The Power of Experiential Education

Autor/in	Eyler, Janet
Titel	The Power of Experiential Education
Quelle	In: Liberal Education, 95 (2009) 4, S.24-31 (8 Seiten) PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0024-1822
Schlagwörter	Experiential Learning; Liberal Arts; Prior Learning; Teaching Methods; General Education; Cooperative Planning; Teacher Participation; Mastery Learning; Skill Development; Lifelong Learning; Educational Quality; Relevance (Education); Reflection; College Faculty; College Students + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Experiental learning; Erfahrungsorientiertes Lernen; Vorkenntnisse; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Allgemein bildendes Schulwesen; Allgemeinbildung; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung; Life-long learning; Lebenslanges Lernen; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Relevance; Relevanz; Fakultät; Collegestudent
Abstract	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. Experiential education can lead to more powerful academic learning and help students achieve intellectual goals commonly associated with liberal education. Experiential education can help students transition more gracefully from college to work, and community-service experiences prepare them to be more engaged citizens. Experiential education can also improve the quality of liberal learning itself and increase the likelihood that students will be able to use throughout their lives the knowledge, critical abilities, and habits of mind acquired in their studies. This does not happen automatically or easily, however. Faculty members who are dubious of awarding credit for volunteering or for work do have a valid point. But such credit is for learning; the challenge for faculty members in the liberal arts is to incorporate experiential education into their instruction and to assess the learning outcomes of these experiences. This requires a clear sense of what learning in the community or the workplace can add to the understanding of subject matter, training in skills to recast appropriate courses to integrate these experiences, and logistical support for placement and monitoring of student work that is more closely connected to the curriculum. Liberal arts programs need to support faculty involvement in the planning and implementation of experiential education. Without this attention to both structure and faculty leadership, experiential education will remain at the periphery and its promise will not be realized. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Association of American Colleges and Universities. 1818 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009. Tel: 800-297-3775; Tel: 202-387-3760; Fax: 202-265-9532; e-mail: pub_desk@aacu.org; Web site: http://www.aacu.org/publications/index.cfm
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10