From Classroom to Community: Fostering Engagement and Impact through Experiential Learning

Experiential learning allows students to put theoretical knowledge into practice and become active contributors to their communities and agents of positive change. In this interactive session, participants will gain a comprehensive overview of implementing experiential learning methodologies within various course settings. Participants will be presented with best practices and benefits of experiential learning including its transformative impact on student engagement and academic and community outcomes. The session will also showcase innovative strategies for integrating experiential learning into diverse academic disciplines and course formats including undergraduate, graduate, face-to-face, and asynchronous courses. Participants will gain practical insights into designing, facilitating, and assessing experiential learning activities and potential resources for carrying them out. Additionally, the session will highlight the role of reciprocal partnerships in enriching experiential learning initiatives. Participants will learn effective approaches to identify, cultivate, and sustain mutually beneficial collaborations to address real-world challenges with both campus and community organizations. Finally, participants will have the opportunity to brainstorm and share experiential learning opportunities in their own programs or courses.