Applied Learning Inventory

SUNY Applied Learning Inventory

On May 6th, 2015, the SUNY Board of Trustees passed a resolution stating that SUNY shall develop a plan to make approved applied learning activities (also known as experiential learning) available to SUNY students enrolled in the 2016/17 academic year.  Therefore, all SUNY campuses are required by the SUNY Board of Trustees to develop an applied learning campus plan.

Part I (of VII) of this required campus plan is an overview and inventory of all, current applied/experiential activities at SUNY Geneseo.  This inventory is due to System Administration February 15, 2016.  An approved applied/experiential learning activity does not need to occur in a class; it can be an activity within a course (like service-learning) or outside the traditional classroom experience all together (such as an internship or undergraduate research).  Not all applied/experiential learning activities need to be credit-bearing.  

SUNY Criteria for Approved Applied/Experiential Learning Activity

  1. The Activity is Structured, Intentional and Authentic - All parties must be clear from the outset why this specific experience was chosen as the approach to the learning, and intentional about defining the knowledge that should result from it. The activity needs to be a structured experience with a formal process, which includes a course syllabus or learning contract between parties (students, faculty, and other supervisors as appropriate) and/or defined assessable learning outcomes. Roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined. Faculty and site supervisors (as appropriate) are expected to take the lead in ensuring both the quality of the learning experience and of the work produced. The applied learning activity should have hands-on and/or real world context and should be designed in concert with those who will be affected by or use it, or in response to a real situation.

  2. The Activity Requires Preparation, Orientation and Training - Participants and mentors must ensure that students enter the experience with sufficient background and foundational education, as well as a plan to support a successful outcome. The training and plan should include learning expectations and be referred to (and potentially updated) on an ongoing basis by all parties.

  3. The Activity Must Include Monitoring and Continuous Improvement - Applied learning activities are dynamic. Therefore all facilitators in the activity share responsibility for ensuring that the experience, as it is in process, continues to provide a rich learning environment and is meeting learning outcomes.  Activities include a defined and flexible method for feedback related to learning outcomes and quality performance for all parties.

  4. The Activity Requires Structured Reflection and Acknowledgment - There must be a structured opportunity for students to self-assess, analyze, and examine constructs/skills/insights from their experience and to evaluate the outcomes. Reflection should demonstrate the relevance of the experience to student learning, including the student’s articulation of how the experience draws on and improves this learning and meets defined objectives. Post-experience learning should include a formal debriefing. All facilitators and students engaged in the experience should be included in the recognition of progress and accomplishment.

  5. The Activity Must be Assessed and Evaluated - Outcomes and processes should be systematically documented with regard to initial intentions and quality outcomes. Students must receive appropriate and timely feedback from all facilitators.

 Modified from Eight Principles of Good Practice for All Experiential Learning Activities, National Society of Experiential Education (http://www.nsee.org/8-principles).

  Geneseo created an Applied Learning Committee which developed the following Geneseo specific definitions of Applied/Experiential Learning Activities:

  • Entrepreneurship - Students in an entrepreneurship program develop a broad-based entrepreneurial skill relevant to any organization - start-up, established, and for and not-for-profit - in an industry.  Entrepreneurship involves consistently thinking and acting in ways designed to uncover new opportunities that are then applied to provide value.
  • Internships - A form of instruction in a mentored setting where students combine knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting.  Provides students with direct experience in a work setting, and a reflective component with a mentor/supervisor/faculty member that integrates theory with practice.
  • Service-Learning - A teaching and learning method that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.  Students receive credit for college level academic course work, not by completing a requisite number of service hours in the community.
  • Student Leadership - An attribute used to describe a learning experience whose content has been specifically designed to develop or strengthen the student’s capacity to lead effectively.
  • Study Abroad/Global Learning/Diversity - Courses and programs that help students explore, cultures, life experiences, and worldviews different from their own.  These studies - which may address U.S. diversity, world cultures, or both - often explore “difficult differences” such as racial, ethnic, and gender inequality, or continuing struggles around the globe for human rights, freedom, and power.  Frequently intercultural studies are augmented by experiential learning in the community and/or study abroad/away.
  • Undergraduate Research/Field Study/Creative Works/Capstone - Mentored, self-directed work that involves students working on actively contested questions, design, empirical observation, discovery, and observation.  This project may culminate in a written critical analysis of that experience.  Results of these studies are then communicated to the broader community - sometimes with an oral presentation to an audience of peers.  This self-directed work could be a traditional honors thesis, an artistic/creative enterprise, scientific research, community service, or any endeavor that has intellectual integrity, challenge, and the potential for critical analysis.