Experiential learning, sometimes referred to as learning by doing, enables students to apply their in-class learning to real-world situations. As students transfer their knowledge to settings outside the classroom, they apply their skills in new contexts to solve novel and complex problems. Ideally after engaging in experiential learning during their undergraduate experience, students can more easily make the transition from college to work and will be more engaged members of their communities.
The Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning is here to help you consider and plan ways to integrate experiential learning opportunities into your courses and curricula. We encourage the continuance of current ELOs and the development of new proposals during semesters affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please see recommendations for online adaptations or contact CIEL at ciel@sc.edu to develop meaningful experiential learning opportunities in an online environment.
All students are encouraged to participate in at least one Experiential Learning Opportunity during their time at UofSC. Faculty and staff can submit experiences from their areas to be added to the Experiential Learning Database, which is used to populate students’ records of engagement, their My UofSC Experience.
As faculty consider teaching courses during COVID-19 and how the delivery method might affect their experiential learning courses, CIEL has put together some resources for those considering how to translate a face-to-face experiential learning course to online or hybrid courses.