Experiential Learning as a Continuum in Tourism and Events Programs

The change of education in the world can benefit from applying experiential learning activities in primary education. Experiential learning prioritizes active engagement and reflection in the learning process and has been shown to improve student engagement, motivation, and critical thinking skills. This approach to learning is effective in helping students better understand and retain information, while also developing practical skills that will be useful in their future academic and professional pursuits. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the primary teachers’ perspectives on experiential activities in primary education. A survey questionnaire about experiential activity in education was distributed and explained to primary teachers. The survey was completed by 543 primary teachers working in 6 localities in the Northern region in Vietnam. The main finding was that primary teachers have a positive perspective on the benefits of experiential learning activities for their students. Experiential learning activities enhance student engagement, promote deeper learning and critical thinking skills, and create a positive attitude towards learning. By using experiential activity in primary education, teachers can help their students become more engaged, independent, and effective learners. By embracing experiential learning, we can ensure that students are well-equipped to thrive in the ever-changing world of the 21st century.

In 2009, Cedefop, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, issued European guidelines for the validation of informal learning, which was defined as ‘Learning resulting from daily activities related to work, family or leisure’. Such learning arises through experience and ‘takes place in the spaces surrounding activities and events with a more overt formal purpose, and takes place in a much wider variety of settings than formal education or training’. The developing practice in higher education which designs academic programmes to include experiential work-based learning supports the identification and recognition of experiential learning in the workplace and elsewhere. However, the recent surveys of academic practice relating to the integration of experiential work-based learning in the Business Administration subject areas in the UK reveal that there are tensions between the pedagogies adopted to support experiential learning and those used in more conventional programmes. Drawing on examples of practice revealed in the surveys, this chapter will explore the pedagogic tensions which arise when combining knowledge from the academic disciplines and from experiential learning in the same curriculum. It will be argued that emphasis on and commitment to academic disciplines as currently organised perpetuates the undervaluing of knowledge which is derived through direct experience and inhibits the wider and more effective recognition of experiential learning in higher education.

The enhancement of educational practices through the integration of experiential learning activities in mathematics teaching is increasingly recognized as essential for fostering student engagement and comprehension. This study delves into the development of skills required for designing such experiential activities among primary education students at Tan Trao University in Tuyen Quang Province. By implementing a structured training program, this research aims to equip future educators with both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to create dynamic and interactive mathematics lessons. The methodology encompasses a blend of qualitative and quantitative approaches to assess the effectiveness of the training program. Pre- and post-training evaluations, along with detailed observations and interviews, provide a comprehensive understanding of the improvements in the students' abilities. The results demonstrate a marked enhancement in the competency of the students to design and execute experiential learning activities, reflecting a deeper understanding of pedagogical techniques and a more profound engagement with the subject matter. The findings underscore the transformative potential of experiential learning in primary education, highlighting how such approaches can make abstract mathematical concepts more tangible and relatable for young learners. This study also addresses the challenges and obstacles encountered during the implementation of these activities, offering insights and recommendations for overcoming such barriers. Furthermore, the research contributes to the broader discourse on educational innovation by illustrating the impact of well-designed experiential activities on student motivation and academic performance. It emphasizes the need for ongoing professional development and support for educators to continuously refine their teaching strategies in response to evolving educational demands. This study not only reinforces the value of experiential learning in mathematics education but also provides a practical framework for developing and implementing these activities. By preparing primary education students at Tan Trao University with these essential skills, the research paves the way for a more interactive, engaging, and effective educational experience for future generations. This underscores the critical role of innovative teaching methodologies in nurturing the intellectual and personal growth of young learners, ultimately contributing to the advancement of primary education in Vietnam.

Aims: The aim of this study is to fill a gap in research on students' experiences of learning in student-centered assessment feedback practices. The article examines what students tell us about their learning in the context of student-centered feedback practices in higher education during online learning.
 Study Design: The study was conducted as a qualitative online survey among Finnish university students (N=35). The relationship between learning and assessment was explored in the context of formative and summative assessment practices during an online learning environment. The data was analysed using a discursive approach.
 Place and Duration of Study: The research was conducted in Finland during spring 2021.
 Methodology: The scientific and philosophical framework of the study is based on the theory of social constructionism, according to which social reality is formed through language in an interaction between people. The methodology used was discursive reading, i.e., how social reality is discursively produced through language. The starting point was the idea that language creates different discourses or perspectives on reality.
 Results: The feedback practices provided a different picture of learning and highlighted different dimensions of learning. Learning was discussed in terms of positive emotions, multiple perspectives, sociality, renewal, and holistic learning. In addition, negative emotions, disinformation, regression, and the playing field metaphor were associated with learning. 
 Conclusion: The results show that feedback practices that are presented as student-centered do not necessarily support the learning process of adults. Learning and assessment practices based on pedagogy and a learning theory can best support students' personal and social growth and increase their self-esteem. In online learning, teacher guidance and pedagogically based learning support are emphasized. We argue that in online-learning, where the role of the teacher is often small, student-centered well-intentioned assessment practices can only provide a thin veneer of learning unless students are helped to see the holistic importance of assessment as part of the learning process.

The main problem faced by students in the vocational field is the lack of specificity in the scientific field that focuses on mastering the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed in the world of work. In addition, the emphasis on learning by doing the role of the student-centred learning approach becomes less attention from educators. This study aims to develop and implement an experiential learning design in the nautical science program through student worksheets based on the Kolb experiential learning stages by considering the Felder- Silverman student learning style and analyzing student attitudes and responses after participating in learning activities. We used the field case study method (case study research) with qualitative descriptive data analysis techniques. The results showed that the learning style preferences of nautical science students from the learning style categories: (1) 87.41% were categorized as active; (2) 84.44% were categorized as visual; (3) 81.48% were categorized as sensing; and (4) 57.04% were categorized as sequential. The results also show that the experiential learning design is feasible for using learning models and learning material assessments. The implementation of experiential learning activities was carried out very well. Learning activities are carried out on force based on the stages of concrete experience, reflective observations, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Students' attitudes and responses are positive towards the experiential learning design. Experiential activities help students learn Basic Mechanical Engineering Design (cognitive), and they like to participate in learning activities (affective). The experiential design is practical in learning, canin learning, career theory and practice learning. H o w e v e r , some students respond that experiential learning activities are less challenging and too much of a task because they prefer to avoid many tasks.

Reviewed by: Harnessing America's Wasted Talent: A New Ecology of Learning Amy R. Johnson, Senior Associate Dean, Student Affairs and Assistant Professor Peter Smith . Harnessing America's Wasted Talent: A New Ecology of Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. 179 pp. Cloth: $40.00. ISBN-13: 978-0-470-53807-4. Following the publication of his 2004 book, The Quiet Crisis: How Higher Education Is Failing America (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass), Peter Smith felt a growing concern that his appeals for higher education reforms would not meet the needs of today's adult learners. As a result, he developed Harnessing America's Wasted Talent as a "fundamental rethinking of the enterprise" (p. xiv). In the book's preface, as the central theme underlying his proposals, Smith pulls from NECS-IPEDS data and describes the Law of Thirds. Ten years after entering ninth grade, roughly one-third of students have not graduated from high school, another third have graduated from high school but have not entered college, and the remaining third enter college, with approximately 60% attaining at least an associate's degree. Smith charges that traditional higher education institutions should focus on the population that enters college, working to improve the retention and graduation rates of these students. He argues that the "middle third," those who obtain a high school diploma but have no college experience, will not be served by our current higher education institutions, as the traditional model of higher education is not structured to meet that population's educational or workforce training [End Page 345] needs. Lastly, Smith claims that the final third of these students—those who do not graduate from high school—must be significantly reduced by our K-12 system. Appropriately, Smith's concept of thirds extends to the book's organization, which is divided into three parts: (a) the status of our workforce and the reasons why our current approach to higher education cannot help us solve the current shortage of skilled workers; (b) academic conventions that frustrate and prevent students—particularly adult students—from achieving a college degree; and (c) a new "ecology" of learning. In Part 1, "The Law of Thirds," Smith argues that our society ignores current workforce talent. He outlines the related costs during a period in which we are creating more high-skilled jobs than people educated to fill them. Based on his experiences as a political leader and as president of the Community College of Vermont and California State University, Monterey Bay, Smith claims that the solution to this dilemma is a focus on the more than 40 million American adults with high school diplomas, some college-level experience, and a wealth of "personal learning" (p. 36) and skills that should be acknowledged, certified, and put to use. These adult learners find higher education inaccessible from multiple perspectives—psychologically, experientially, physically, academically, and financially—and they hit a personal and professional "success ceiling" as a result (pp. 14-15). However, Smith asserts that colleges and universities are ill equipped to serve adult and other learners who have been shut out of the educational system. A lack of trained faculty, limited facilities, and stakeholder resistance are all obstacles that prevent existing higher education institutions from responding to change and meeting these learners' needs. The third chapter seems to take a hard turn from the others in this section by assessing "The Paradox of Personal Learning." Drawing on Allen Tough's approach to personal learning and Howard Gardner's research on multiple intelligences, Smith states that we must recognize and sanction individual learning experiences that build talent and contribute to our personal and career development. In this chapter and throughout the book, Smith uses personal stories or quotations from bloggers as illustrations of his ideas, proof of a national problem, and justification for a nationwide solution to recognize personal learning. Although these anecdotes can be instructive, taken alone they fail to provide the compelling support his arguments require. Part 2, "Dangerous Conceits," contains three chapters that analyze "die-hard generational practices in higher education that block the pathway to opportunity for today's adult learners" (p. 48). Smith makes a case for developing personalized learning and curricular experiences...

Nowadays lecturers in higher education need an awareness of the experiential learning style preferences of students in order to develop and utilize effective and efficient teaching and pedagogical strategies and methods. The experiential learning styles literature has had a revival during last years, especially in the first decade of 21st century (Alban & Metcalfe 2002; Duff & Duffy, 2002; Kayes, 2003; Loo, 2004; Reynolds & Vince, 2007; Cowen & Kazamias, 2009). Upon reviewing the literature on experiential learning, the intense rate and growing interest is involved also in Slovenia, especially when analyzing the case of University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics (FELU; http://www.ef.uni-lj.si/en/) in Slovenia. In April 2010 FELU joined an elite group of institutions that have achieved business accreditation from AACSB International. Moreover, combined with EQUIS accreditation, FELU is ranked among 45 best business schools worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to offer a better insight into the experiential learning practices at FELU in order to develop appropriate teaching and pedagogical strategies for improving higher management education in Slovenia. The research objective of this study was to develop rather comprehensive inventory of experiential learning styles and methods, included both a descriptive and an exploratory perspective. In the theoretical part of the study the qualitative meta-analysis method was used to overview the literature background of the study. In the empirical part of the study the Principal Axis Factoring, using varimax rotation, was performed on the explanatory variables with primary goal of data reduction. The modified version of experiential learning style theory was used as research instrument in the questionnaire to determine Slovenian students’ experiential learning styles. According to the research process we can summarize research thesis that matching students’ experiential learning-style preferences with complementary course syllabus improve management education, academic achievements and student’s attitudes toward learning.

Issues in reflection and debriefing: how nurse educators structure experiential activities

This article investigates lecturers’ and students’ perspectives on effective teaching practices in Islamic higher education during the Covid -19 pandemic. The pandemic caused the movement of teaching and learning modes from face to face into online/distance teaching and learning. The different modes of teaching and learning processes may raise a different perspective on effective teaching and learning practices, especially in Islamic higher education. Thirteen English lecturers and 262 English students from the third, fifth, and seventh semesters participated in this survey research. Questionnaires are distributed through Google Forms to collect data on lecturers’ and students’ perspectives on effective teaching practices. The results show that the lecturers and students have good perspectives on four aspects of online teaching (pedagogical, managerial, social, and technological roles) as effective teaching practices in higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, lecturers and students have quite different sequences of most frequent responses on the roles. The three sequences of the lecturers’ responses are social roles, managerial roles, and pedagogical roles. Then the three sequences of the students’ responses are pedagogical roles and managerial roles (two positions: the second and third positions). This different perspective can be a consideration in conducting online teaching and learning.

Universities are grappling with the issue of broadening the knowledgebases of their students to achieve excellence in education through the development and enhancement of intellectual power and capacities, preparing students to shoulder their civil and ethical responsibilities through a sense of personal growth and self-direction that can have real impact. Yet the demand for high impact practices in education is in a constant state of flux due to the ever-evolving reality of today's interconnected world. How can universities develop realistic opportunities through high impact learning and what can be the expected outcome of such learning? Collating various case studies, policies and other empirical research, High Impact Practices in Higher Education: International Perspectives examines effective high impact learning practices and demonstrates approaches that promote learning communities and common intellectual experiences. Contributors consider theoretical frameworks as well as applied models in terms of benefits gained and challenges encountered for the sake of educators, faculty members and students. With relevance for every area and discipline within higher education, High Impact Practices in Higher Education: International Perspectives facilitates the advice and support a university may need in its journey towards becoming a progressive, high impact institution.

The Spread of new forms of technology has inundated the learning System of the student at all levels, especially the higher education level. The efficacy of teaching students to keep pace with evolution without understanding how they will learn. This is the start of an endless journey. Students are always fascinated by digital gadgets and interact more when they find new things; this is one of the reasons integrating new technologies, and interactive tools is very important in this stage of the learning process. Adopting technology in higher education is an innovation that does not cause any disruption to traditional learning mechanisms but rather contributes to the learning evolution. Higher education institutions face many challenges when adopting new technology to their pedagogical style and teaching method because of the growing student numbers and the application of these techniques and methods for students from Different categories and timing. The flipped learning approach we adopted helped us start our Journey smoothly during the Covid 19 pandemic. In continuation to the approach that we adopted of giving students a different and fulfilling learning experience, Middle East College is working on improving the implementation of flipped learning redefined in the context of Online and blended learning. During this phase, the main aim is to enhance the effectiveness of flipped learning in online teaching in delivering and planning synchronous and asynchronous Activities. Also, it helps to improve the interaction of the students with the given materials. This study focuses on enhancing technology in pedagogy and practice in higher education. Where will this study identify the staff member's technological needs and how learning was influenced? In addition, it will highlight the mechanisms used to facilitate the collaboration and interactions between students and Faculties to improve the learning experience, inspire students to learn in an active environment, and encourage Learning Ownership for Lifelong learning.

This study evaluated the use of an experiential learning design for vocational education in mechanical engineering. The research objective is to analyze students’ attitudes and responses after participating in learning activities using a worksheet designed according to Kolb's stages by considering Felder-Silverman's student learning styles. This research was conducted using a case study research employing qualitative data analysis. The data were collected using a purposive random sampling technique with 28 respondents in a 10th grade. The datawere analyzed using descriptive qualitative analysis. The experiential learning activities were carried out concrete experience, reflective observations, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. It is shown that students have a positive attitude and response. Experiential activities help students in learning Basic of Mechanical Engineering and they enjoy participating in the learning activities. Experiential learning activities are considered to be fun, interesting, and easy to be understood. The students could relate the course material to real-life situations, which may benefit the students to enhance learning and connect the knowledge they learned to their own experiences. It is suggested that the experiential design is effectively used and could explore the relationship between learning theory and practice in Vocational High School.

“Why do I need to know this?” A question that is thought, if not spoken, by students that challenges both instructors and students in a physiology laboratory course to bring relevance and context to the information presented. In an attempt to address this question, instructors challenge students

Water movement in soil is often difficult for students to understand, particularly when soil texture changes within the profile. Students in introductory soil science courses may be able to define concepts of water movement, but not be able to apply the information in real scenarios due to reliance on intuition rather than fundamental concepts. To apply concepts, students need to experience them for themselves. Experiential learning can teach concepts of water movement through the soil in order to link fundamental concepts with real‐life experiences to improve understanding. A lesson was developed for an introductory soil science course for undergraduates utilizing small plastic soil columns that allow students to test scenarios of water movement through soil to prove concepts taught in class. The described lesson plan can be expanded or revised to adapt to a wide range of students, and activity materials are relatively inexpensive and reusable. Student feedback was positive. Assessment through exam questions showed an increase in correct responses for all types of soil water questions with experiential activities, except soil water forces and potentials. Substitution of demonstrations utilizing non‐graded self‐evaluation with experiential learning activities requiring submission of answers improved engagement during lab, which is translated into improved exam scores. Experiential learning activities appear to have improved understanding of soil and water concepts.

Executive Summary Diversity has deep roots in American society and a tenacious hold on its social fabric. Institutions of higher education have not been very responsive to the issues raised by rapidly growing diverse communities in the United States. The institutions' response to diversity is not unexpected given that higher education is relatively conservative about changing its institutional practices. In order to understand how higher education may respond to diversity issues we discuss two frameworks in this paper that focus on the association between leadership and diversity. Our purpose is to use the frameworks as heuristic tools for examining the type of leadership practices higher education can utilize in its response to diversity. By contrasting the two frameworks we show that how higher education responds to diversity depends on its decision to either transform or transition the organizational culture and institutional environment. ********** Diversity in higher education is sometimes treated like the family member or relative that is shielded from view or the presence of others in an effort to avoid embarrassment or unkind comments. Unfortunately, much like the family member or relative, diversity will not go away or disappear, especially in an emergent global environment. Ever since the Bakke decision in 1978, institutions of higher education have been reluctant to promote diversity as a necessary dimension toward building themselves into inclusive communities. The institutions' reluctance intensified following the Hopwood decision in 1998, that diversity is not a compelling reason for altering the institutional climate in higher education. The reluctance of higher education institutions to promote diversity can be attributed to the observation that diversity in higher education has an end in itself, rather than a means to a greater educational end, and because universities have failed to establish the fundamental link between diversity and their educational missions (Alger, 1997: 20). In the twenty years that lapsed between Bakke and Hopwood white Americans have become increasingly hostile toward diversity issues. In a recent national poll conducted by the Washington Post, the Henry Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University, researchers found that white Americans misperceive the socio-economic realities of African Americans, tending to hold unrealistically positive views of their progress. Moreover, these distorted views are linked to an unwillingness to support social policies and programs that create opportunities and provide support to minorities (Morin, 2001). If the social climate in American society is less supportive of initiatives that address diversity issues, how then can institutions of higher education respond to diversity? More importantly, how do leadership practices in higher education respond to diversity? Our purpose in this paper is to discuss and contrast two frameworks regarding the association between diversity and leadership in higher education. We examine the association by asking two questions: What types of leadership practices transition institutions of higher education to address diversity issues? What types of leadership practices transform institutions of higher education into an inclusive community for diversity issues? While we recognize that the term diversity is used in higher education to refer to multiple types of communities based on cultural, racial, ethnic or sexual identities, we limit our use of the term in this paper to minority (non-white) persons and their communities. We use the term leadership practices in this paper to identify actions at either the organizational or individual level that seek to determine goals and strategic planning within the organizational culture of higher education (see Ackoff & Pourdehnad, 2001; Schnebel, 2000). Diversity as a Concern Why is diversity important to higher education? …