Phillip Hartley, Luis Torres, Amanda Wilsker and Will Holmes Georgia Gwinnett College
Research Questions: What techniques have you used to orchestrate experiential learning projects in your classes? Which ones have generated the best outcomes?
Motivation “Experiential learning is a powerful and proven approach to teaching and learning that is based on one incontrovertible reality: People learn best through experience.” Kolb, 2015 Experiential Learning Projects can create numerous benefits: Student learning Service provision Professional development Communication skill development Real world application of acquired knowledge
Research Design Professors from various business disciplines reported on their experiences regarding these questions: How did you identify/recruit “clients”? What were students’ deliverables? How did you ensure student learning through and evaluate projects that entailed different approaches to the same task? How did you balance the need to generate results for clients while managing their expectations? Please share any other takeaways from your experiences.
Project Design Strategies Assigning groups based on “pre - tests” of students’ skills or abilities relevant to the project or allowing self- selection Duplicative vs. Unique Assignments-Having multiple student groups work on the same portion of a project or not Collaborative vs. Individual Client Assignments- Segmenting project among groups or allotting a single group for each client Provide multiple deadlines for project portions Be sure project structure fits with text/class structure
Student Strategies Frame the project as a reflection of the students, the class, and the school Emphasize the potential impact of helping the client with something very important to them Communicate the value of the project as work experience and resume material Use peer evaluations to limit freeriding Create competition between groups either implicitly or explicitly Schedule frequent progress reports to provide guidance
Client Strategies Recruit clients that fit with and can benefit from the project structure Communicate project structure clearly and repeatedly to ensure complete buy-in and to avoid project creep Manage expectations with realistic depictions of results and students ’ inputs of time and effort Schedule frequent progress reports to solicit feedback
Thank you for your time and feedback!
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