants) i. providing student support – references, portfolios, documentation, curriculum vitarum, awards, etc. j. accessing grants and other funding for students k. developing university-wide tracking/reporting mechanism and interactive web portal to support students/partners

UHIBarriers to Implementation

• Lack of clarity of purpose

• Lack of support for the project– Allies– Foes– Fence sitters

• Lack of resources

• Changing Personnel

The way forward…?

Job Shadowing

Simulations

Study Abroad

Work Placement

Summer Schools

InternshipField Trips

Research Projects

Volunteering

Service Learning

Guest Lectures

Clinical Practice

Co-operative Education

Capstone Course

Case Studies

Community Engagement

ReferencesThanks are due to the following:(some of whose slides have been mercilessly pilfered)

• Donna Qualters, Suffolk University

• Joe Raelin, Northeastern University

• Rick Porter, Northeastern University

• Kristen Simonelli, Northeastern University

• Kate McLaughlin, Northeastern University

• Jim Stellar, Northeastern University

• Tim Donovan, Northeastern University

and the colleagues of the other six institutions at MVSI.