Experiential Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs) in Higher Education and Professional Work Learning Environments

Knowledge of various teaching pedagogies and strategies can help educators reach their student audiences and make lessons enriching, engaging and inclusive. One concept that has several potential benefits in higher education and professional work learning environments that can be employed is experiential teaching and learning activities.

One benefit of experiential learning activities is that they facilitate connections between education and professional experience (Yong, 2021). Davis’s (2021) study of an experiential learning activity used with first-year medical students found that the activity provided insight into person-centered care, patient care and doctor-patient relationships, and was highly valued by students. In addition, the Institute of Business Management (2016) has developed the International Journal of Experiential Learning and Case Studies to contribute to teaching and learning through experiential teaching and business-related case studies in businesses to connect education and work.

Furthermore, experiential learning activities can provide in-depth learning and authenticity. Ely’s (2018) study of experiential teaching and learning activities in a graduate course found that students felt the activities complemented the lectures and allowed for a deeper degree of learning. In addition, Roach et al. (2018) study on authenticity perceptions in first-year classes showed that authentic content and task/activity authenticity through experiential teaching and learning activities are important to ensure cognitive realism for students. 

Experiential teaching and learning activities can also be used in adult English language classrooms with intermediate and higher levels of proficiency, as they would draw on the experiences of students to facilitate connections between what they learn in the classroom and what they have and would potentially experience outside the classroom environment.

With that said, there are some things to be mindful of when applying experiential learning. Careful planning of activities is necessary to avoid not having enough time for each of the stages in the learning cycle (Ely, 2018) as it can be time-consuming. In addition, lessons must be tailored to meet the needs of students with varying levels of experience so that everyone can benefit from the learning experience. 

References

Davis, S.S., Regan, S., Goodnow, K., Gausvik, C., Pallerla, H. & Schlaudecker J. (2021). Tell Me Your Story: Experiential learning using in-home interviews of healthy older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 69(12), 3608-3616. Tell Me Your Story: Experiential learning using in‐home interviews of healthy older adults - Schrimpf Davis - 2021 - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society - Wiley Online Library (queensu.ca)

Ely, Adrian V. (2018). Experiential learning in “innovation for sustainability”: An evaluation of teaching and learning activities (TLAs) in an international master’s course. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 19(7), 1204-1219. Experiential learning in “innovation for sustainability”: An evaluation of teaching and learning activities (TLAs) in an international masters course | Scholars Portal Journals (queensu.ca)

Institute of Business Management, (2016, June). International Journal of Experiential Learning & Case Studies. International Journal of Experiential Learning & Case Studies – Introduction. International Journal of Experiential Learning & Case Studies (IJELCS) – Institute of Business Management IoBM

Kong Y. (2021). The Role of Experiential Learning on Students' Motivation and Classroom Engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.771272

Roach K., Tilley E., Mitchell J. (2018). How authentic does authentic learning have to be? Higher Education Pedagogies, 3(1), 495–509. https://doi.org/10.1080/23752696.2018.1462099

Mobile Learning: Factors to Consider when Designing and Incorporating Educational Deliverables

Mobile learning is a great resource for providing educators with a widely used platform to design and deliver learning experiences for various students, allowing for “learning on the go”, and facilitating communication and connection between educators and students. With that said, there are several factors that educators and technologists need to consider when designing deliverables that could impact the learning experience for students.

 

First, for some mobile users, a mobile device is the “ultimate personal device” (Laura et al., 2011). As such, some may feel there should be limitations on academic practices of their personal devices (Laura et al., 2011). It is important for educators to understand that academic practices be delivered in formats that not only feel non-intrusive, but also welcoming and part of the personal devices being used.

 

Second, educators may have difficulties in incorporating and effectively using new mobile technology because it may demand a lot of energy to execute (George, 2019). It is important in these instances that educators and technologists work together to understand how the technology works and how to use it to better facilitate the development of deliverables. Furthermore, it is important that students also understand how to use mobile academic applications to make the most out of the experience.

 

Third, there is digital distraction. It can impede learning and produce more complicated obstructions to student learning (George, 2019). It is important for educators to develop mobile learning applications and/or content that is engaging and purposeful to keep students focused on their studies and counter digital distraction.

 

These three factors can have an impact for both educators and students, and educators such as myself, who teaches uses a mobile application for online teaching, need to be mindful of when designing educational deliverables.  

 

George, O. (2019). The Impact of Mobile Devices In Higher Education: Student Perceptions on the

Advantages and Disadvantages (Publication No. 13862048) [Doctoral dissertation, Wilmington University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. The Impact of Mobile Devices in Higher Education: Student Perceptions on the Advantages and Disadvantages - ProQuest

 

Laura, C., Benachour, P. & Coulton, P. N. (2011). Virtual Learning Environments for mobile learning:

Constrained by infrastructural and sociological boundaries? Innovations in teaching and learning in information and computer sciences, 10 (1), 12-21. VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR MOBILE LEARNING: CONSTRAINED BY INFRASTRU...: EBSCOhost (queensu.ca)

Moral Education - Redefining and transforming

The article by Martin (1987) looks at the need for moral education to foster generative love, and to do that, education must be redefined, and moral education requires a transformation, not just simple additives, such as the inclusion of women, in subject-matter. Though dated, a lot of the ideas are applicable in countries where 'traditional' gender roles are still prevalent.

Martin (1987) proposes that programs such as Lifeline, which act to counter the stereotypically male ideals of productive processes, should be implemented to bring reproductive processes back from homes and into educational institutions and moral education classrooms. These programs help support the idea that both teaching and learning include the passing on and learning of values, and that teaching and learning can take on many forms. In addition, the state of innovative programs such as Lifeline, anomalous and in limbo, provide a key point regarding the idea that innovation can be influenced externally, in this case by historical views of processes and the ideal person having traditionally male characteristics (Martin, 1987).  

Furthermore, some of the ideas behind programs such as Lifeline are applicable to all classrooms, including English language classrooms. It is of the utmost importance to develop and foster safe and inclusive classrooms for students, with teachers showing that they really do care about how students feel and that they succeed, regardless of gender, culture and/or beliefs. Such environments would be conducive for students to learn to care about others and understand their needs and situations, as the Lifeline program intends (Martin, 1987).

Questions for the author:

Have programs such as Lifeline seen (for lack of a better term) success in other countries/cultures?

Would the redefining of education and transformation of moral education through programs such as Lifeline benefit from the inclusion of ideas from culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies?

Martin, J. R. (1987). Transforming moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 16(3), 204-213. https://www-tandfonline-com.proxy.queensu.ca/doi/abs/10.1080/0305724870160305