News Category: Experiential Learning

On Friday, April 19, the FIC partnered with the Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI) to host the first Experiential Learning Workshop. 35 attendees from across the campus, including Provost Maurie McInnis, gathered to discuss experiential learning. The workshop was the first in a series that will continue for several semesters.

How are faculty at UT-Austin designing experiential learning with real-world characteristics for students?  The following news post is an edited version of an interview conducted by the FIC with Dr. Amit Bhasin and Dr. Stephen Boyles (Cockrell School of Engineering) in which they discuss the ways they redesigned a Civil Engineering course to take advantage of these opportunities.   

How do we bring students together to address real world issues and give them experience working in interdisciplinary teams?  A core hallmark of experiential learning involves giving students the opportunity to see how their work in the classroom can have a real impact on contemporary issues and concerns.  At UT-Austin, faculty members are exploring ways in which students can not only see how their work could have an impact, but also how they might work across disciplines and in a context that they are likely to encounter in their future professions.  

The School or Architecture at UT-Austin has engaged in an initiative that fosters relationships and learning experiences with Mexico and Latin-America. Faculty interest in this area of the world has become more robust in recent years.  I was fortunate to join this effort in the fall of 2013 when I became part of the faculty at UTSoA. Mexico is an area of focus for my research, and I have been eager to share the opportunities that Mexico can offer to broaden the vision of our students about global issues of heritage preservation and conservation of historic buildings.