BRINGING LIFE TO LEARNING: IMMERSIVE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING SIMULATIONS FOR ONLINE AND BLENDED COURSES

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Watkins ◽  
John M. Beckem II
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
State College ◽  
Rich Media ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Daunting Challenge

In order to keep pace with today’s networked society, Higher Education instructors face the daunting challenge of integrating new technologies into their courses. This imperative is driven by the need to create engaging content for today’s learner and to better prepare students with the skills that they will need after graduation to achieve success in the 21st Century workplace. At the same time, these online learning tools must both support the needs of instructors and help institutions to achieve greater long term sustainability. Of the emerging online social tools, rich media immersive learning simulations that enable “learning by doing” have achieved widespread adoption in a relatively short period of time and are now demonstrating exciting results. Building upon the ancient Confucian wisdom, “What I hear, I forget; What I see, I remember; What I do, I understand,” these experiential learning tools have become an important asset within a growing number of online and blended learning courses. In this paper, we will share results of a pilot deployment of experiential immersive simulations within the course, "Diversity in the Workplace,” as part of the business program at the State University of New York (SUNY) Empire State College. This course, completed in March 2012, was taught by Dr. John Beckem and taken by two cohorts of undergraduate students. Results show this approach was effective in achieving improved subject matter retention and student success as demonstrated by outcomes of the in-class assignments and Exit Surveys.

Model UN and Model EU Programs

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen J. Van Dyke
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
European Union ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
United Nations ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
The European Union

The United Nations and the European Union are extraordinarily complex institutions that pose considerable challenges for international studies faculty who work to expose their students to the theoretical, conceptual, and factual material associated with both entities. One way that faculty across the academic spectrum are bringing the two institutions “alive” for their students is by utilizing in-class and multi-institutional simulations of both the UN and the EU. Model United Nations (MUN) and Model European Union simulations are experiential learning tools used by an ever-increasing number of students. The roots of Model UN simulations can be traced to the student-led Model League of Nations simulations that began at Harvard University in the 1920s. Current secondary school MUN offerings include two initiatives, Global Classrooms and the Montessori Model Union Nations (Montessori-MUN). Compared to the institutionalized MUNs, Model EU programs are relatively young. There are three long-standing, distinct, intercollegiate EU simulations in the United States: one in New York, one in the Mid-Atlantic region, and one in the Mid-West. As faculty continue to engage their students with Model UN and Model EU simulations, new scholarship is expected to continue documenting their experiences while emphasizing the value of active and experiential learning pedagogies. In addition, future research will highlight new technologies as critical tools in the Model UN and Model EU preparatory processes and offer quantitative data that supports well-established qualitative conclusions about the positive educational value of these simulations.

Delivering Experiential Learning Through Virtual Study Tour and Alternative Internship Options During a Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 14-20
Author(s):  
Eunjoo Cho ◽  
Kathleen R. Smith ◽  
Stephanie K. Hubert
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Learning Cycle ◽  
Career Experiences ◽  
Entire Process ◽  
Study Tour ◽  
Logical Sequence

The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 recreated our learning environment. With nearly all institutions shifting to remote teaching during the outbreak, our program was quickly tasked to transition to online instruction for two experiential courses: The May intersession New York study tour for undergraduate students and the summer internship program for graduating seniors whose internships were cancelled or could not be secured due to the pandemic. We integrated experiential learning through appointment journaling in the May intersession New York study tour and through weekly activity reports in the virtual alternative summer internship. Throughout the entire process and in logical sequence, students in both courses were able to engage in the experiential learning cycle developed by Kolb (1984). These modifications successfully connected students to fashion companies and exploratory career experiences.

scholarly journals Equity, Inclusion, and Beyond: Today’s Urban Chief Diversity Officer

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Merodie Hancock
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Independent Study ◽  
The State ◽  
State University ◽  
State College ◽  
Ernest Boyer ◽  
Empire State College ◽  
Education Delivery

This paper, based primarily on the author’s perspective as president of SUNY Empire State College, will explore the need for and means of leveraging the chief diversity officer’s role in creating an equitable and inclusive environment within the distributed world that is Empire State College’s “campus” and, specifically, within SUNY Empire’s urban environments. Empire State College fills a unique role in today’s higher-education landscape. It was founded in 1971 by Ernest Boyer, then the chancellor of the State University of New York, to make education accessible outside the confines of traditional curricular and delivery structures, and to better meet the needs of New Yorkers with locations, academic programming, and student services responsive to diverse communities and learners. Today, Empire State College continues to embrace and fulfill that mission, with individualized education as its cornerstone and nearly 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 34 academic centers around the state of New York, in several countries overseas and online around the world. The vast majority of its undergraduate students have attended at least one previous institution, are employed, and are likely to have family and dependent-care obligations. The college is purposefully nonresidential, designed to be where our students live and work. Students can choose structured or individualized academic programs, depending on discipline, and have the options of classroom-based, online, or independent study, as well as weekend residencies, or a hybrid of education delivery via these modes.

scholarly journals An Experiential Learning Approach to Fostering Learner Autonomy among Omani Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Teresa Boggu ◽  
J. Sundarsingh
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Learning Cycle ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Potential Benefits

Experiential learning is a learner-facilitating tool that has not been sufficiently explored in Higher education institutions in Oman. There is a growing body of literature that recognises the importance of ‘learning by doing,’ ‘hands-on approach’ or ‘experiential learning.’ Experiential learning grew in popularity with adult learners since the time of Dewey and progressed with several scholars researching on the potential benefits of applying experiential learning methods in vocational and technical training institutions. The notion that knowledge is gained through active involvement in a specific task is a construct that has been researched in the present study. It endeavours to foster learner autonomy through the implementation of instructional tasks based on Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. The main objective was to observe the change in perceptions of learners on their autonomous behaviour before and after the intervention. Through convenience sampling of 60 undergraduate students, enrolled for various pathways on the business programme were selected for this study. The quantitative data was collected by administering a learner autonomy questionnaire and a set of self-designed experiential learning classroom activities. The findings of the study revealed that experiential learning cycle activities implicitly fostered learner autonomy and enabled learning necessary skills for the workplace.

Investigating the Availability, Accessibility and use of E-Learning Resources by Undergraduate Students in University of Ilorin, Kwara State

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluyinka Titilope Afolayan
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Learning Resources ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Main Instrument ◽  
Effective Use

The availability and use of e-learning resources in the acquisition and transfer of knowledge have been observed as a steering agent that facilitates the realization of major educational benefits in a developing economy. This study investigated the availability, accessibility, and use of e-learning tools by undergraduate students in the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, including the challenges limiting the full exploitation of e-learning resources for optimal usage and efficient e-service delivery. The methodology adopted for this research was purely survey design using the questionnaire approach as the main instrument for data collection. From the findings, limited availability, accessibility and usage of e-learning resources by the undergraduate students were revealed. The findings further showed that the major challenges hindering the effective use of e-learning resources amongst University of Ilorin students include lack of sophisticated e-learning resources such as teleconferencing, video conferencing, virtual classroom among others and high cost in the procurement of facilities that support e-learning. Based on these findings, recommendations are made towards addressing the challenges encountered by students in the utilization of e-learning resources in higher institutions of learning.

Geographic Variation in Dominance of Spinosad Resistance in Colorado Potato Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coby Klein ◽  
Mitchell Baker ◽  
Andrei Alyokhin ◽  
David Mota-Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Long Island ◽  
New York State ◽  
The United States ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Potato Beetle ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Leptinotarsa Decemlineata Say ◽  
High Level

Abstract Eastern New York State is frequently the site of Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Say) populations with the highest observed levels of insecticide resistance to a range of active ingredients. The dominance of a resistant phenotype will affect its rate of increase and the potential for management. On organic farms on Long Island, L. decemlineata evolved high levels of resistance to spinosad in a short period of time and that resistance has spread across the eastern part of the Island. Resistance has also emerged in other parts of the country as well. To clarify the level of dominance or recessiveness of spinosad resistance in different parts of the United States and how resistance differs in separate beetle populations, we sampled in 2010 beetle populations from Maine, Michigan, and Long Island. In addition, a highly resistant Long Island population was assessed in 2012. All populations were hybridized with a laboratory-susceptible strain to determine dominance. None of the populations sampled in 2010 were significantly different from additive resistance, but the Long Island population sampled in 2012 was not significantly different from fully recessive. Recessive inheritance of high-level resistance may help manage its increase.

Establishing Partnerships for Effective Academic Programs

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna L. Morrissey ◽  
Joseph A. Beckett ◽  
Ross Sherman ◽  
Lisa J. Leininger
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Campus Community ◽  
Specific Service ◽  
Internship Programs

As undergraduate students prepare to enter the workforce and become engaged members in their communities, it is necessary for universities to provide students with opportunities and resources to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to be successful in their professional, personal, and social pursuits. Experiential learning is one approach that may be used to facilitate and strengthen the learning process for undergraduate students. Grounded in experiential learning, Kinesiology-specific service learning and internship programs can help students develop the skillset needed to be successful in their major and future careers. To best facilitate students’ learning, it is imperative that such academic programs build collaborative, sustainable and genuine campus-community partnerships. This paper presents a series of practical and successful partnership-building strategies from three unique institutions.

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