September 26, 2024 • 22 mins
Have a question or want to share some thoughts? Send us a text message!
Can experiential learning be the key to unlocking students' career potential? This episode, featuring Dr. Mara Huber, the newly appointed Senior Director for Instructional Innovation and Transformation at the University of Buffalo's Office of Curriculum Assessment and Teaching Transformation (CATT), aims to answer that question with a resounding yes. Dr. Huber brings a wealth of knowledge from her previous role with the UB Experiential Learning Network (ELN), underscoring the importance of hands-on learning in making students standout candidates for jobs, internships, and graduate programs. We explore the synergy between CATT and ELN, and introduce the PEARL framework—Prepare, Engage and Add Value, Reflect, and Leverage—to show how it enhances both student and faculty experiences through effective assessment and structured mentoring.
Wondering how these concepts translate into real-world impact? Tune in as we spotlight how UB's experiential learning projects are transforming education. From a technical writing course tackling environmental issues to an architectural study abroad program in Tanzania, we discuss how these hands-on projects enrich student learning and benefit partner organizations. Dr. Huber also highlights exciting cross-departmental initiatives at UB and offers insights into how the PEARL model can ensure students are comprehensively guided without overwhelming faculty. This episode is a must-listen for educators and students alike, poised to revolutionize your understanding of high-impact learning.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maggie Grady (00:03):
Welcome to the Teaching Table, a monthly
podcast that explores thevibrant and evolving landscape
of teaching, learning andtechnology in higher education.
Hosted by the University ofBuffalo's Office of Curriculum
Assessment and TeachingTransformation, otherwise known
as CATT, and supported by theGentile's Excellence in Teaching
Fund, this podcast is dedicatedto highlighting the journeys
(00:25):
toward educational excellence.
I'm your host, maggie Grady, alearning designer in CAT, and
today I'm thrilled to be joinedat the table by Dr Mara Huber,
who is recently appointed SeniorDirector for Instructional
Innovation and Transformationfor the Office of Curriculum and
Assessment and TeachingTransformation.
So welcome to CAT and thank youfor joining us on this podcast.
Dr. Mara Huber (00:48):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited and lookingforward to the conversation.
Maggie Grady (00:53):
So, Mara, recently you joined, as I mentioned,
CATT as the Senior Director ofInstructional Innovation and
Transformation, transitioning infrom Experiential Learning
Network or ELN.
Separately, CATT and ELN haveworked to create impactful
learning experiences for bothstudents and faculty, aiming to
(01:15):
support their pedagogical growthand prepare them for future
endeavors.
So naturally, it made sense tocombine CATT and ELN and bring
you on board.
So can you share a little bitwith us about the development of
the collaboration and its goals?
Dr. Mara Huber (01:32):
So we had really focused on building out ELN as
an opportunity to engagestudents in high impact
experiential learning.
B ut, as you said, there is awhole side of creating those
experiences and leveraging thetools and resources that we
built, and I think this focus oninstructional innovation for
(01:55):
transformation is becoming moreand more critical to the work of
the university but also thecommunities that the university
touches through engagement, andso I'm really excited to build
out this other facet ofexperiential learning and really
collaborating, I think, withthe departments and the faculty
(02:19):
to do this important work.
Maggie Grady (02:21):
So, with the increasing emphasis on
experiential learning as apathway to postgraduate
opportunities, it is becomingclear that grades and degrees
alone are no longer sufficient.
They need a little bit more.
The students do.
Could you explain how and whystudents can distinguish
themselves from other candidates, whether they are pursuing jobs
(02:42):
, graduate school or competitiveinternships?
Dr. Mara Huber (02:46):
Oh, there's so much to unpack.
I think this focus on skill andcompetency development is so
important across a number ofdifferent dimensions that all
sort of come together.
So, for students, they arelooking to show, in addition to
their coursework and theirgrades, what they can do, right,
(03:08):
and what they have done, andthat comes in the form of these
skills and competencies, butalso these high-impact
experiences that connect withthe needs and expectations of
audiences, right?
So, absolutely, jobs, but alsointernships, competitive
internships, scholarships,fellowships, graduate programs.
(03:29):
Students are really looking toshowcase their undergraduate
experience and so, from thatstandpoint, we know that skills
in competencies are developedthrough applied experiences, not
traditional learning, right?
So I'm not saying that theyneed these in place of courses,
(03:50):
but they certainly need them aspart of their undergraduate
education and they're looking tohave that integrated.
They don't want everything extra.
On the other hand, whilestudents are doing these
experiences, they have theopportunity to engage with
partners, they have theopportunity to tackle challenges
(04:20):
, learning that the learning isenhanced when students are
connecting with real people andaddressing challenges that are
compelling and aligned withtheir personal interests and
stories.
So you start to see that thisspace of high-impact
experiential learning andspecifically project-based
learning is literally alaboratory right to design these
(04:44):
exciting opportunities thathave multiple impacts and
multiple benefits for thestudent, for the faculty and
their teaching, for departments,for the university and for the
communities.
And, if you want to take it allthe way, which I do, to the
planet.
Right, because all of this mapsto climate action, it maps to
(05:05):
sustainability, so why not gofor it?
Maggie Grady (05:09):
I love that you're preparing the students for
their next chapter, whateverthat chapter is.
Right, so that's awesome.
I love that.
So, moving on to, you and yourteam developed the ELN model for
experiential learning whichfeatures PEARL projects and
digital badges.
Dr. Mara Huber (05:38):
So when we sort of dug into the challenge of
supporting students in whereverthey wanted to go with
experiential learning, we neededa framework that was really
flexible right.
And so PEARL started out as anengagement framework and it
really was built around the ideathat we wanted to support
(06:01):
students as they were engagingwith faculty in any type of
project, internship, research,service.
It really didn't matter.
While they were engaging, wewanted to support them in
working through all thedifferent aspects of
experiential learning.
So PEARL stands for Prepare,Engage and Add Value, Reflect
(06:23):
and Leverage.
It's a process, right.
So as students were workingwith faculty, they could work
through these PEARL modules anddo some reflection, really
develop narratives and do thework around getting the most of
their experience.
So PEARL was built out forstudents, but we know that
faculty play so many importantroles in both structuring the
(06:47):
experience and supporting theexperience, and so PEARL is also
a framework to help designhigh-impact experiences and
integrate them into courses, andso we work with faculty and we
will work more with departmentsand faculty to use that tool.
(07:07):
A third aspect of PEARL which Iwould like to highlight is that,
at the same time, it supportsdynamic assessment in ways that
we have never really eventhought was possible.
So, as students are working withfaculty in courses or
co-curricularly, going throughprojects and working through
PEARL modules, on the back endwe can study their growth, we
(07:31):
can see how their skills andcompetencies are developing and
we can actually look at theimpacts on success and retention
, which is becoming so critical.
And we can even, throughdigital badges, which you
mentioned, follow their progressinto the world of work and look
at professional mobility, lookat professional success and, for
(07:53):
the first time, we can reallyhave a through line from
instruction to learning, toassessment, to progress
monitoring, and we can optimizeall of this so that we can help
our students take their learningas far as they can go, for
their benefit, but also for thebenefit of communities, society,
(08:13):
economic development, howeverwe want to sort of map this work
, which is all very exciting.
So PEARL turned out to be quitea powerful tool and we're still
learning all the ways that itcan be used, as our partners
start to use it all over theworld.
Maggie Grady (08:30):
So I do love how we're going to help the faculty
as well as help the studentsjust better prepare our future
leaders.
I'll call them.
I like to refer to our studentsas that, so could you provide
some practical examples of howthe ELN model and the PEARL
projects have been implementedin educational settings?
Dr. Mara Huber (08:48):
So the ELN model launched in 2019.
And if you get on and sort oflook at the ELN website and the
project portal, you'll see about300 projects listed and they're
all listed with faculty mentors.
So we have been working withfaculty and departments to
integrate projects withincourses.
(09:09):
So I'm going to give you anexample.
I'm going to start with onethat is a little surprising.
Faculty often assume that thisonly works with these small,
heavy lift, boutique-y types ofcourses.
Right, there's a littleapprehension that this is such a
heavy lift.
So I want to give an example ofa really sort of big
(09:31):
multi-section course, and thatis a technical writing course
that's offered as part of theenvironmental studies major that
every student has to take.
And so for several years, theELN has been working with
different faculty to support anexperiential learning module as
(09:52):
part of their course, and sothey had an assignment that was
always there to have studentsdevelop a proposal using a
methodology, and they wouldfocus on a theoretical
organization to do that.
But we wanted to introduceengagement with an actual
(10:12):
organization because we knowthat students benefit, right, so
we've worked to introduce localnonprofits dealing with
sustainability work and alsoglobal nonprofits from our
global partner studio from Westand East Africa dealing with
sustainability.
We've given students thebackground and then we've
(10:34):
coordinated Zoom calls withthose organizations and so,
rather than doing a theoreticalproposal, the students actually
do their proposal based on theneeds and challenges of that
particular community and theirproposals are given to the
partner who then can leveragethose and build on those for
their own work.
(10:54):
And then students can build onthose modules to do ELN projects
and earn badges.
We've also worked witharchitecture faculty Chris
Romano recently, who led a studyabroad trip to Tanzania focused
on engaging with one of ourpartners.
And our UB students actuallyparticipated in a build of a
(11:23):
water tank using a soilstabilized brick press, and our
UB students have the same brickpress at UB so they can actually
engage in equitablecollaboration and work together.
So there's an example of anentire course, a study abroad
course built around a project.
So imagine, PEARL pre-trip isthe preparation, focuses on
(11:47):
getting context.
The trip is the engagement.
They come back and do theirproject to add value, and then
their reflection and leveraginginvolved developing multimedia
presentations and a particularstudent continued with the work
and is doing graduate studiesaround that.
(12:08):
So you can do small littlePEARL projects and modules.
You can do entire classes.
You can do internships,research, independent studies,
interdisciplinary projectsaround minors, majors.
From a design standpoint, it isincredibly versatile, which
(12:33):
makes it really exciting, and itreally supports innovation,
which is what this is all about,right.
Maggie Grady (12:40):
So if there's a project already in place and the
class has already graduated orthe student has already
graduated, can an incomingstudent pick up on that and
continue that?
Dr. Mara Huber (12:54):
That is sort of the holy grail right, like we
talk about generative projectsand the idea of building on
faculty engagement, studentengagement.
That is really exciting for ourpartners because partners are
really looking to leverage whatUB has to offer in terms of our
(13:16):
students, local partners andglobal partners.
So the idea of having classescontinue to build is
particularly exciting andthere's also the opportunity to
build on individual digitalbadges right?
Stacking badges to these higherlevel competencies as well.
Maggie Grady (13:34):
So I think you've shared already, but are there
any other stories or impactfulprojects that you can think of
that ELN and PEARL models havealready been in place and you
can share with our listeners.
Dr. Mara Huber (13:46):
So we have so many examples of students who
have leveraged projects.
We know through the letters ofrecommendation that we're asked
to often give to students, butalso seeing their trajectory,
the opportunity to really havesomething that they can show for
their efforts is quitecompelling.
(14:08):
So we have a student wholeveraged her work in Tanzania
and is continuing with graduatestudies.
We have students who havedecided to go on to medical
school.
Many of these students areactually highlighted.
I should mention we have a newbook that's coming out and it
(14:31):
includes case studies of some ofour partners and our faculty
and our students, and so thestudents, I think, are taking
this work in really excitingdirections, and we also have
data that suggests that what'sso impactful for the students,
in addition to the experiences,is the mentoring.
(14:54):
So our students report that thementoring they get and the
personal connections they makewith faculty when faculty share
their connections and theirexpertise can be really
impactful.
As well as connecting with thecommunities and the
organizations.
Our students are really lookingto figure out their own stories
(15:17):
right and to figure out theirown interests and goals to
clarify, and all of that workthat can be done through
engaging in these projects canbe quite impactful for the
students, I'm sure.
Maggie Grady (15:30):
So how do the ELN and the PEARL models foster
essential soft skills such asthe critical thinking, the
reflective thinking, problemsolving?
It sounds like all of that'sincorporated, so can you expand
a little bit about on that?
Dr. Mara Huber (15:48):
Yeah, it's really interesting because
competency development, as Isaid, is really tied to
reflection and settingintentions.
One of the you know, one of theconcerns that faculty and
departments have is thatmentoring and supporting all of
this can be quite a big lift,right.
(16:12):
And it's hard for faculty to doall of that in addition to
teaching their content area.
Because PEARL has been turnedinto these modules, the online
modules that are supportedthrough the ELN, faculty don't
have to do all of that right.
So we will and we do work withfaculty to integrate PEARL into
(16:35):
their syllabi, but in doing so,the students actually get to
work through the ELN to do thosemodules.
And so PEARL and ELN are such abeautiful marriage because once
the project is developed, oncethe syllabus includes that, the
(16:55):
students can work through theELN to do that reflective work,
to do that alignment and mappingwork and narrative work.
And yet everybody's workingtogether.
So when the student finishestheir project, that actually
gets uploaded as evidence aspart of the ELN system.
So the student is going throughPEARL modules, they're
(17:17):
self-assessing on competencies,they're reflecting on their
story, they're submitting theirevidence.
At the same time, the facultyis vetting the evidence right,
doing it as part of anassignment, making sure that
they have it right and in theend the student gets that badge.
So it really is a naturalpairing.
(17:38):
What has been missing is thatsupport on the design.
ELN does that work.
But ELN is really focused onthe student experience.
It's focused on supporting thestudent, giving the student
support and resources.
So this ability for us to focuson supporting faculty in using
(17:59):
PEARL, but also departments andprograms, we really are going to
have this complete package allthe way from instruction to
learning, to assessment andconnecting it out to external
opportunities that theuniversity and different
programs are interested inleveraging.
Maggie Grady (18:25):
So you touched base already on how CATT can
support faculty, so can you talka little bit more about our
goals and how we can actuallysupport that if the faculty say
"Yeah, this sounds perfect.
I want to do this.
How can they get involved?
How can they be trained, if youwill, or taught to
Dr. Mara Huber (18:40):
Well, I think you know we really look forward
to having a suite of offeringsthat will include more you know,
workshoppy types ofopportunities.
I think there's a lot ofinterest in the design work and
I know that's something that Ienjoy doing.
It's consultative, it's sort ofhelping the departments clarify
what their strategic interestsare and then designing projects
(19:05):
that are going to elevate theirareas of focus.
Projects can vary tremendously,so as we have more examples
from faculty, we will also beshowcasing those and really
creating a forum for those whoare using this model, both at UB
(19:25):
and internationally, becauseit's being translated both
locally and internationally.
I think it's really importantto create a community of
practice so that we can innovatetogether, because this is
really sort of a new anddifferent way of supporting
experiential learning and alsobringing in AI, which is really
(19:48):
exciting.
That's another area ofinnovation that we're really
investing in.
Other areas like GIS mapping,story maps, PEARL is really
versatile and so, as we identifyareas of interest, we can
really, I think, utilize thesetools in exciting ways.
Maggie Grady (20:09):
I agree, I agree, I'm looking forward to it.
Ok, so wrapping up ourconversation, these questions
aim to help one dive a littlebit deeper into the ELN and the
PEARL models to enhance teachingand learning.
Before we conclude, is thereanything else that you would
like to share with our listeners, perhaps any final thoughts,
(20:30):
insights or advice on how theycan effectively implement these
concepts into their owneducational settings?
Dr. Mara Huber (20:39):
I think I would like to encourage us all to be
bold.
It is a time to be bold withexperiential learning and to
dream a little bit bigger interms of what we can offer our
students.
I think as a researchuniversity, we have tremendous
relationships, expertise, andall of that is a playground for
(21:01):
students.
I think we also have to reallyseize the moment and innovate in
this space.
I think it is a huge mistakewhen I see institutions leave
experiential learning up tooutside vendors or outside
individuals right ororganizations.
(21:22):
I think it's really our work todesign high-impact experiential
learning and help studentsleverage it and help them
develop those narratives andconnect it with our degrees and
coursework.
So I'm really excited.
You know UB has been a leaderin experiential learning.
It is happening in suchexciting ways across the
(21:46):
university.
I think you know this is reallyan opportunity to work
collaboratively with ourprograms and our departments and
our faculty to really leveragethis new paradigm and see what
we can do together.
Maggie Grady (22:01):
So thank you for joining us today at the teaching
table and thank you, D r.
Huber, for joining us todiscuss experiential learning
and how the PEARL models canhelp our faculty prepare
students for post-graduationopportunities.
Be sure to connect buffalo.
edu/catt, that's c-a-t-t, oremail us at ubcatt@buffalo.
(22:21):
edu, and thank you.
Welcome to the Teaching Table, a monthly
podcast that explores thevibrant and evolving landscape
of teaching, learning andtechnology in higher education.
Hosted by the University ofBuffalo's Office of Curriculum
Assessment and TeachingTransformation, otherwise known
as CATT, and supported by theGentile's Excellence in Teaching
Fund, this podcast is dedicatedto highlighting the journeys
(00:25):
toward educational excellence.
I'm your host, maggie Grady, alearning designer in CAT, and
today I'm thrilled to be joinedat the table by Dr Mara Huber,
who is recently appointed SeniorDirector for Instructional
Innovation and Transformationfor the Office of Curriculum and
Assessment and TeachingTransformation.
So welcome to CAT and thank youfor joining us on this podcast.
Dr. Mara Huber (00:48):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited and lookingforward to the conversation.
Maggie Grady (00:53):
So, Mara, recently you joined, as I mentioned,
CATT as the Senior Director ofInstructional Innovation and
Transformation, transitioning infrom Experiential Learning
Network or ELN.
Separately, CATT and ELN haveworked to create impactful
learning experiences for bothstudents and faculty, aiming to
(01:15):
support their pedagogical growthand prepare them for future
endeavors.
So naturally, it made sense tocombine CATT and ELN and bring
you on board.
So can you share a little bitwith us about the development of
the collaboration and its goals?
Dr. Mara Huber (01:32):
So we had really focused on building out ELN as
an opportunity to engagestudents in high impact
experiential learning.
B ut, as you said, there is awhole side of creating those
experiences and leveraging thetools and resources that we
built, and I think this focus oninstructional innovation for
(01:55):
transformation is becoming moreand more critical to the work of
the university but also thecommunities that the university
touches through engagement, andso I'm really excited to build
out this other facet ofexperiential learning and really
collaborating, I think, withthe departments and the faculty
(02:19):
to do this important work.
Maggie Grady (02:21):
So, with the increasing emphasis on
experiential learning as apathway to postgraduate
opportunities, it is becomingclear that grades and degrees
alone are no longer sufficient.
They need a little bit more.
The students do.
Could you explain how and whystudents can distinguish
themselves from other candidates, whether they are pursuing jobs
(02:42):
, graduate school or competitiveinternships?
Dr. Mara Huber (02:46):
Oh, there's so much to unpack.
I think this focus on skill andcompetency development is so
important across a number ofdifferent dimensions that all
sort of come together.
So, for students, they arelooking to show, in addition to
their coursework and theirgrades, what they can do, right,
(03:08):
and what they have done, andthat comes in the form of these
skills and competencies, butalso these high-impact
experiences that connect withthe needs and expectations of
audiences, right?
So, absolutely, jobs, but alsointernships, competitive
internships, scholarships,fellowships, graduate programs.
(03:29):
Students are really looking toshowcase their undergraduate
experience and so, from thatstandpoint, we know that skills
in competencies are developedthrough applied experiences, not
traditional learning, right?
So I'm not saying that theyneed these in place of courses,
(03:50):
but they certainly need them aspart of their undergraduate
education and they're looking tohave that integrated.
They don't want everything extra.
On the other hand, whilestudents are doing these
experiences, they have theopportunity to engage with
partners, they have theopportunity to tackle challenges
(04:20):
, learning that the learning isenhanced when students are
connecting with real people andaddressing challenges that are
compelling and aligned withtheir personal interests and
stories.
So you start to see that thisspace of high-impact
experiential learning andspecifically project-based
learning is literally alaboratory right to design these
(04:44):
exciting opportunities thathave multiple impacts and
multiple benefits for thestudent, for the faculty and
their teaching, for departments,for the university and for the
communities.
And, if you want to take it allthe way, which I do, to the
planet.
Right, because all of this mapsto climate action, it maps to
(05:05):
sustainability, so why not gofor it?
Maggie Grady (05:09):
I love that you're preparing the students for
their next chapter, whateverthat chapter is.
Right, so that's awesome.
I love that.
So, moving on to, you and yourteam developed the ELN model for
experiential learning whichfeatures PEARL projects and
digital badges.
Dr. Mara Huber (05:38):
So when we sort of dug into the challenge of
supporting students in whereverthey wanted to go with
experiential learning, we neededa framework that was really
flexible right.
And so PEARL started out as anengagement framework and it
really was built around the ideathat we wanted to support
(06:01):
students as they were engagingwith faculty in any type of
project, internship, research,service.
It really didn't matter.
While they were engaging, wewanted to support them in
working through all thedifferent aspects of
experiential learning.
So PEARL stands for Prepare,Engage and Add Value, Reflect
(06:23):
and Leverage.
It's a process, right.
So as students were workingwith faculty, they could work
through these PEARL modules anddo some reflection, really
develop narratives and do thework around getting the most of
their experience.
So PEARL was built out forstudents, but we know that
faculty play so many importantroles in both structuring the
(06:47):
experience and supporting theexperience, and so PEARL is also
a framework to help designhigh-impact experiences and
integrate them into courses, andso we work with faculty and we
will work more with departmentsand faculty to use that tool.
(07:07):
A third aspect of PEARL which Iwould like to highlight is that,
at the same time, it supportsdynamic assessment in ways that
we have never really eventhought was possible.
So, as students are working withfaculty in courses or
co-curricularly, going throughprojects and working through
PEARL modules, on the back endwe can study their growth, we
(07:31):
can see how their skills andcompetencies are developing and
we can actually look at theimpacts on success and retention
, which is becoming so critical.
And we can even, throughdigital badges, which you
mentioned, follow their progressinto the world of work and look
at professional mobility, lookat professional success and, for
(07:53):
the first time, we can reallyhave a through line from
instruction to learning, toassessment, to progress
monitoring, and we can optimizeall of this so that we can help
our students take their learningas far as they can go, for
their benefit, but also for thebenefit of communities, society,
(08:13):
economic development, howeverwe want to sort of map this work
, which is all very exciting.
So PEARL turned out to be quitea powerful tool and we're still
learning all the ways that itcan be used, as our partners
start to use it all over theworld.
Maggie Grady (08:30):
So I do love how we're going to help the faculty
as well as help the studentsjust better prepare our future
leaders.
I'll call them.
I like to refer to our studentsas that, so could you provide
some practical examples of howthe ELN model and the PEARL
projects have been implementedin educational settings?
Dr. Mara Huber (08:48):
So the ELN model launched in 2019.
And if you get on and sort oflook at the ELN website and the
project portal, you'll see about300 projects listed and they're
all listed with faculty mentors.
So we have been working withfaculty and departments to
integrate projects withincourses.
(09:09):
So I'm going to give you anexample.
I'm going to start with onethat is a little surprising.
Faculty often assume that thisonly works with these small,
heavy lift, boutique-y types ofcourses.
Right, there's a littleapprehension that this is such a
heavy lift.
So I want to give an example ofa really sort of big
(09:31):
multi-section course, and thatis a technical writing course
that's offered as part of theenvironmental studies major that
every student has to take.
And so for several years, theELN has been working with
different faculty to support anexperiential learning module as
(09:52):
part of their course, and sothey had an assignment that was
always there to have studentsdevelop a proposal using a
methodology, and they wouldfocus on a theoretical
organization to do that.
But we wanted to introduceengagement with an actual
(10:12):
organization because we knowthat students benefit, right, so
we've worked to introduce localnonprofits dealing with
sustainability work and alsoglobal nonprofits from our
global partner studio from Westand East Africa dealing with
sustainability.
We've given students thebackground and then we've
(10:34):
coordinated Zoom calls withthose organizations and so,
rather than doing a theoreticalproposal, the students actually
do their proposal based on theneeds and challenges of that
particular community and theirproposals are given to the
partner who then can leveragethose and build on those for
their own work.
(10:54):
And then students can build onthose modules to do ELN projects
and earn badges.
We've also worked witharchitecture faculty Chris
Romano recently, who led a studyabroad trip to Tanzania focused
on engaging with one of ourpartners.
And our UB students actuallyparticipated in a build of a
(11:23):
water tank using a soilstabilized brick press, and our
UB students have the same brickpress at UB so they can actually
engage in equitablecollaboration and work together.
So there's an example of anentire course, a study abroad
course built around a project.
So imagine, PEARL pre-trip isthe preparation, focuses on
(11:47):
getting context.
The trip is the engagement.
They come back and do theirproject to add value, and then
their reflection and leveraginginvolved developing multimedia
presentations and a particularstudent continued with the work
and is doing graduate studiesaround that.
(12:08):
So you can do small littlePEARL projects and modules.
You can do entire classes.
You can do internships,research, independent studies,
interdisciplinary projectsaround minors, majors.
From a design standpoint, it isincredibly versatile, which
(12:33):
makes it really exciting, and itreally supports innovation,
which is what this is all about,right.
Maggie Grady (12:40):
So if there's a project already in place and the
class has already graduated orthe student has already
graduated, can an incomingstudent pick up on that and
continue that?
Dr. Mara Huber (12:54):
That is sort of the holy grail right, like we
talk about generative projectsand the idea of building on
faculty engagement, studentengagement.
That is really exciting for ourpartners because partners are
really looking to leverage whatUB has to offer in terms of our
(13:16):
students, local partners andglobal partners.
So the idea of having classescontinue to build is
particularly exciting andthere's also the opportunity to
build on individual digitalbadges right?
Stacking badges to these higherlevel competencies as well.
Maggie Grady (13:34):
So I think you've shared already, but are there
any other stories or impactfulprojects that you can think of
that ELN and PEARL models havealready been in place and you
can share with our listeners.
Dr. Mara Huber (13:46):
So we have so many examples of students who
have leveraged projects.
We know through the letters ofrecommendation that we're asked
to often give to students, butalso seeing their trajectory,
the opportunity to really havesomething that they can show for
their efforts is quitecompelling.
(14:08):
So we have a student wholeveraged her work in Tanzania
and is continuing with graduatestudies.
We have students who havedecided to go on to medical
school.
Many of these students areactually highlighted.
I should mention we have a newbook that's coming out and it
(14:31):
includes case studies of some ofour partners and our faculty
and our students, and so thestudents, I think, are taking
this work in really excitingdirections, and we also have
data that suggests that what'sso impactful for the students,
in addition to the experiences,is the mentoring.
(14:54):
So our students report that thementoring they get and the
personal connections they makewith faculty when faculty share
their connections and theirexpertise can be really
impactful.
As well as connecting with thecommunities and the
organizations.
Our students are really lookingto figure out their own stories
(15:17):
right and to figure out theirown interests and goals to
clarify, and all of that workthat can be done through
engaging in these projects canbe quite impactful for the
students, I'm sure.
Maggie Grady (15:30):
So how do the ELN and the PEARL models foster
essential soft skills such asthe critical thinking, the
reflective thinking, problemsolving?
It sounds like all of that'sincorporated, so can you expand
a little bit about on that?
Dr. Mara Huber (15:48):
Yeah, it's really interesting because
competency development, as Isaid, is really tied to
reflection and settingintentions.
One of the you know, one of theconcerns that faculty and
departments have is thatmentoring and supporting all of
this can be quite a big lift,right.
(16:12):
And it's hard for faculty to doall of that in addition to
teaching their content area.
Because PEARL has been turnedinto these modules, the online
modules that are supportedthrough the ELN, faculty don't
have to do all of that right.
So we will and we do work withfaculty to integrate PEARL into
(16:35):
their syllabi, but in doing so,the students actually get to
work through the ELN to do thosemodules.
And so PEARL and ELN are such abeautiful marriage because once
the project is developed, oncethe syllabus includes that, the
(16:55):
students can work through theELN to do that reflective work,
to do that alignment and mappingwork and narrative work.
And yet everybody's workingtogether.
So when the student finishestheir project, that actually
gets uploaded as evidence aspart of the ELN system.
So the student is going throughPEARL modules, they're
(17:17):
self-assessing on competencies,they're reflecting on their
story, they're submitting theirevidence.
At the same time, the facultyis vetting the evidence right,
doing it as part of anassignment, making sure that
they have it right and in theend the student gets that badge.
So it really is a naturalpairing.
(17:38):
What has been missing is thatsupport on the design.
ELN does that work.
But ELN is really focused onthe student experience.
It's focused on supporting thestudent, giving the student
support and resources.
So this ability for us to focuson supporting faculty in using
(17:59):
PEARL, but also departments andprograms, we really are going to
have this complete package allthe way from instruction to
learning, to assessment andconnecting it out to external
opportunities that theuniversity and different
programs are interested inleveraging.
Maggie Grady (18:25):
So you touched base already on how CATT can
support faculty, so can you talka little bit more about our
goals and how we can actuallysupport that if the faculty say
"Yeah, this sounds perfect.
I want to do this.
How can they get involved?
How can they be trained, if youwill, or taught to
Dr. Mara Huber (18:40):
Well, I think you know we really look forward
to having a suite of offeringsthat will include more you know,
workshoppy types ofopportunities.
I think there's a lot ofinterest in the design work and
I know that's something that Ienjoy doing.
It's consultative, it's sort ofhelping the departments clarify
what their strategic interestsare and then designing projects
(19:05):
that are going to elevate theirareas of focus.
Projects can vary tremendously,so as we have more examples
from faculty, we will also beshowcasing those and really
creating a forum for those whoare using this model, both at UB
(19:25):
and internationally, becauseit's being translated both
locally and internationally.
I think it's really importantto create a community of
practice so that we can innovatetogether, because this is
really sort of a new anddifferent way of supporting
experiential learning and alsobringing in AI, which is really
(19:48):
exciting.
That's another area ofinnovation that we're really
investing in.
Other areas like GIS mapping,story maps, PEARL is really
versatile and so, as we identifyareas of interest, we can
really, I think, utilize thesetools in exciting ways.
Maggie Grady (20:09):
I agree, I agree, I'm looking forward to it.
Ok, so wrapping up ourconversation, these questions
aim to help one dive a littlebit deeper into the ELN and the
PEARL models to enhance teachingand learning.
Before we conclude, is thereanything else that you would
like to share with our listeners, perhaps any final thoughts,
(20:30):
insights or advice on how theycan effectively implement these
concepts into their owneducational settings?
Dr. Mara Huber (20:39):
I think I would like to encourage us all to be
bold.
It is a time to be bold withexperiential learning and to
dream a little bit bigger interms of what we can offer our
students.
I think as a researchuniversity, we have tremendous
relationships, expertise, andall of that is a playground for
(21:01):
students.
I think we also have to reallyseize the moment and innovate in
this space.
I think it is a huge mistakewhen I see institutions leave
experiential learning up tooutside vendors or outside
individuals right ororganizations.
(21:22):
I think it's really our work todesign high-impact experiential
learning and help studentsleverage it and help them
develop those narratives andconnect it with our degrees and
coursework.
So I'm really excited.
You know UB has been a leaderin experiential learning.
It is happening in suchexciting ways across the
(21:46):
university.
I think you know this is reallyan opportunity to work
collaboratively with ourprograms and our departments and
our faculty to really leveragethis new paradigm and see what
we can do together.
Maggie Grady (22:01):
So thank you for joining us today at the teaching
table and thank you, D r.
Huber, for joining us todiscuss experiential learning
and how the PEARL models canhelp our faculty prepare
students for post-graduationopportunities.
Be sure to connect buffalo.
edu/catt, that's c-a-t-t, oremail us at ubcatt@buffalo.
(22:21):
edu, and thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com