Background: Experiential learning is commonly used in postsecondary settings, especially in undergraduate, agricultural, and laboratory courses. However, a lack of attention has been paid by educators to critical components of experiential learning. Purpose: The effects of reflection mode (peer-verbal or written journal reflection) and transfer…

Background: In successful experiential learning, cycling between experience and reflection promotes higher-order thinking skills. Emotions can either help or hinder productive reflection. The role of emotion as it applies to reflection cycles within experiential learning is not well understood, especially in the criminal justice area. Purpose: The…

Background: Research demonstrating the positive outcomes of service learning among university students is robust and some describe the impact as transformative. Purpose: To help me better understand how I can support transformative learning in my classroom, this study explored how an intergenerational critical service learning project fostered…

This article examines how student learning is a product of the experiential interaction between person and environment. We draw from the theoretical perspective of complexity to shed light on the emergent, adaptive, and unpredictable nature of students' learning experiences. To understand the relationship between the environment and the student…

There exists a relatively coherent body of research relevant to problem-based and transformational learning but too few studies that have empirically explored the many anecdotal claims of the attributes of experiential, student-directed pedagogy. The purpose of this present study was to explore students' and professor experiences with/in a…

Background: College students generally participate in study abroad experiences (SAE) at times of identity and value development as emerging adults. SAE has been criticized as perpetuating colonial acts through the project of globalization. Purpose: This research examined how participants construct meaning about place(s) and how this meaning…

This article builds upon existing place-based research through the application of a socio-spatial perspective to make sense of how students' experiences in/of place shape, and are shaped by, the production of experiential learning space. Rather than focusing on the individual as the unit of analysis, this article is concerned with understanding…

Background: Children living in urban areas often have limited opportunities to experience informal science environments. As a result, some do not have a deep understanding of the environment, natural resources, ecosystems, and the ways human activities affect nature. Purpose: This article examines how experiential science education supported urban…

This study describes a service-learning partnership between a Mid-Atlantic university and two private, urban high schools by examining the perspectives of those engaged in the service experience. The purpose of this study was to explore the shared experiences of service-learning in schools from the perspectives of both university and high school…

Challenge by choice (CBC) has been regarded as a foundational principle for challenge ropes course programs. Although CBC is widely accepted as the primary mechanism for facilitating intended ropes course outcomes, especially a participant's involvement, until recently it had remained an untested assumption. This study explored the role of CBC as…

The literature on reflective journals reveals that unless instructors use reflection in an educationally meaningful way, students often view journaling as busywork. The instrument we have designed and propose here for analyzing reflective journal entries provides students with useful methods for reviewing and critiquing connections between…

Experiential education is defined by Luckman (1996) as a "process through which a learner constructs knowledge, skill and value from direct experience" (p. 7). Such a process of practical engagement, with concepts and skills in selected and guided experiences, supported by reflection, critical analysis and synthesis, is applicable to any…

Analyses of 22 reflection journals of students enrolled in a service-learning-based child-development course at Connecticut College revealed 85 themes. Themes concerning initial adjustments and rapport building, setting limits on child behavior, and closure issues are discussed and accompanied with journal excerpts. Sharing these reflections with…

Sixteen high school students in a week-long metal casting workshop wrote stream-of-consciousness journals for 15 minutes at the beginning of each session. Sentence analysis suggested that the act of journal writing consolidated task mastery through cognitive awareness of hands-on learning and contributed to the development of self-awareness and a…

As part of an experiential education program, students from Keuka College (New York) traveled to Costa Rica to participate in a service project and to learn about the country's political, socioeconomic, and ecological conditions. Pretrip preparation included studying experiential learning models that emphasized experience, reflection, abstract…