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Experience Learning Marks Its Progress

Course designations. Grants for faculty, staff, and students. Resources to help faculty incorporate experiential learning into their courses. These are just a few of the ways Experience Learning is transforming the way we teach and the way our students learn.

Experience Learning was developed as our Quality Enhancement Program—part of our 2015 reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges—and it has already started reshaping instructional practices on our campus.

The Experience Learning team has released an annual report for 2016–17 outlining specific aspects of that progress, including these highlights:

  • The Experience Learning course designation system was piloted during the 2016–17 academic year. Ten courses received the service-learning (S) designation and six received the research (R) designation. Additional courses are being reviewed now for both designations.
  • The internship (N) designation was approved in fall 2017. Applications were submitted and are being vetted now.
  • Thirty-six grants were awarded to faculty and staff to support experiential learning endeavors, including a four-week summer institute for faculty members to provide holistic support for redesigning courses to include experiential learning activities for students.
  • Several resources have been created, including the Experience Learning Resource Guide, the Experience Learning Risk Management Handbook, faculty assessment guides, tools for assessment, and the Service-Learning Course Design Guide.

Videos Show Experience Learning at Work

You can see how Experience Learning brings classroom lessons to life in three new short videos.

One chronicles College of Communication and Information students involved in a Programs Abroad experience in Sydney, Australia; a second follows a student during an internship at Scripps Networks Interactive; and the third takes you to the Great Smoky Mountains with students during an alternative break trip.

Look for additional videos coming this semester.