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APPENDIX K: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

[Note:    Items  in  red  represent  LCCC  documents  used  in  the  Curriculum  Council  Approval  Process,  which  can  be  found  on  the  ANGEL  Curriculum  Council  Information  (CCI)  site  at  https://angel.lorainccc.edu]  

Introduction Experiential Learning (EL) helps link education to employment by immersing the students in a real-world application of their learning. Research by numerous organizations, including the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) and New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has shown that EL helps promote student engagement, persistence, and success – especially for historically under-represented student populations. The National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE) has identified criteria for what constitutes Experiential Learning:

1. Authenticity and Intent: The experience must have a real world context and/or be useful and meaningful in reference to an applied setting or situation. All parties must be clear from the outset why experience is the chosen approach to the learning that is to take place and to the knowledge that will be demonstrated.

2. Preparedness and Planning: Clear goals and objectives are identified for the experiential activity to ensure that participants enter the experience with a sufficient foundation to support a successful experience. There is focus from the earliest stage of the experience on the identified intention and sticking to the goals and objectives.

3. Reflection: Reflection is the element that transforms simple experience to a learning experience. The knowledge must be internalized by testing assumptions and hypothesis about the outcomes of the decisions and actions taken. The outcomes are then weighed against past and future implications by the student as part of the process.

4. Orientation and Training: For the value of the experiential learning activity must be accessible to both the student and instructor and others participating. Therefore it is essential that appropriate training will take place in and background information related to the experiential activity is provided.

5. Monitoring and Continuous Improvement: The experience will be dynamic and changing and the parties involved all bear responsibility for ensuring that the experience continues to provide the richest learning possible. It is important that there is a feedback loop and evaluation tools in place.

6. Assessment and Evaluation: Outcomes and processes should be systematically documented with regard to initial intentions and quality outcomes.

7. Acknowledgement: Recognition of learning and impact occur throughout the experience by way of the reflective and monitoring processes and through reporting, documentation and sharing accomplishments.

Some EL activities have already been nationally recognized as Experiential Learning. LCCC has identified those activities as Tier I EL. These activities have been given a specific EL designation that is numbered 1-7. Such activities would include:

• EL1: Clinical • EL2: Co-op • EL3: Fieldwork/Work-based learning • EL4: Internship • EL5: Practicum • EL6: Service Learning • EL7: Student teaching

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Faculty, however, also include other great activities in their courses that provide the students with an experiential opportunity. These would include activities that address the 7 NSEE criteria listed above and would encompass approximately 15 hours of time commitment on the part of the student (2-5 hours of this could be in class work for training or orientation). LCCC wants to acknowledge those activities as EL, as well, and will designate these as Tier II EL8 activities. Examples of such “alternative” EL activities would include, but would not be limited to:

• Civic Engagement: community development or community-based research projects, oral history research, field research (including site visits)

• Creative Activities: art/architecture exhibits, creative projects, original designs, performance, recital, original writing, editorial writing, lighting/set/costume design, portfolio

• Practical Experience: applied workshop, apprenticeship, experiential/inquiry-based lab, entrepreneurship, leadership/management experience, capstone project, human subject research (e.g. sociology or psychology survey, behavior research)

Experiential Learning will be on a course-by-course basis, as to be determined by the discipline faculty who are engaged with the course. All sections of a course that is identified as EL will be expected to include the EL component. In other words, EL is attributed to a course, NOT a section of a course. It will be built into the Course Description with Student Outcomes (CDSO) document as a required component that is linked to one of the course learning objectives. Experiential Learning Course Documentation Remember that ALL sections of the course MUST include the EL component for the course to be identified as an EL course. EL is a course-wide component, not a section-to-section activity. If the activity will NOT be included in all sections of the course, completion of EL documentation will not be necessary. A. Course Description with Student Outcomes (CDSO) document: Instructions for

completing the CDSO can be found in the How to Complete the CDSO document located at the CCI site. Courses that include a Tier I EL activity will often have identified that activity (e.g. clinical, practicum, student teaching) in the course structure grid on the first page of the CDSO document that identifies the contact hours for the course. The Tier II and certain Tier I (e.g. Service Learning or internship) EL activities will not appear in that grid.

To ensure that all EL activities are captured in the Curriculum Council paperwork, a simple

check-off section devoted to Experiential Learning has been included later in the CDSO document.

1. If the course contains no EL component, mark the NONE box

     

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2. If the course contains a Tier I (EL1-EL7) component, mark the appropriate EL1-EL7 activity box

       

3. If the course contains a Tier II (EL8) component, mark the E8 activity box, identify the specific activity (or activities*) AND complete the Experiential Learning Documentation Form (ELDF). [*A course could include 2 or 3 “options” for faculty to choose from to fulfill the EL requirement. Complete different ELDF for each option.]

B. Experiential Learning Documentation Form (ELDF) document: For courses that include

an E8 experiential learning activity, you will complete the ELDF document to identify the ways in which the course addresses each of the 7 NSEE criteria for experiential learning and how the activity links to your course learning objectives.

If there are several EL activities that could be incorporated into the course that faculty could

choose from to fulfill the EL course requirement, a different ELDF will need to be submitted for each of the activities.

To complete the ELDF:

1. Complete the course information grid identifying the course number, title, and academic division sponsoring the course.

2. Identify the type (e.g. inquiry-based research, recital, original writing, etc.) of experiential learning activity that you are proposing.

           

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3. Provide a brief (one or two sentences) description of how your course activity addresses each of the 7 NSEE criteria.

 

 

4. Obtain signatures from recommending faculty member, division dean, and division Curriculum Council representative.

C. Course Information and Signature Form (CISF) document: Instructions for completing

the CISF can be found in the How to Complete the CISF located on the CCI site. A small grid devoted to Experiential Learning can be found near the top of the document. 1. If the course includes an experiential component, mark YES in the checkbox. If not,

mark, mark NO. 2. If you have marked YES, identify the EL (E1-E8) designation for the experiential

activity.

D. Dean’s Letter: In the Dean’s Letter, identify the course learning objective that is associated

with the Experiential Learning activity for the course. Experiential Learning Program Documentation The college’s goal is that all associate degree programs would include either one Tier I or two Tier II courses in the curriculum either as required or elective program course options. The courses will be identified with special attributes in PeopleSoft that will allow the designation to appear on the student’s transcript, as well. A. Program Information and Signature Form (PISF) document: Instructions for completing

the PISF can be found in the How to Complete the PISF located on the CCI site. A grid related to Experiential Learning can be found near the middle of the document.

1. List the course or courses that are part of the program curriculum (either as a required or

as an elective course) that contain the EL component into the COURSE column of the EL grid on the PISF document.

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2. If there are more than two courses in the curriculum with EL designations, click next to the bottom box on the far right side of the EL grid and hit return. This should add a new row to the grid allowing entry of additional courses. Add as many rows as you need.

3. Identify the EL designation for the Experiential Learning activity for each course in the E DESIGNATION column to the right of the course title.

B. Program Curriculum Guide

1. Enter an “//” designation into the column to the left of the course name (column A on the spreadsheet) for any course in the program that contains the EL designation.

     

2. Add the following statement as a footnote at the bottom of the curriculum guide:

“// This course offers an opportunity for Experiential Learning”

3. Ideally, a program will contain one Tier I or two Tier II courses. C. Dean’s Letter: If the program faculty believe that EL is not appropriate for inclusion in

their program, the program faculty can petition Curriculum Council for an exemption by providing an explanation of why the program is choosing to opt out of this initiative.

Curriculum Council EL Fast-Track Process The CC EL Fast-Track Process is designed for existing courses and programs that already possess an experiential learning component in the course or curriculum. It is NOT designed for “new” EL activities that are being added to a course or curriculum. A. Courses:

1. Complete a CISF document for each course in the program that have an EL component, identifying the type of EL activity

2. For courses whose EL component is an E8 activity ONLY: complete the ELDF document [NOT required for E1-E7 components]

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3. Update the course CDSO document: a. If the course is on a CDSO document that is identified in the footer as June 2013 or

later, simply copy and paste the EL grid into the CDSO and mark the appropriate box for the type of EL activity

b. If the course is on a CDSO document that version earlier than June 2013, copy and paste the course information into the most current version of the CDSO found on the CCI site and complete the EL grid contained in that document.

4. Submit to Provost’s office and post on CC meeting site:

a. Completed and signed CISF document for each course with an EL component b. Completed and signed ELDF document, if applicable c. Dean’s Letter with statement indicating the course learning objective that links to the

EL activity 5. Submit to Provost’s office ONLY:

a. Revised CDSO containing the EL grid with the appropriate box marked identifying the EL component

B. Programs:

1. Complete a PISF document identifying the program course(s) that contain the EL component and the type of EL activity presented in each of the courses

2. Add the EL designation to the PCG document for each course containing an EL component

3. Submit to Provost’s office and post on CC meeting site: a. Completed and signed PISF document b. Dean’s Letter indicating that Program will have EL component and listing Tier I and

Tier II courses that contain those components 4. Submit to Provost’s office ONLY:

a. Revised PCG identifying the EL courses 5. For programs who have elected to opt out of EL:

a. Submit to Provost’s office and post on CC meeting site: i. Completed and signed PISF document indicating “NONE” in the EL grid

ii. Dean’s Letter explaining why the faculty believe that EL is not appropriate for their program.