UHI Millennium Institute, HoTLS, Experiential Education Presentation, 2008

UHI Millennium Institute, HoTLS, Experiential Education Presentation, 2008

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  Experiential Education - ALearning Journey Rob Macpherson, Network Leader, Tourism, Leisure & Sport Rhiannon Tinsley, Assistant Registrar
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  Location Vineyard Haven
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  The Institute
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  “Reflective Practice in ExperientialEducation” 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
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  Our Colleagues
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  Our Mentor Dr. PaulJ. 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”
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  Process ♦ Goals ♦ Needs ♦Objectives ♦ Methods ♦ Evaluation PLANNING GNOME
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  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 Programme Participants Institution
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  Who benefits? PROGRAMME Evaluation surveys Smilesheets Interviews Focus groups LEARNING Student case studies Video-taped lessons Observations/shadowing Links with industry INSTITUTION Match with mission Grades improve Statistics – graduation rates Post graduation employability
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  Experiential Education Job Shadowing Simulations Study Abroad Work Placement Summer Schools Internship Field Trips Research Projects Volunteering Service Learning Guest Lectures Clinical Practice Co-operative Education Capstone Course Case Studies Community Engagement
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  Objective Can thesebe combined? ExperienceExperienceClassroomClassroom ExperienceExperienceClassroomClassroom Integrating Learning
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  Objective Explicit Knowledge Retrievable Tacit Knowledge Non-retrievableTacit Knowledge
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  Start of theWeek ?
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  End of theWeek ?
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  End of theWeek
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  So why doit? Experiential learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Experiential Learning
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  So why doit?
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  Key Principles • IntegratedLearning – 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
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  Benefits Student Benefits • Increasedreported 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
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  Benefits Community Benefits • Additionalenergy, 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
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  Beneficiaries Learning Focus Primary IntendedBeneficiary R e c i p i e n t L e a r n e r Field-trips Service-Learning Community Engagement Volunteering (Furco & Duffy 2005) Internships
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  Process Experiential Education isan 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)
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  Process The theory canbe expanded to reflect Kolb’s Learning Circle.
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  Reflection Action PlanAction Plan Ifit arose again,If it arose again, what would you do?what would you do? DescribeDescribe What happened?What happened? What were you thinking andWhat were you thinking and feeling?feeling? EvaluateEvaluate What was good/badWhat was good/bad about theabout the experience?experience? AnalysisAnalysis What sense can you make of this? WhatWhat sense can you make of this? What were your biases, assumptions?were your biases, assumptions? Are they true?Are they true? AlternativesAlternatives What else could have youWhat else could have you done?done?
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  Reflective Learner Reflective learnersare more likely to be: – more self-aware and self-critical – motivated to improve – more able to carry through independent learning (Oxford University, 2005)
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  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 exercises informal/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
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  Key Principles • Continuous Reflectionshould 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. • Challenging Reflection 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. • Contextualized Reflection 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)
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  Assessment Assessment 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)
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  Assessment Spiral SET LEARNINGOBJECTIVES Assessment Spiral GATHER DATA ANALYZE DATA DESIGN ASSESSMENT MEASURES SET NEW LEARNING OBJECTIVES DESIGN NEW MEASURES GATHER NEW DATA Define Outcomes
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  Challenges To integrate experientialeducation effectively within a wide range of programmes, there are a number of challenges (or barriers) which have to be overcome.
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  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
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  Challenges • Finding appropriateplacements 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
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  Solutions? All of ourcolleagues 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.
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  Northeastern At Northeastern, theservice-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
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  UHI Barriers to Implementation •Lack of clarity of purpose • Lack of support for the project – Allies – Foes – Fence sitters • Lack of resources • Changing Personnel
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  The way forward…? Job Shadowing Simulations Study Abroad Work Placement Summer Schools Internship Field Trips Research Projects Volunteering Service Learning Guest Lectures Clinical Practice Co-operative Education Capstone Course Case Studies Community Engagement
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  References Thanks are dueto 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.