Finding opportunities outside the academy to enhance student learning: A paper on practice

A recent trend in higher education is the concept of giving authentic experiences to students. A report in the Washington Post found that college graduates were greatly lacking necessary career readiness skills including decision-making, prioritization, time management, and problem solving (Selingo, 2015) needed for entry into the professional job market. Additional research noted students often have difficulty bridging theory to practice and transferring skills from one situation to another (Gordon, 2007). This paper highlights the work of one southwestern university Teacher Education program as they addressed such concerns. Program faculty looked for opportunities to utilize pedagogical expertise outside the academy walls as they guide preservice teacher educational skill development during the transition from collegiate classroom to their own K-12 classrooms. This resulted in faculty implementation of experiential learning activities within the standard teacher education curriculum. At this university, experiential learning activities have fallen into three primary focus areas: service learning, post-graduation continuing education, and opportunities for faculty research mentoring.