Background: Facilitation can be used to support experiential learning in higher education but can be a resource-intensive approach. One solution to compensate for this may be to educate learning assistants (LAs) as facilitators. Purpose: This article presents a facilitator education program where LAs receive facilitator training to facilitate…

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, restricted access to in-person facilities and traditional experiential learning activities meant that new, online solutions were needed to facilitate student learning/development across the disciplines of Allied Health and Engineering. Purpose: This article describes research conducted as part of an…

Background: The Association for Experiential Education identifies social justice as one of its core values. One recent state of knowledge paper explored the confluence of outdoor experiential education and social justice. Social justice theory embraces the idea that social identities do not exist independently. Rather, race, class, sexuality, skin…

Background: Leadership development is commonly named as an outcome for experiential learning (EL) programs. Some programs have shown success at inculcating individual leadership traits. However, it is not clear whether there is a relationship between certain kinds of experiential pedagogy and specific leadership concepts or styles, such as…

Background: Experiential educators face difficulties assessing participants and programs because there are so many measurement tools to choose from, many measures have validity issues such as those based on self-reported data, objective tests may not adequately measure social or psychological outcomes, and tests in content disciplines often assess…

Background: Many disciplines use outdoor fieldwork (OFW) as an experiential learning method in higher education. Although there has been an increase in research into the pedagogical approaches of OFW, the use of OFW is contested. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to synthesize the OFW literature across a range of disciplines to identify common…

This article examines the significance of psychology to experiential education (EE) and critiques EE models that have developed in isolation from larger psychological theories and developments. Following a review of literature and current issues, select areas of psychology are explored with reference to experiential learning processes. The state…

This article reports on the initial findings of an ongoing study that will see six preservice teachers placed in a nontraditional practicum placement as part of their bachelor of education program. Reported here is the examination of emergent professionalism of the initial two preservice teachers during their nontraditional practicum placement on…

Describes a step-by-step process for elementary class brainstorming to develop interdisciplinary learning projects and activities: (1) initial listing of everything concerning the topic; (2) organizing the ideas by discipline, responsibility, and logical sequence; (3) experientializing the topics; and (4) identifying skills to be incorporated in…

Introduction to theme issue. Focuses on the need for experiential educators to examine critically the philosophical foundations and assumptions of their field in search of absent realities and hidden contingencies that reproduce culturally oppressive practice. (SV)

Experiential education is an interdisciplinary field that draws on philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, cognitive science, and research on education reform. Presents a conceptual framework that addresses what experiential education is, pedagogical principles, the nature of student experience, teacher role, and the learning environment.…

A conceptual analysis of spirituality reveals "the sacred" to be fundamental to understanding spirituality, discusses the two notions of broad and specific spirituality, considers modes of human consciousness and functioning that make spiritual experience possible, and alerts experiential educators of the implications of venturing into…

An innovative graduate course in education devoted to the development of techniques utilizing direct experience in the history curriculum, the 6-weekend course took a level of local cultural history each weekend, showed how that culture related to and changed the land, and whenever possible, communicated that with experiential learning. (NQ)

A degree in adventure education is not a prerequisite for employment in the profession. Furthermore, since degree requirements cannot provide experience, a degree is insufficient. Nevertheless, a degree offers a theoretical foundation not readily learned as a practitioner, and it offers the opportunity for developing more effective professionals.…

A study examined the effectiveness of the experiential component of a first-year college environmental course concerning water pollution in Toms River, New Jersey. A survey of 542 students who took the course with or without the river project found that the experiential component improved student interest, stimulated critical thinking, and…