Recommendations for Implementing Experiential Learning in Large Classes: A Systematic Literature Review

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 1:45 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Research Studies on Experiential Education and Student Survey on Community-Based Courses (Table 9)

Abstract

In recent decades, higher education has seen a significant increase in student enrollment and class sizes. Despite calls from administrators and stakeholders for active teaching methods, experiential learning (EL) is less used, and research on its application is limited across disciplines, regions, and cultural contexts. This systematic review offers recommendations for implementing EL in higher education settings with over 40 students, drawing from 31 studies published in the past decade. Using an extended version of Van den Akker's spiderweb curriculum framework, the analysis highlights the unpreparedness of current institutions for non-traditional approaches and provides recommendations to address the challenges of scaling up EL to larger classes.

Authors

• Diana Martin, University College London

• Gunter Bombaerts, Eindhoven University of Technology