Student Experiential Learning And Personal Reflection Essay
Student Experiential Learning And Personal Reflection Essay
Experiential learning has become a common pedagogical approach to provide university students an opportunity to apply classroom-acquired knowledge and skills in real-world settings. Evaluation of such experiences from a student perspective is needed to improve experiential learning opportunities offered in higher education settings. Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate the experience of 13 university students who rotated with a healthy lifestyle program for middle schoolers. Method. The Peer-education About Weight Steadiness Club program was implemented by peer or adult educators, as a healthy lifestyle after-school intervention. Trainees participated in a learning rotation with the program for 16 weeks and were exposed to research coordination and implementation of the nutrition and healthy lifestyles program. After finishing their rotation, trainees completed a structured elicitation interview conducted by a faculty member and a graduate assistant. The 11-question individual elicitation interview, ranging from 16 to 40 minutes, queried trainees on elements of the learning experience. A grounded theory approach was used to guide data coding and analyses, which led to formulation of themes. Results. Forty codes were assigned to segments of the interview responses, which were then coalesced to formulate six themes and 16 subthemes. Identified themes include (1) program context, (2) roles and responsibilities of trainees, (3) professional development of trainees, (4) overall program implementation, (5) factors influencing implementation, and (6) health and behavioral outcomes. Conclusions. Student trainees gained program content knowledge, acquired skills transferable to their careers, valued this learning experience, and planned to apply lessons learned.
Experiential learning has become a common pedagogical approach for training university students in health-related disciplines, because such opportunities foster skills for implementing health interventions with child and adult populations, build knowledge about future careers, and develop talent for conducting applied research (de Groot et al., 2015; Lambert & Knight, 2017). Compared to structured classroom settings, experiential learning provides students or trainees the ability to learn in semistructured situations that resemble the workplace, as well as gain practical experience, reflect on observations, and apply knowledge (Brown & Tenison, 2018; de Groot et al., 2015). Experiential learning is characterized by three components: (1) an experience stage, when the learner is involved in an exploration, observation, or actual performance of a certain activity; (2) a reflection stage, when the learner processes the experience by discussing and analyzing it; and (3) an application phase, when the learner cements their understanding of the situation through generalizations and applications (Enfield et al., 2007). Experiential learning can be carried out through field experiences, case studies, and internships, or through service learning (Kim et al., 2003). This type of learning is a high-impact experience as identified by the College Learning for the New Global Century Guidelines and outlined by The National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America’s Promise (George et al., 2017). Previous didactic learning supports real-time training during experiential learning, which can enhance student’s understanding, performance, and professional development (Adegbola, 2013; George et al., 2017). Often, experiential learning is offered through a “capstone” course that provides students with the opportunity to integrate general and discipline-specific knowledge and skills to build functional abilities for their future careers (Swanepoel et al., 2016). These experiences have been shown to improve critical thinking, enhance problem-solving capacity, elevate competencies in teamwork and interpersonal relationships, build transferable skills, and better guide trainees in their ability to apply competencies in professional settings (Baker et al., 2018; de Groot et al., 2015; Fortune & McKinstry, 2012; O’Shea et al., 2019).
Service learning is a form of experiential learning that has been increasingly described in educational papers during the past 20 years, with positive endorsements regarding the benefits of such training (Bishop & Driver, 2007; Connor et al., 2010). Service learning is defined as the
type of experiential education in which students participate in service in the community and reflect on their involvement in such a way as to gain a further understanding of course content and of the discipline and of its relationship to social needs and enhanced sense of civic responsibility. (Vogt et al., 2011, p. 69)
Though the number of university students participating in these activities and programs in the health sciences has increased in recent years, few of these efforts have been evaluated (de Groot et al., 2015; George et al., 2017). Even fewer of such evaluations have taken place in undergraduate nutrition and dietetics didactic programs (Kim et al., 2003). Yet these experiences have been reported to enable students in attaining critical competencies, like communication, management, creativity, client relations, and empathy, for effectively implementing health promotion programs (Coetzee et al., 2000; Matthews et al., 2014; Zimmermann et al., 2014). Moreover, service learning allows trainees to observe and engage in applied research to better understand its complexities (Kim et al., 2003).
