Abstract
I am pleased to share with you the 10 articles that comprise this issue of the Journal of Experiential Education. These articles constitute scholarship that advances the field of experiential education, increasing educator and practitioner understanding of some of the complex issues involved in this unique type of education.
Two of the articles in this issue advance our understanding of a particular approach within experiential education: equine-assisted learning. In “Resilience equine assisted learning (REAL) for undergraduate nursing students: A pilot randomized controlled trial,” authors Burleson, Taylor-Piliae, Rainbow, and Morrison considered whether nursing students benefited from an equine-assisted activity, examining students’ burnout, stress, and resilience as variables.
The second of these articles on equine-assisted learning is “The preliminary efficacy of an equine-assisted social-emotional learning program for youth with diminished social-emotional competencies.” Authored by Matlock, Birmingham, Merritt, Hess, Reega, and Peters, this study utilized a randomized waitlist-controlled design, evaluating the effectiveness of an 8-week program for middle school students in terms of addressing their depression, anxiety, sense of self-efficacy, school absences, and behavioral referrals.
Two of the articles in this issue of the Journal examine experiential education taking place in outdoor settings. In “From classroom to canyon: Experiential learning in a national park,” authors Redger-Marquardt, Hamilton, Cossell, and Valentine analyzed qualitative data in the form of videos and written reflections from undergraduate students who participated in a service-learning experience within a national park.
The second of these outdoor experiential education-focused articles is “Helping outdoor education student groups learn collaboratively in the absence of instructors.” In this study, authors Riley, Sibthorp, and Rochelle used qualitative methods to explore how students in National Outdoor Leadership School courses managed collaborative learning while on independent student expeditions, which are small, student-led groups without instructors.
Three of the articles in this issue of the Journal examine experiential education to enhance Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning and engagement. These three articles examine important questions focused on how experiential education is utilized meaningfully in these educational fields. The first of these three articles is “Do community based learning experiences in STEM encourage students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to pursue STEM? A mixed methods systematic review.” In this study, authors Akman, Bitting, and Merricks examined the existing qualitative and quantitative research considering whether community-based learning in STEM helped students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue STEM education.
The second of these STEM-focused articles is “Using mobile devices to support outdoor STEM learning in rural contexts: An embedded mixed-methods study.” In this study, authors Seaman, Bastoni, Coppens, Hartman, LaChaine, Moscouver, and Gronneberg explored the outcomes of rural youth, aged 12 to 17 years, who participated in a 10-month long STEM program delivered via youths’ mobile devices, considering youths’ STEM confidence and environmental concerns.
The third of these STEM-focused articles is “Creating STEM pathways: Implementation and outcomes of a high school research internship program” by authors Avadhanam and Dotson. In this study, the authors utilized a mixed methods approach to examine whether participation in one summer program for high school students improved students’ research confidence and sense of STEM self-efficacy.
Several articles in this issue consider experiential learning within more traditional classroom environments. In “Measuring the transformation: Implementing and assessing experiential learning outcomes in university instruction,” authors Beal and Price qualitatively examined instructors’ perspectives on experiential learning activity delivery and quantitatively considered undergraduate students’ specific learning from experiential activities.
In “Autonomy, participation, and lifelong learning: Graduates’ reflections from Sudbury schools,” authors Hartkamp-Bakker and Martens present data from 14 interviews with Sudbury school alumni in three different countries, considering how the schools’ specific learner-led approach affects graduates long term.
Another of these studies set in more traditional learning environments is “Students’ perspectives on authentic assessment: An experiential learning framework for work-readiness and employability” by Lambert, Ogilvie, and Meek. In this study, the authors collected qualitative data using questionnaires from 20 marketing graduates 2 years after their industry-based social marketing coursework at an Australian public university.
Collectively, the articles in this issue of the Journal of Experiential Education illuminate unique and effective approaches to experiential education in outdoor and more traditional learning environments, within our schools and outside of them. The articles in this issue may inspire educators and practitioners to bring novel approaches to their own settings, bringing scholarship into practice.
