Overview

The purpose of this course is to share with you options for content in an experiential learning course such as an internship, fieldwork, or practicum. These courses tie closely to the Strategic Enrollment and Retention Plan (SERP) efforts to identify High Impact Practices that support student success. These examples come from various programs and tie to the best practices found through the Career and Experiential Learning in Online Education Literature Review completed in 2022.

The critical elements to consider in an experiential learning course are:

Clear expectations, guidelines, and outcomes
Preparation for collaboration with community partner
Participation tracking
Reflection
Ties to professional development and career readiness

These examples are intended for you to consider and modify as you wish. These are not required elements of a course, simply ideas to help you get started in thinking about the content for your course.

Experiential Learning

David A. Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle (1984) is a model that outlines the four stages of learning through experience:

Concrete Experience: This stage involves actively engaging with a new experience and observing it firsthand.
Reflective Observation: After the experience, the learner reflects on what happened and what they observed.
Abstract Conceptualization: The learner then thinks about the experience in abstract terms and tries to understand the underlying principles and concepts.
Active Experimentation: The learner applies what they have learned and tests it out in a new situation.

The cycle is meant to be an ongoing process as the learner continues to have new experiences and reflect on them. Deep learning occurs when students are learning abstract concepts and applying them in a range of situations and new experiences. Kolb proposed that the most effective learning occurs when individuals move through all stages of the cycle of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting.

Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation

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If the video doesn't appear, follow this direct link: Overview of Experiential Learning from Mike Stefancic, Boise State University Service-Learning Program (10:22 min.)

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