Proposing an Educational Experience
Why an educational experience?
Goals 4, 5, or 6 of the KU Core can be met through a pre-approved experience. Students may identify and propose a unique experience for pre-approval by the University Core Curriculum Committee. Experiences must meet the four guiding principles outlined below and students must complete the complimentary UNIV course in order to obtain credit.
Principles
The experience and the learning are fundamental and the experience must have clear intentional roles for both the participant and any KU Faculty Sponsor(s) of learning. Participants must ensure that they enter the experience with sufficient foundation to support a successful experience. Both the participant and the KU Faculty Sponsor(s) should develop and implement a plan that includes learning goals, objectives and activities. This guided experience involves engagement from both the participant and the KU Faculty Sponsor.
Reflection is the element that transforms simple experience to a learning experience. For knowledge to be discovered and internalized the learner must test assumptions and hypotheses about the outcomes of decisions and actions taken, then weigh the outcomes against past learning and future implications. This reflective process is integral to all phases of experiential learning, from identifying intention and choosing the experience, to considering preconceptions and observing how they change as the experience unfolds. Reflection is also an essential tool for adjusting the experience and measuring the outcomes.
Any learning activity will be dynamic and changing, and both the participant and the KU Faculty Sponsor bear responsibility for ensuring that the experience, as it in in process, continues to provide the richest learning possible, while affirming the participant learner. It is imperative that there be a feedback loop related to learning intentions and quality objectives and that the structure of the experience be sufficiently flexible to permit change in response to what the feedback suggests. While reflection provides input for new knowledge based on documented experience, other strategies for observing progress against intentions and objectives should also be in place.
Outcomes and processes should be systematically documented with regard to initial intentions and quality outcomes. Assessment is a means to develop and retain the specific learning goals and quality objectives identified during the planning stages of the experience, while evaluation provides comprehensive data about the experiential process as a whole and whether it has met the intentions which suggested it. Approved learning experiences will implement an assessment plan that includes competencies and learning outcomes for the experience along with both summative and formative measures to assess the competencies and outcomes.
How to Complete an Educational Experience for Goals 4, 5, or 6
- You identify an experience that you believe satisfies a KU Core Goal. Please note, only Goals 4.1, 4.2, 5.2, or 6 can be satisfied using this process.
- Meet with your academic advisor to discuss the proposal and determine the following:
- Is the experience already approved for the KU Core?
- Is there an existing course that aligns with the experience and satisfies the KU Core?
- If the answers to both questions above are no, you will submit an Educational Experience Proposal Form (Form Link). We highly recommend you visit the Proposal Guidelines page before completing your proposal form.
- Once completed, the proposal will be reviewed by the University Core Curriculum Committee. If approved, you will enroll in the corresponding UNIV course. For example: if your proposal for Goal 4.1 is approved, you will enroll in UNIV 401.
- Once enrolled in your UNIV course, there will be a series of modules to complete in Canvas before starting your experience. You will continue to complete modules during and after your experience as well.
- Upon completion of the UNIV course modules, you will receive KU Core credit for your experience. It will be shown in your Degree Progress Report.
For proposal guidelines, please click the button below. Frequently asked questions can be found at the bottom of the page.
Frequently Asked Questions
An approved educational experience is an extended learning experience that is sponsored by a faculty member and meets the learning outcomes defined by the KU Core Goal. The experience must meet the standards of experiential learning, which includes intentionality and goal setting, action, reflection, and application.
You must submit a proposal to the University Core Curriculum Committee (UCCC) before completing the experience for review and approval.
Goals 4.1, 4.2, 5.2, and 6 can be satisfied using this process.
After identifying an experience, you should meet with your academic advisor. The academic advisor can help you determine if KU offers a course that aligns with the experience. If a course is available, you should enroll in the course. If no course is available, you should complete this proposal form which will be reviewed by the UCCC.
Complete the approved experience proposal form. Upload a letter of support from your advisor, faculty sponsor, or experience supervisor. Upload any other supporting documentation such as a position description, syllabus, or documents that further explain the experience.
These are the questions you’ll be required to thoroughly answer.
- Describe the experience. Please include the following details:
- What are the parameters of the experience (duration, hours, start/end dates)?
- Where does the experience take place (research innovation/institute, community or workplace organization, local or abroad)?
- Describe how your roles, responsibilities, and/or the activities in which you'll participate in during the experience are relevant and align to the proposed goal.
- Explain how this experience meets the criteria for the KU Core goal in which you are seeking approval. Use specific examples that connects your experience to each learning outcome and criterion listed for the goal.
- Describe how this experience helps you meet your academic and career goals.
- How will you assess whether you met your goals and the criteria for the KU Core goal you're seeking approval for? Who will be evaluating your performance (supervisor, faculty/staff, clients/self)?
Please see the following documents below.
- Experience A for Goal 4.1 (PDF Document)
Extensive research has been conducted on student learning resulting from experiential learning. In order for you to have a meaningful learning experience, you must follow the international framework for experiential learning that requires you to set intentions and goals for the experience, routinely reflect on your learning and adjust expectations/goals throughout the experience, and process and assess your own learning. Therefore, in order to receive UCCC approval, you must address how you are meeting the requirements of experiential learning.
You will be enrolled in a zero-credit hour course associated with the goal you are satisfying. You will also be added to the course's Canvas site where you will complete activities and exercise throughout your experience.
There are no costs associated with this zero-credit hour course.
The UCCC may offer you the option to provide additional details and resubmit the experience. If the UCCC denies the proposal, you will need to satisfy the KU Goal you are seeking to complete through a course or another experience that meets the requirements of an approved educational experience.