Learning can happen outside the classroom
by Zachary Matusheski
Columnists | 9/15/09
Posted online at 2:24 AM EST on 9/15/09
With the Justice Brandeis Semester under discussion, experiential learning is on many people's minds. According to the international nonprofit Association for Experiential Education, experiential learning is "a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify values." In other words, you learn about something, and then you go do it. Then you think about what you did. An example of experiential learning would be to take a class in banking, work for Bank of America and then write a paper or give a presentation on what was learned. This style of pedagogy values both what can be learned in the classroom and what can be learned outside of it.
Experiential learning is an excellent concept for students facing the job market. Outside experience can easily lead to employment. According to the National Association of College and Employers, 30.7 percent of new hires came from an internship program within the company and 60 percent of new hires had internship experience. Last year, Northeastern's experiential learning program placed students with the International Monetary Fund, Microsoft and Children's Hospital Boston. With a tight job market, having a meaningful internship may be the key to getting a job.
Experiential learning can take the internship experience to another level. By involving course work related to the field and a program-based paper or presentation, students can take what they saw as an intern and turn it into a reflective learning experience. There is no better way to learn about the good and bad parts of a job or service than by having to deal with those parts on a daily basis. What is abstract in the lecture hall becomes real.
That said, experiential learning does not have to be an alternative to the lecture hall or the liberal arts education. It is at its best when it complements coursework by providing another source of learning. Basic educational psychology shows that information can be taken in by a variety of ways: seeing, hearing, and doing. You get the "seeing" from reading and visual aids in lectures. You get the "hearing" from lectures. Discussion sections offer a sort of "learning by doing." Experiential learning enriches the "doing" sort of learning.
Experiential learning is an excellent concept for students facing the job market. Outside experience can easily lead to employment. According to the National Association of College and Employers, 30.7 percent of new hires came from an internship program within the company and 60 percent of new hires had internship experience. Last year, Northeastern's experiential learning program placed students with the International Monetary Fund, Microsoft and Children's Hospital Boston. With a tight job market, having a meaningful internship may be the key to getting a job.
Experiential learning can take the internship experience to another level. By involving course work related to the field and a program-based paper or presentation, students can take what they saw as an intern and turn it into a reflective learning experience. There is no better way to learn about the good and bad parts of a job or service than by having to deal with those parts on a daily basis. What is abstract in the lecture hall becomes real.
That said, experiential learning does not have to be an alternative to the lecture hall or the liberal arts education. It is at its best when it complements coursework by providing another source of learning. Basic educational psychology shows that information can be taken in by a variety of ways: seeing, hearing, and doing. You get the "seeing" from reading and visual aids in lectures. You get the "hearing" from lectures. Discussion sections offer a sort of "learning by doing." Experiential learning enriches the "doing" sort of learning.
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