Experiential Learning for Engineering Technology Students in 21st Century

Experiential Learning (EL) is a philosophy in which educators purposefully engage learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to maximize learning, increase knowledge, and develop skills. Based on the learning cycle proposed by Lewin and the philosophy of Dewey, in that each experience builds upon previous experiences and influences the way future experiences will affect the learner, Kolb[1] developed the experiential learning model to describe the learning process. The four stages of the model are: Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization and Active Experimentation. This model shows how theory, concrete experience, reflection and active experimentation can be brought together to produce richer learning than any of these elements can on its own. The College of Engineering and Applied Science did not implement the Kolb model fully due to insufficient resources. Therefore, only the first two of the four stages were used. Many avenues of concrete experiential learning exist for the students in the engineering technology programs at the University of Cincinnati, such as co-op, service learning, global study programs, field projects, academic research, etc. This paper gives a description of the experiential learning of students at the University of Cincinnati in the areas of global study, honors program and undergraduate research. Two faculty members in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the College of Engineering and Applied Science were involved in these experiences. Their experiences, along with student reflections, are discussed in the paper.