In an effort to be transparent with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville community, annual reports are released with data pertaining to the Experience Learning QEP Initiative. It is our hope that in releasing such data, the UT Knoxville community will have a better understanding of how Experience Learning opportunities are making a difference for our students, faculty and staff.
Members of Teaching & Learning Innovation have compiled the key data and top successes from 2017 – 2018, which are listed below. Data from the 2016 – 2017 academic year can be found on the Campus Impacts: 2016 – 2017 webpage.
For a more detailed look at the progress of our QEP, we encourage you to check out our QEP Impact Report 2016 – 2017, 2017 – 2018.
In the 2017 – 2018 academic year, the Experience Learning course designation system was expanded across four new colleges. Every undergraduate serving college on campus now has at least three courses with an experiential learning designation. Under the service-learning (S) designation, eight additional courses were approved from five different colleges. Additionally, 15 additional courses were approved under the research designation (R). The internship (N) designation was approved in Fall 2017 as an Experience Learning course designation, and has an initial offering of eight designated courses.
Under the Experience Learning QEP Initiative, the UT Knoxville community has the opportunity to apply for the EL Faculty Development grant program. During the 2017 – 2018 academic year, 22 individual courses were redesigned to incorporate one of the 12 types of experience learning:
- One faculty team of three fellows from the Department of English led the redesign of Chancellor’s Honors Writing II to provide new research opportunity to approximately 400 students
- One fellow worked to incorporate experience learning into the College of Education, Health, and Human Services’ leadership studies minor (six courses total, two to three courses/annual impact)
- One fellow from the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication led a group of students on a study abroad trip to learn about agricultural businesses in Australia.
In 2017 – 2018, 12 Faculty Development Grants for Experience Learning were awarded. Examples include:
- Twelve individual courses were redesigned to involve experiential learning
- Six faculty members will work with community leaders to incorporate service-learning into their courses during the 2018 – 2019 academic year.
- One fellow will infuse experience learning into the Masters of Social Work Online program
The Experience Learning Risk Management Handbook was created to assist UT Knoxville faculty in advancing a culture of safety within the Experience Learning initiative.
In 2017 – 2018, other opportunities for collaboration and engagement across campus continued to grow. In the summer of 2018, a second iteration of the summer institute was offered to faculty. The formally known Experience Learning Summer Institute expanded and rebranded as the Teaching & Learning Innovation Summer Institute. Faculty interested in experiential learning or evidence-based teaching strategies were welcome to apply. The Experience Learning track included 12 faculty members from six colleges on campus.
Finally, with the help of 36 administrative offices and all nine undergraduate-serving colleges, the administrative and college-level data on students and faculty engaged in experiential learning for 2016 – 2017 was collected. This collection process makes it possible for the Experience Learning QEP team to compare the data of pre-QEP experiential learning opportunities and post-QEP experiential learning opportunities at UT Knoxville.