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Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning

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Faculty and Staff Toolbox

As a faculty or staff member, you are critical to encouraging students to make the most of their education by connecting beyond the classroom opportunities to their academic work.  While this begins with encouraging purposeful engagement beyond the classroom, the most challenging step is to help students understand the connections between their beyond the classroom experiences and what they are learning in class. How is learning from class contradicted or reinforced by direct experience? How does learning within and beyond the classroom impact future decisions? These cognitive connections across experiences, are what the CIEL is all about: Integrative and Experiential Learning. 

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Graduate Experiential Learning Fellowship

The Graduate School and the Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning are pleased to announce the launch of a new professional development and recognition opportunity for graduate students. The Fellowship is comprised of three elements:

  • Training and professional development: Participants would be required to complete the IEL Certificate series through the Center for Teaching Excellence. Beginning with the fall required workshops, the sessions introduce participants to the basics of integrative and experiential learning, as well as strategies for incorporating IEL into the classroom. Throughout fall and spring semesters, several tailored electives are offered to fit participants’ interests and disciplines. In total, six (6) workshops are required to complete the certificate.
  • Mentorship: In the spring semester, participants would serve as ePortfolio mentors for undergraduate students completing the Graduation with Leadership Distinction ePortfolio. Mentorship would include attending undergraduate student workshops (2), reviewing written ePortfolio content and 1-on-1 meetings with up to five (5) students to offer feedback and guidance. Through mentoring undergraduate students, participants would develop their own advising and coaching strategies and receive beneficial mentorship and guidance from seasoned faculty members across various departments.
  • Application of learning: In the spirit of Graduation with Leadership Distinction, participants would be required to demonstrate their learning about integrative and experiential learning in a public venue. Options for this could be a poster presentation at Discover USC or another local, regional, or national conference. 

Participants who complete the requirements within one academic year (fall, spring, summer) will receive a certificate of completion, a digital badge, recognition at CIEL's annual cording ceremony, along with a medallion to wear at participants' hooding and/or commencement. 

Selected Fellows will also receive a $1000 stipend paid in parts at the end of each major semester.

Graduate students from all programs are welcome to apply. Preference will be given to full-time graduate students.

Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom

Applying learning to real-world context is the basis of experiential learning which requires student reflection and feedback on their engagement.  Have we included your Experiential Learning Opportunity for students in the official list? 

Experiential Learning Grants

In order to promote student engagement the classroom, CIEL is offering four different grants for faculty and staff to enable the development of new and revised programs as well as collaboration between departments, offices, and academic and student affairs.

GLD for Faculty and Staff

GLD indicates integration and application of learning at the highest level and is recognized on students' transcripts and diplomas.  Earning GLD is a valuable learning experience for students in any major. 

CIEL Partners

Need help in organizing students' participation in community service, internships or opportunities?  USC offices can support you and your students in making beyond the classroom connections. 

CIEL Faculty Fellows

Faculty Fellows are an integral part of the Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning team.  Fellows serve as advocates for experiential and integrative learning (including GLD) and provide faculty perspectives and recommendations to CIEL. 

 

I now emphasize the connections between the student and content.  So instead of lecturing, I help them make connection and figure out how theories are applicable to the real world.  The idea of key insights – making the connections -  guides how I teach some of the more abstract concepts. I also focus on the connection between WTC and BTC.   So you learn X in class, where do you see it outside of the class? 

Elise Lewis, School of Library and Information Science,
College of Information and Communication

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