What is Experiential Learning?

Experiential Learning (EXL) means students acquire knowledge by actively engaging with the course content and applying this knowledge to the real world. This can mean students take a hands-on approach to understanding their community, future profession, or other aspects of the world around them.

Why should I include it?
Experiential Learning strategies help establish a transformative classroom in which students gain:

• A better understanding and long-term recall of course material
• A broader view of the world and an appreciation of community
• Insight and development of their own skills, interests, passions, and values

What are examples of EXL activities?
EXL activities tend to fall under a few major categories: work, research, classroom, and community. Below, you’ll find examples of EXL activities for each category. Remember, instructors can maximize student learning if they combine the experiential activity with EXL’s Cycle of Reflection discussed above.

Work-based EXL

Internships – A credit-bearing, free-standing activity in a student’s field of interest not connected to a theoretical course. It is usually assessed by a faculty member and supervised by an employer who is not a faculty member. The student may work with practicing professionals, complete a project, attend public events, or interview and observe constituents and employees. The mission of this experience may be to support the integration of theory and practice, explore career options, and/or foster personal and professional development.

Clinical education – This is a more specifically defined internship experience in which students practice learned didactic and experiential skills, most frequently in health care and legal settings, under the supervision of a credentialed practitioner. It is often a separate credit-bearing course tied to a related theoretical course or a culminating experience after a sequence of theoretical courses.

Student teaching – This experience is specific to students in pre-professional and pre-service teacher education who are gaining required and evaluated experience in supervised teaching.

Practicum – A relative of the internship, this form of experiential learning usually is a course or student exercise involving practical experience in a work setting (whether paid or unpaid) as well as theoretical study, including supervised experience as part of professional pre-service education.

Field work – Supervised student research or practice carried out away from the institution and in direct contact with the people, natural phenomena, or other entities being studied. Field work is especially frequent in fields including anthropology, archaeology, sociology, social work, earth sciences, and environmental studies.

Research-based EXL

Undergraduate research experience – Students function as research assistants and collaborators on faculty projects.

Community-based research – Faculty and students cooperate with local organizations to conduct studies to meet the needs of a particular community. Students gain direct experience in the research process.

Inquiry projects – These projects ask students to identify an area of the discipline or profession they are interested in understanding more deeply. Students then develop and execute research methodologies (e.g., interview and/or observational protocols) to gather and analyze data. These projects help students learn research methods and their chosen major/profession.

Classroom-based EXL

Problem-based Learning (PBL)/Case studies – Students engage complex, challenging problems and collaboratively work toward their resolution. These activities are about students connecting disciplinary knowledge to real-world problems—the motivation to solve a problem becomes the motivation to learn.

Case Studies, Simulations and role playing – An active pedagogical approach where students engage in relevant scenarios in order to gain cognitive, affective, and/or behavioral understanding. They may “act out” imaginary characters or, in some instances, play themselves.

Guide for designing and implementing role-playing activities

Examples of classroom-based EXL activities and guidance on how to include them in your courses

Directory of Problem-Based Assignments and Learning Activities

Community-based EXL

Service learning – Students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and reflect on the service activity to better understand course content and gain a broader appreciation of the discipline and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility.

Study abroad – Students engage in courses at higher education institutions in another country. The experiential learning component is the cultural immersion which provides novel challenges for navigating living in a new place. The coursework connected to a study abroad can also include internships and service-learning experiences.