Rather than mandate students restrict their education to books, videos, and webinars, a growing number of faculty and institutions are embracing experiential learning, an approach that mirrors real-world situations and thinking.
After all, not everyone learns in the same manner: Some students retain information better by doing versus reading or watching. By immersing themselves in a task, a professional setting, or an environment, experiential learning advocates believe individuals are better prepared for adulthood.
In addition, experiential learning promotes creativity in that faculty encourage students to resolve challenges creatively, reflecting on the problem without necessarily consulting Google or a reference tome. Likewise, mistakes happen in this approach: Students are encouraged to learn from them, whereas errors are penalized in test-oriented teaching and learning.
Practicing a skill or craft improves students' ability to learn.
"As you practice something, your related dendrites develop a thick fatty coating. Thicker dendrites pass signals over the synapses more quickly. The coating also reduces interference, enabling you to come up with answers more quickly," according to Envision Experience, which provides career, technology and leadership programs. "Your volume of synapses is constantly changing, too, and some are stronger than others. Weak synapses become stronger through practice and learning. No matter how many synapses a neuron has, it still has the potential to grow more."
To succeed, this approach should incorporate a combination of structure and freedom so college students can navigate the complexities and uncertainties they encounter – but have the framework and resources of faculty for advice. In addition, experiential learning should complement classroom lessons and coursework.
"Experiential education, which takes students into the community, helps students both to bridge classroom study and life in the world and to transform inert knowledge into knowledge-in-use. It rests on theories of experiential learning, a process whereby the learner interacts with the world and integrates new learning into old constructs," according to Janet Eyler at the Association of American Colleges & Universities.
Typical experiential learning examples include internships, service learning, cooperative education, clinical education, practicum, undergraduate research experience, community-based research, field work, and study abroad, according to Boston University. While some areas, like study abroad, have shrunk due to the pandemic, others continue albeit often in a different format in some nations.
The United States and United Kingdom, for example, are more likely to use virtual internships right now, although some higher-ed students are interning in real-life situations. One East Carolina University student, for example, is interning at Easter Seal; another is a student teacher at a local elementary school.
"In its simplest form, experiential learning means learning from experience or learning by doing," according to Linda Lewis and Carol Williams in "Experiential Learning: Past and Present." "Experiential education first immerses learners in an experience and then encourages reflection about the experience to develop new skills, new attitudes, or new ways of thinking."
It is the best way for faculty to know their students truly understand the lessons they're teaching and for students to realize whether or not this is the career path they really wish to pursue.