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Experiential Learning Symposium

Experiential learning was at the heart of a large symposium co-hosted on campus by Teaching and Learning Services and the Office of the Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President (Academic) in October 2018. The symposium attracted more than 200 participants for a full day of presentations, demonstrations, workshops and displays that highlighted a broad selection of �Ӱ�ԭ��’s experiential learning activities.

Forty-eight faculty, staff and students eagerly shared their experiences with colleagues through 15 high-energy sessions that explored various types of experiential learning.

Last September, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities issued guidelines for experiential learning and committed to “ensuring that every student has at least one EL activity by the time they graduate from a publicly funded post-secondary institution.” An initial audit led by Lorraine Dyke, Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President (Academic), showed that 75 per cent of �Ӱ�ԭ��’s programs already include experiential learning in their core requirements.

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Measuring Experiential Learning

Last year, �Ӱ�ԭ��’s Experiential Learning Steering Committee reviewed what constitutes experiential learning and developed definitions for use across �Ӱ�ԭ��. Using these definitions, the Office of the Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President (Academic) completed a project to identify each �Ӱ�ԭ�� course that includes an experiential learning component so students can use course calendars to identify where these opportunities exist starting in 2019.

A New �Ӱ�ԭ��-specific Degree Level Expectation

Senate approved a proposed �Ӱ�ԭ��-specific Degree Level Expectation (DLE) on Experiential Learning, effective Fall 2019. The DLE aims to enhance experiential learning across campus and better position the University in meeting provincial requirements. All academic programs at Ontario universities are currently required to meet six Degree Level Expectations, which are mandated by the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance. This �Ӱ�ԭ��-specific DLE requires that experiential learning is incorporated into all undergraduate and graduate academic programs at �Ӱ�ԭ��.

�Ӱ�ԭ�� University Experiential Learning Fund

Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Jerry Tomberlin announced that a new $50,000 fund will provide faculty, instructors and learning support staff with financial support to integrate experiential learning components into academic courses or programs at �Ӱ�ԭ��. The fund will help to increase the number of experiential learning opportunities available to students and build more awareness of experiential learning activities happening across �Ӱ�ԭ��.

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2018-19 Recipients

• Deborah Conners (Sociology and Anthropology): Developing a new international study course – SOCI 3210/3220: Working Toward a Violence-free Society in Nepal.
• Melissa Frankel (Philosophy): Developing a new fourth-year seminar on the philosophy of education.
• Julie C. Garlen (Interdisciplinary Studies): Developing two new courses: Experiential Learning in Childhood, and Youth Studies.
• Dominique Marshall (History): Connecting students in the History of Humanitarian Aid course with an Ottawa-based international humanitarian organization.
• Mathew Sorley, Cheryl Harasymchuk and Anne Bowker (Psychology): Developing experiential learning modules that can be integrated into any first-year seminar in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
• Matthew Sorley and Danay Novoa (Psychology): Developing and piloting a series of experiential learning modules for the tutorial sections of Introduction to Psychology course.
• Julia Wallace (Physics): Introducing a new experiential learning component to the third-year Modern Physics course

A Founding Partner of Canada’s First National Skills-Development Innovation Network

�Ӱ�ԭ�� is one of six Canadian universities that have joined forces to focused on encouraging experimentation and scaling effective approaches to skills development.

FUSION, the Future Skills Innovation Network, is a collaboration of Canadian universities focused on innovative skill development to prepare students for the future economy. The Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre is investing $2.5 million to support FUSION’s network model for an initial two years.

�Ӱ�ԭ�� is joined by five partner institutions: Simon Fraser University, University of Calgary, University of Saskatchewan, Concordia University and Memorial University.

The network’s pilot projects will focus on a common set of challenges facing universities: integrating more skills development into formal and informal learning; creating more flexible learning formats to better facilitate skills acquisition; and increasing access to, and success within, post-secondary education for underrepresented students, targeting such groups as Indigenous, disabled and racialized students, and women in the STEM fields.

Spotlight on Experiential Learning

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Indigenous Initiatives
Community Engagement
Academic Initiatives Contributing to Student Success