Employers value and students seek opportunities to apply academic learning in real-world situations outside traditional classroom settings. Experiential learning provides these opportunities and covers a wide range of activities across Wake Forest University: Mentored scholarship, academic internships, community engagement, and team-based projects. This QEP will provide more opportunities and resources to increase access, awareness, and assessment for student experiences.
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Strategic Framing
Experiential learning supports the university’s distinctive learning communities and a community of inquiry inside and outside the classroom, on campus and around the world. It is a catalyst for research, fosters engagement in communities, and strengthens external partnerships.
Example Student Experiences
- Conduct mentored research on child development
- Assist in designing experiments on community urban gardening
- Participate in a pro bono legal clinic
- Work with a local startup on product design and market analysis
- Make a website about Old Salem decorative arts and artifacts
- Participate in a consulting project for a Fortune 500 company
- Curate an exhibit at the Lam Museum of Anthropology
- Work with faith leaders on food insecurity, health disparity, or ecological degradation
Outcomes
- Foster innovation and creativity
- Build civic and social engagement
- Enhance practical and “soft” skills
- Practice personal and critical reflection
- Improve employability and motivation