Faculty Perspectives on First-Year Experiential Education in Large Humanities and Social Sciences Courses: Motivations, Methods, Barriers, and Facilitators

Background Experiential education (EE) is a pedagogical approach based on the premise that certain knowledge can be acquired more effectively through experience rather than lecture-based classroom content. Despite the well-documented benefits of EE across all levels of higher education, existing literature often focuses on small upper-year postsecondary courses. Purpose To identify and analyze key instructor motivations, methods, barriers, and facilitators for incorporating EE in first-year courses (FYEE). Method We conducted 13 qualitative interviews with instructors who incorporate FYEE in humanities and social sciences courses at a large, Canadian research university. Findings Instructors were motivated to incorporate FYEE to support students’ transition from secondary to postsecondary, introduce students to the discipline, and help students prepare for more extensive EE upper-year opportunities. To do so, instructors tailored FYEE as bite-sized teaching or scaffolded versions of community engagement. Instructors also identified institutional barriers and facilitators to implementing FYEE. Implications This research addresses an empirical gap in EE scholarship and makes recommendations to support FYEE at the administrative and teaching levels.