Instructional Experiential Learning
In instructional experiential learning (IEL), students complete these experiences within courses or under guidance of an instructor and/or teaching assistant. These experiences may or may not involve meeting with stakeholders external to the course, though if they do, the stakeholders engage with students within the space and time of course hours. Stakeholders external to the course might: a) inform student learning as guest lecturers or panelists; or b) partner in student learning by identifying challenges and providing feedback to students within course time with the goal of utilizing ideas in their organization. Some of these opportunities may involve leaving campus for specific experiences that build upon course learning.
The various types of instructional EL offered at McMaster are outlined below with supporting examples. Please note that the examples are for illustrative purposes only, and may not represent courses or programming currently active at McMaster.
Expandable List
Field experiences provide students with one-time, part-time, or short-term course-related experiences and assignments or hands-on practical experience in a setting relevant to their subject of study and outside the typical academic classroom. Field trips and field experiences may be typically supervised, directed, or mediated by a course instructor. They do not typically involve work or volunteering under the supervision of an external organization. Examples include field trips, fieldwork, field schools, industry or community partner site visits, job shadowing, and external observational activities.
| Example 1: Commerce 4OT3 (Transportation and Warehousing Management) aims to explore the strategic role of transportation and warehousing functions and operations within businesses and the supply chain. As part of the course, students tour a warehousing or transportation plant. | Example 2: EARTHSCI 3FE3 (Field Camp) introduces students to fieldwork in Whitefish Falls, Manitoulin Island, and the Sudbury Basin, practicing field-based geoscience techniques including mapping, navigation, data recording and logging. |
Entrepreneurship involves the student-driven creation, organization and management of a product development or business venture for the purpose of fostering innovation, social impact and contribution to the local and global marketplace. Examples include incubators and accelerators.
| Example 1: In GENTECH 3EN3 (Entrepreneurial Thinking and Innovation), students work in groups to identify an internal or external business opportunity that could be pursued in the real world, and constructing a business case report. | Example 2: MMEDIA 2A06 (Design and Code) explores design and code strategies for media art projects. As part of the course, students propose a web-based project, such as in an internet art piece, a personal portfolio, or a commercial website for a brand, and develop it in Illustrator. |
Simulations include an array of structured activities that represent actual or potential situations in education and practice. These activities allow students to develop or enhance their knowledge, skills, and attitudes, or to analyze and respond to realistic situations in a simulated environment. (Pilcher, Goodall, Jensen, Huwe, Jewell, Reynolds, and Karlson, 2012). Examples include: case studies, workplace simulations, interactive simulations, writing/art studios.
| Example 1: HTHSCI 3S03 (Communication Skills) offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences aims to strengthen communication skills to support desired outcomes in a healthcare setting. Students work regularly with simulated patients to practice applying evidence-based strategies that they have learned in class. | Example 2: In GENTECH 3MT3 (Project Management) students complete a SimProject simulation in which they act as a manager for a company project. The simulation aims to emulate time and cost restrictions encountered in the real world, as well as other considerations in executing projects, such as managing conflict. |
Exchange entails participation in at least one term of coursework at an international institution. “Exchange” indicates that both the international institution and the host institution send and receive students to and from each other. Unlike “study abroad”, which does not indicate a reciprocal (bilateral) agreement and in which the host institution acts as a sending institution only. “Exchange” students participate in structured pre-departure planning, set clear learning outcomes, and engage in self-assessment and reflection exercises on return. Exchanges taking a curricular form are noted with a dedicated course code on the transcript.
| Example: EXCHANGE 3X06 is one of several course codes used by the McMaster Echange program to give students transcript and progress credit for courses taken while on exchange. |
This type of experiential learning integrates community-partnered/industry-partnered activities that address community or business needs into a credit-bearing course with an explicit educational framework aimed at providing a ‘deliverable’ to an external partner. Activities are mutually beneficial to both the community or industry partner and the student. Examples include workplace projects, consulting projects, community-engaged projects, service learning projects, and community-based research involving ethics clearance
| Example 1: IBH 4AB6A/B (Social Entrepreneurship Capstone) offered by the Integrated Business and Humanities program allows students to work with local organizations on projects aimed at supporting the broader community. Students develop tangible deliverables that can benefit the organizations’ work by the end of the course. | Example 2: HLTHAGE 4P03 (Leisure and Recreation in Later Life) focuses on exploring the characteristics of aging populations as they relate to recreation, lifestyle and leisure. As part of the course, students deliver and facilitate community-based and/or institution-based recreation programs alongside local organizations. |
In an applied research project, students develop and complete a research thesis or project involving systematic investigation, discovery, synthesis and/or application of information designed to address a specific problem or original research question. Students are engaged in research or projects that occur in the academic environment or are connected to the workplace. Projects in this category do not typically involve a ‘deliverable’ to an external partner, but may or may not involve community or industry partner engagement in their inspiration and design. Examples include capstone projects and design projects.
| Example 1: ARTSCI 3F03 (Experiential Project in Teaching and Learning) offers students the opportunity to explore in depth an issue related to teaching and learning in higher education under the supervision of faculty/staff affiliated with the MacPherson Institute. Students may propose research questions of their own or contribute to the development of existing research initiatives within the Institute. Work of students can lead to changes and new additions to the teaching and learning environment at McMaster. For example, in the Summer 2023 term, Zachary Gan’s research project titled “An Examination of ChatGPT through Critical Pedagogy” was used to inform the development of a new course – ARTSCI 3GJ3 (Global Justice Inquiry). | Example 2: The Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) program offers students a range of project (Level III and IV) and thesis (Level IV) courses, allowing students to research a specific topic of interest within or outside of the Faculty of Health Sciences under supervision of a faculty member. There are multiple course codes associated with project and thesis courses correlating with varying numbers of academic units depending on project/research scope. Students may determine the appropriate course code in consultation with their supervisor and the Bachelor of Health Sciences Office. |
Students devise, observe, test, apply, and experiment with course concepts in a controlled, hands-on setting specialized for small group learning. Labs are a distinct course component, separate from a lecture, seminar, or workshop. Labs can include work or learning activities that occur in studios or spaces in Social Sciences, Humanities, Business, or Arts. Labs can include work or learning activities that occur in labs or spaces in Sciences, Health Sciences, or Engineering.
| Example 1: IARTS 2PM3 (Contemporary Approaches to Print Media) offered by the Faculty of Humanities and explores contemporary approaches to print media in a hand-on manner. Students have the opportunity to explore processes such as wood cut collagraph, image transfers, embossing, and photo lithography. | Example 2: LIFESCI 3L03 (Laboratory Methods in Life Sciences) offered by the Faculty of Science aims to develop students’ skills in experimental design, research methodologies, data analysis, and the communication of research information in the Life Sciences. Students engage in two laboratory sessions per week, engaging in hands-on laboratory processes such as microscope imaging. |
Creative practice, performance, or exhibit enables artistic, physical, technical, management or production skill development (usually in areas of art, music, theatre, creative writing, dance, and physical activity) through intensive practice-based experiences that rely heavily on student participation in and experimentation with course concepts. It may involve an individual or team-produced performance, exhibit, or display that is presented to an audience consisting of members other than or in addition to the course instructor and classmates.
| Example 1: THTRFLM 30P6 A/B (Organizing the Performance Space) offered by the Faculty of Humanities focuses on exploring the contributions of design, production and stage management to theatrical productions. Students actively work on studio exercises and department productions to apply and demonstrate their learning. | Example 2: HTHSCI 3CC3 (Theatre for Development) explores the use of Applied Drama for personal and social development, aiming to improve students’ communication skills, creative thinking, and comfort with uncertainty. The culminating project allows students to demonstrate their learning in way that meets their personal learning objectives and interests (e.g., a scene performance, monologue, etc.) |