Why use experience-based projects?

A booth at Earth Day 2007 at City College San Diego

Earth Day 2007 at City College San Diego. Photo by 'Johntex.' Used under the GNU Free Documentation License

Experiential learning is a powerful teaching tool. While classroom lectures primarily address the cognitive domain, experiential learning involves the whole student: their cognitive, affective and physical domains (Oxendine, Robinson and Willson, 2004) (more info) . The result is that students can relate to the subject matter in a way that is meaningful to their own lives.

Experience-based projects offer a change of pace from traditional classroom assignments and facilitate learning for students with a variety of learning styles (Millenbah et al, 2004). Students that struggle with writing papers and completing labs may find themselves re-engaged in the course with the help of a project that draws from their own experiences. Even students who are high achievers in traditional assignments often appreciate an original format.

Projects like this have a lasting impact. In a survey given to students 1–3 years after the Lifestyle Project at Skidmore College, 81% of the students reported that they had made permanent changes to their lifestyles as a result of the project [Kirk and Thomas, 2003] .

Experience-based projects can help bring the students and the teacher closer together. Because they are sharing aspects of their own actions and decisions, there is a personal element to this type of learning. This can be a valuable way for instructors to get to know their students, and for students to pull together as a team.

Links to Service Learning and Campus-Based Learning

Experience-based learning shares many goals, methods and outcomes with service learning and campus-based learning.

service learning in the geosciences

campus-based learning

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