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ABSTRACT

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CE 024 495

Malak, Sharon: And OthersCareer Education Measurement Handbooks. AssessingExperiential Learning in Career Education. Research SDevelopment Series No. 165.Ohio State Univ., Columbus. National Center forResearch in Vocational Education.National Inst. of Education (DHEW), Washington,D. C79NE-C-00-3-0079123p.1 For related documents see CE 024 496-499.National Center Publications, National Center forResearch in Vocational Education, The Ohio StateUniversity, 1960 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210($7.75: $30.00 for complete set).

MF01/PC05 Plus Postage.Administrator Guides: *Career Education; *EducationalAssessment: *Evaluation Methods: *ExperientialLearning: Guidelines: *Measurement Techniques;Opinion Papers: Postsecondary Education; ProgramDevelopment: Program Implementation: SecondaryEducation

This document is the first volume in a set of fiveCareer Education Measurement Handbooks intended to help localeducation personnel in measurement and evaluation. Divided into eightchapters, this handbook provides practical guidelines for assessingexperiential learning and includes historical and theoreticalinformation relevant to experiential learning. The introduction foundin chapter 1 presents the rationale, organization, and suggestionsfor using the-handbook. Chapter 2 provides an overview ofexperiential learning and explains some key contrasts between it andtraditional learning. Chapter 3 presents several viewpoints ofpersons who have had experience in the assessment of experientiallearning activities on the secondary level. Chapter 4 describes themethods lost frequently used to assess various components ofexperiential learning programs. Chapter 5 presents viewpoints ofpersons with experience in postsecondary experiential programs.Guidelines for use in planning, implementing, and reviewing programsare included in chapter 6: and chapter 7 provides a quick index tothe major concepts addressed by each of the writers in chapters 3 and5. The final chapter suggests resources to ail in the further studyof assessment in experiential learning and to help with thedevelopment and operation of a program. (BMI

***********************************************************************Reproductions supplied by EDPS are the best that can be male

from the original document.

Research and Development Series No. 165

CAREER EDUCATION NEASUREOE:a HAND3O3KS.

ASSESSING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNINGIN CAREER EDUCATION

Sharon MalakJanet E. Spirer

Brenda Pellegrini Land

The National Center for Research in Vocational EducMionThe Ohio State University

1960 Kenny RoadColumbus, Ohio 43210

1979

U S Of AITITAAENT pi NELTMECTLICTION a TNELXRENATIONM. INSTITUTE CT

EDLICTION

,.,s CMCUMENt mAS SEEN REPRO-DUCE() E XAC TL Y A5 RECEIVED FROMT.,E PERSON OR ORGNlzTION ORIGINATNO rr POINTS Or v,Evo OR OPINIONSstatED 00 NOT NECE SS/kiwi'. y REPRESENT 0(fL NATIONL INSTITUTE 0E Du( AT,ON ROS,,,ON OR ROL,CV

THE NATIONAL CENTER MISSION STATEMENT

The National Center for Research in Vocational Education's mission isto increase the ability of diverse agencies, institutions, and organizationsto solve educational problems relating to individual career planning,preparation, and progression. The National Center fulfills its mission by:

Generating knowledge through research

Developing educational programs and products

Evaluating individual program needs and outcomes

Installing educational programs and products

Operating information systems and services

Conducting leadership development and trainingprograms

3

The work upon which this publication is based was performed pursuant to ContractNE-C-00-3-0079 with the National Institute of Education, Department of Health, Education, andWelfare. Contractors undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouragedto freely express their judgment in professional and technical matters. Points of view or opinionsdo not, therefore, necessarily represent official National Institute of Education position or policy.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE

National Institute of Education

it

[

FOREWORD

Educators have often been criticized for viewing their role merely as dispensors ofknowledge and showing a lack of concern with the application and relevance of this knowledgeto their students' future lives. However, the general public has begun to accept the idea that theeducational system has a responsibility to assist a// individuals in making orderly transitions tothe world of work. Additionally, during the last decade, a number of innovative activities,projects, and/or programs have been developed at the federal, state, and local level in whichpersonnel are attempting to link education arid work. Among these programs and/or projects arethe following examples: career education, Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE), Part Dexemplary projects in vocational education, Title IV-C of the Elementary and SecondaryEducation Act (ESEA), Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE), Title Iand III of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), etc.

Personnel associated with education and work programs and projects are becomingincreasingly aware of the need for information related to accountability and neededimprovements. Many reportssome informal, some in the literatureindicate a wide and excitingvariety of approaches to evaluating education and work linkage programs. However, the needexists for practitioners to become acquainted with evaluation ideas and materials available forparticular situations.

Recognizing these trends, the Education and Work Group of the National Institute ofEducation (NIE) contracted with the National Center for Research in Vocational Education(NCRVE) to develop five comprehensive "user oriented" handbooks. These Career EducationMeasurement Handbooks, intended to help local education personnel in measurement andevaluation, are.

Assessing Experiential Learning in Career Education

Career Education Measures. A Compendium of Evaluation Instruments

Improving the Accountability of Career Education Progiams: EvaluationGuidelines and Checklists

A Guide for Improving Locally Developed Career Education Measures

Using Systematic Observation Techniques in Evaluating Career Education

This handbook, "Assessing Experiential Learning in Career Education," is designed toprovide practical guidelines for assessing experiential learning, and to give the reader a betterunderstanding of experiential learning, historically and theoretically. In addition, the handbookprovides resources for further inquiry in terms of both practitioners and academics

The National Center is particularly indebted to Sharon J Malak, specialist at the NationalCenter, Janet E Spirer and Brenda Pellegrmi Land, Graduate Research Associates who preparedthis handbook. Special recognition should be given to N. L. McCaslin, project director, whocoordinated the project, Jerry Walker, Associate Director of Evaluation, who provided invaluable

III

5

assistance throughout the project, and Michael Crowe, specialist at the National Center, whocontributed to the development of this handbook Additionally, appreciation is extended to DeliaNeuman and Cathy King Fitch who edited the handbook. A special note of thanks is extended toRonald Bucknam, who originally conceived this handbook series and continued his involvementthrough development as the project officer for the National Institute of Education. Valuableadvice in the design and scope of the handbook series was received from an advisory committeecomposed of Robert Ebel, Michigan State University: Margaret Ferqueron, State Director ofCareer Education in Florida: and Deede Sharpe, Georgia Department of Education.

In an attempt to make this handbook truly "user oriented," the Nahonal Center is indebted toJeanne Carney, Donald A Casella, Sister Virginia Clare Duncan, Sheila Gordon, Rex Hagans,Barry Heerman, Michael Ketterhagan, Earl Leininger, Christine McGuire, Layton Olson, David RosenRobert F Sexton, Robert L Sigmon, Jack Alex Seprling, Frank D. van Aalst and Kenneth N. Wood whoprepared the viewpoint papers included in this handbook. Additionally, credit is given to thosecareer education practitioners who participated in the user trial prior to publication. With theirvaluable assistance, the utility of this handbook has been enhanced.

Finally, a special note of appreciation is extended to Marlene Linton, Pat Bandy, and NancyPowell who typed the manuscript of this publication.

Robert E TaylorExecutive DirectorThe National Center for Research

in Vocational Education

6IV

r

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Foreword iii

1. INTRODUCTION 1

Why a handbook on the assessmentof experiential learning? 1

How is the handbook organized? 1

Use of this handbook: not a last word 2

... but a stimulus for yourthoughts and ideas! 2

2. OVERVIEW OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING 5

Experiential learning 5

Experiential learning and traditionalinstructiona viewpoint 6

Yes, there are strong and weak aspectsof each kind of learning 8

Key components of experientiallearning 9

The need for innovation andcreativity in assessing experiential learning 9

What are some important considerations inassessing experiential learning? 10

3. ASSESSING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING.VIEWPOINTS FROM THE SECONDARY PERSPECTIVE 13

Assessing the Service Learning Experience.Jeanne Carney , 15

A Good Learning Contract.Frank D. van Aalst ..... . . 21

Perhaps You Would Like PIE?.Michael Ketterhagen 25

Serving and Being Served.Robert L. Sigmon 29

Centering and Venturing.Kenneth N. Wood 35

The Community is the Classroom.Rex W. Hagans ... . 39...........

v

4. ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES FOR EXPERIENTIALLEARNING IN CAREER EDUCATION 45

A word to the wise 45.... Types of assessment 45

Assessment methods 46Direct assessment 47Self assessment . 50Work sample 52Simulation 53Tests 55Two other factorstriangulation and program outcomes 56Fbur questions to consider 57An illustration 58Where do you go from here', 63Planning an assessment strategy 63

5 ASSESSING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING'VIEWPOINTS FROM THE POSTSECONDARY PERSPECTIVE 65

Observations on Experiential Learning in Career Education.Sheila Gordon 67

Internships and Assessment.Jack Alex Sperling .. . 73

Sister Duncan's Assessment.Sister Virginia Clare Duncan . 77

Harnessing the Spirit'.Donald A Casella .... ..... 83

Omar's Dilemma.Robert F Sexton ..... 87

What's the Difference'.Layton Olson and David Rosen 91

Two-Bladed Shears.Barry Heermann 97

A Word from Competency Based Assessment.Earl Leminger.. . . ... ...... 101

Simulation.Chnstme McGuire . 107

6 CHECKLISTS FOR ASSESSING EXPERIENTIALLEARNING IN CAREER EDUCATION. ....... ... 111

What do I do now',Checklist 1 Planning the Assessment ProcessChecklist 2 Implementing the Assessment Process ..Checklist 3 Reviewing the Assessment Process . .

7 INDEX OF MAJOR CONCEPTS APPEARING...... .. . 117IN THE VIEWPOINT PAPERS ....

8. RESOURCES 121

vi

Why a handbookon th assassmantof oxperlondal learning?

How Is %handbook organIzad?

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Do you remember the story of the three blind men whotried to describe an elephant? Each eYamined a differentpart of the animaland so each described a different beast.Describing an experiential learning program and suggestinga way to assess it provides an analogous situation. Thebackground of and the educational practices valued by theperson examining the issue determine to a great extent thenature of the information conveyed. This has indeedhappened in the field of experiential learning, and the resulthas been a profusion of conflicting historical, methodologi-cal, and philosophical materials on the topic.

This handbook, by providing a brief overview of the fieldand a number of suggestions for coping with its variousaspects, is designed to help minimize some of the currentconfusion and to assist local coordinators, principals, andteachers of education and work programs in their effort todevelop, manage, and assess experiential learning pro-grams. The handbook provides the local developer andpractitioner of experiential career education programs withuseful information and practical tools to use selectively,according to individual needs.

You will find that the handbook is organized in a logical,readable format. The next section of Chapter 1 provides afew suggestions on how to use the handbook. Chapter 2gives a brief historical overview of experiential learning andexplains some key contrasts between it and traditionallearning. Chapter 3 provides viewpoints of persons expe-rienced with secondary experiential learning, in which theyexpress their views on the assessment of experientiallearning, discuss some problematic areas, and providesome practical guidelines and suggestions. Chapter 4describes the methods most frequently used to assessvarious components of experiential learning programs.Chapter 5 offers the opportunity to read papers of personsfrom various backgrounds with experience in postsecon-dary experiential programs. Although the setting is differ-ent, the measurement concepts are quite similar. Chapter 6

1

9

Use of this handbook:not a last word ...

... but a stimulus foryour thoughts and Ideasl

offers you a set of guidelines for use in planning,implementing and reviewing your program. Chapter 7provides a quick index to the major concepts addressed byeach of the writers who expressed their views on either thesecondary or postsecondary experiential programs. Thefinal chapter of the handbook suggests resources to aid inyour further study of assessment in experiential learningand to help you with the developm nt and fruitful operationof your particular program.

This handbook is by no means the last word in assessingexperiential learning. Since programs designed to provide alinkage between formal education and workprograms inwhich experiential learning is becoming an integral partare relatively youthful, there simply are not any goldenrules for the assessment of these experiences. But thehandbook does provide some* important background knowl-edge and offers you the opportunity to expose yourself to avariety of methods, issues, problems, and resources relatedto the field.

In using this handbook, you first might read through it asyou would listen to a radio program or watch a televisionnews report. During a second readingthis time with yourown particular situation in mindyou might think abouthow and where you could use the information in eachchapter in your program or in one you may want todevelop. Perhaps you will want to contact one of theresource people in Chapters 3 or 5 for further elaboration.Maybe you will want to experiment with a combination ofthe assessment methods presented in Chapter 4. Yetanother alternative would be to use the checklists inChapter 6 to plan, implement or review your assessmentprocess. Whatever your particular need, and whatever yourjudgment says will work best, this handbook was designedto guide your further study and to be a tool for daily use.

Remember that many of the innovations most beneficial tohumanity were not born in corporate organizations, infaculty senates, or in think tanks. They emanated from thework of individuals Copernicus' geocentric theory, Men-del's heredity laws, and Madame Curie's creative use ofradium are only a few examples of the contributions toknowledge that have resulted from individual effort In likemanner, creative and innovative teaching and assessmentare not found only in teachers' guides or manuals. Mostoften, they are the products of individuals who gather datafrom various materials, examine the needs of their ownstudent populations and teaching situations, and thensynthesize the information into a new configuration.

2

1 I)

This handbook is designed to help you do just that.Experiential learning, in its most desirable form, is primarilyindividualized, and so should be the use of a handbook toguide its assessment. Only you can design an assessmentthat precisely fits your needs. Use this handbook to helpyouto stimulate your thoughts and to point to your owncreation of innovative techniques for the assessment ofexperiential learning.

3

Experiential learning

... In caves

... In medieval guilds

. . . In castles

CHAPTER 2

OVERVIEW OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

The popularity of experiential learning programs is, in part,a result of the career education movement. But experientiallearning itself is not a new idea. In fact, it has existed invarious forms throughout history. Prehistoric peoplelearned by experience to feed, clothe and warm themselvesby trial and error. Observing the nature of animals and theelements and then putting the different parts of informationtogether, early people arrived at general principles relatedto life's necessities through inductive reasoning. Then,acting on general principles derived from previous expe-rience, they placed further experiences within categories.They did not begin with generalizations as we do in most ofour traditional classrooms. They learned the parts ofprinciples first, by experience. For example, they may havediscovered the warmth of a cave as an offshoot of lookingfor animals for food. Perhaps after these people had lived incaves for a time, they generalized that wood and branchesof trees around them would serve the same purposes as acave, but would also allow them more freedom to movearound in search of food. They induced first, then deduced.

As people became sophisticated, work became specializedand teachers found a place within the social order. Thus, ifa son wished to learn about something other than hisfather's work, he would be taught by someone outside thefamily. In medieval times a boy learned a trade as anapprentice to a master craftsman. The learning was guidedby the master, but the student himself had to experience allthat the master had experienced. In order to practice thetrade he had chosen, he had to demonstrate skills in thatarea, but he did not begin with the conclusions of thesubject

Other kinds of experiential learning also flourished in theMiddle Ages a boy learning to be a knight acquired skillsin courtly manners, jousting, and warfare from firsthandexperience A girl learning home management worked dailyat homemaking tasks in order to acquire these skills Infact, with the exception of university learning, most of thelearning during this period was experiential.

As nations became Industrialized and knowledge grewenormously in both scope and amount, colleges anduniversitiestraditional centers of nonexperiential

5

In Iand-grant colleges

... in secondary andelementary schools and

Experiential learning andtraditional Instructiona viewpc int

leatningbegan to teach subjects other than language,science, mathematics and logic. To become more respon-sive to the needs of society, the institutions began to offercourses in agriculture, engineering, and other "practicesubjects.

Experiential learning was especially prevalent in it d-grantcolleges and even in some elementary and secondaryschool classes in which teachers afforded students theopportunity to work either outside or inside the school onprojects related to a particular subject matter area. Youmay recall the influence of Mill. Rousseau and Dewey oneducation. Within the last century, we have seen increasingevidence of experiential learning in the forms of internshipsin medicine, teaching and law.

Currently, there is a trend in secondary and upperelementary schools to allow students to participate in worksettings while learning academic subjects. The rise ofvocational education, career education, self directed fieldwork, and so on are examples of those trends. Studentsparticipate widely in Junior Achievement. They own andoperate minicorporations, sell their arts and craftsrepair automobiles, provide child care services, and operatepublic restaurants on school grounds. Students even buildhomes for public sale! The students' cries for "relevance" inthe early 1960s and the employers' pleas for "experienced"workers have both added impetus to the experientiallearning movement.

Despite the fact that experiential learning has existed forcenturies, there are still many unanswered questions aboutits nature and scope. Thus, program coordinators andteachers continue to ask, "What are some concrete,recognizable differences between experiential learning andtraditional learning?" Some of the major differences arepresented in the following section.

You recall the story of the three blind men and the elephantmentioned in the first chapter Each of the men claimedthat the elephant was a trunk, tail, or large foot, dependingupon what he touched Each of those members was a partof the animal and so each man was, in part, correct. In likemanner, experiential and traditional warning are importantparts of the instructional process. each is necessary forparticular kinds of learning, but neither is sufficient for allkinds. The major instructional/learning differences areshown in the following table:

6

Traditional FormalInstruction Exponential Looming

Step I. Student receivesinformation through writtenwords or oral symbols.

Step 11. Student cornpre-hends general principles.

Step III. Student infers aparticular application fromthe general principle.

Step IV. Student performsactions on the environmentaccording to the applicabil-ity of the inferred principle.

Step I. Student performs orobserves action and observesits effects.

Stop 11. Student comprehendsand understands the effectsof action in this particularcase.

Step III. Student performs orobserves subsequent actionsand begins to see connec-tions between actions andeffects over similar circum-stances. Student then placesthem within a category undera general principle.

Step IV. Student applies gen-eral principle to any newproblem related to it. He orshe has learned the principle.

So let's look at the table again. Do you notice that Step IIon the traditional side corresponds closely to Step III onthe experiential side? In traditional instruction, the conclu-sions are given first, whereas in experiential learning, thestudent arrives at the conclusions or general principlesafter making a connection between actions and effects. Doyou also notice that Step I on the experiential sidecorresponds to Step IV on the traditional side? As youcompare the steps, you will find that experiential learning ismore of an inductive learning process, while traditionallearning is largely a deductive one. At least in the majorityof classrooms, knowledge transmission has been deductive.

It is easy to see that while one kind of learning might beunsuitable when a particular set of outcomes is desired, theother might fit very well. Yet another set of outcomes mightrequire a generous mix of the two kinds of learning. You, ascoordinator or teacher in a program, will have to determinewhat is most efficient according to your students' needsand your goals and desired outcomes. The very act ofdetermining which method or combination to use in yourclassroom is experiential learning for you!

7

Yu, there are strongand weak aspects ofeach kind of learning

fe

Each kind of learning has both advantages and disadvan-tages. You have probably discovered most of these, buthere are a few points for you to consider. In mostinstances, a student is in an experiential learning programbecause of an inherent interest in some aspect of it. Thus,inherent interest as well as the tactile and manipulativeexperiences characteristic of experiential learning canprovide a greater degree of motivation than can traditionalinstruction which most often depends upon factors outsidethe task of learning to motivate students. Thus, the "handson" experience of taking an engine apart is for manystudents greater motivatior than a star or high letter gradegiven for naming the parts of an engine. The traditionalclassroom experience is less. time consuming than expe-riential learning. Reading about principles, memorizingthem, and, in some cases, even reading about theirapplications takes less time than arriving at principles bytrial and error through the manipulation of various objectsand ideas. The extra time necessary for experientiallearning may produce excellent results, but it is as difficultto assess when a student in experiential learning can gofrom particular knowledge to comprehension of a generalprinciple as it is to discover when a student in traditionallearning knows how to apply a generalization.

You can readily see that traditional learning dependsheavily on a knowledge of words, syntax, contextualmeaning, and in general, the principles of language.Experiential learning, for the most part, does not requirestudents to be at the same point on the scale of literacy astraditional learning does. Please don't mistake the literacyscale for the intelligence quotient scale. Many studentsfrom various subcultures within our society test low inreading and math and on intelligence tests which are readingtests. Even the "non-verbal" ones are rooted in the middleclass experience symbols.

The final point is that there is a strong possibility thatbecause of the many tactile, concrete experiences involvedin experiential learning, this method might induce longerrecall than traditional learning does. Certainly the researchon remembering and forgetting shows that there is a highdegree of forgetting using more traditional deductivemethods. It would seem that the more associationsindividuals have with an object or event, the better theirability to remember it. I'm sure you recall the story of thelittle girl who learned the Pledge of Allegiance frommemory and, when asked to recite it alone began, "I led thepigeons to the flag . " Or perhaps you have seen studentswrestle with electricity jargon in science until they begin tomake their own small switches and batteries. This is not tosay that most learning obtained in traditional classroomsituations is forgotten, only that the more kinds ofexperiences brought to bear on a concept, the more likelythe recall and use of that concept will be

8 i, 5

Key components ofexperiential learning ...

. .. academic credit

. .. participation

A few key program components set experiential learningapart from traditional learning. A look at these is necessaryin order to grasp more readily the problem of assessingexperiential learning programs.

Students who complete experiential learning programsreceive academic credit for their participation rang!rig fromfull to none.

The amount of time students spend in experientialprograms varies from full to part. The pattern ranges fromfour full days a week for the entire time in high school toseveral hours each week for part of a term.

.. payment Students receive full, partial, or no pay for their experien-ces. Students usually receive pay when their participationresults in a usable productive service for an employer.Where the students' experiences are essentially educationalrather than beneficial to the employers, usually no pay isinvolved.

program planning Most experiential learning programs encourage joint plan-ning by both teacher and student. In some programs wherethe emphasis is more on the experience per se than oneducational objectives, students plan or contract for theirexperiences with little or no adult supervision during theterm. Other programs are planned and controlled mainly bythe teacher.

administrative supervision Experiential programs can be supervised completely by theschool, completely by a participating business or industry,or jointly. Programs supervised by the school are some-times called sponsored, and the others, nonsponsored.

.. role of experiential programs Older experiential programs are usually integrated with thein the school curriculum academic curriculum. Newer programs are sometimes

related to the academic school curriculum but are notconsidered by some staff a part of the curriculum.

We have only scratched the surface of experiential learningprogramstheir history, their general nature, their advan-tages and disadvantages, and their key components. Nowwe are ready to look at some of the aspects of theseprograms that are at the heart of the assessment problems.

The need for Innovation and Experiential learning programs are seen in vocationalcreativity In assessing education, cooperative education, career education and inexperiential learning various experience-based work and education efforts. We

have already seen that a common theme running throughmany experiential learning programs is linking education towork or service All these programswhether designed to

9

What are someimportant considerationsin assessing experientiallearning?

. .. assumptions

teach specific vocational skills, to result in a generalawareness of occupations or somewhere in between, claimthat the student is learning skills, attitudes, and valuesrelated to some phase of the work environment. In fact, themajor attraction of experiential programs is that they getthe student involved in "real world" experiences.

At this point, you may ask, "Is there any other commontheme?" The answer is yes: in the learner outcomes sought.Many experiential learning programs are directed at avariety of outcomes related to personal growth. Suchoutcomes include a better sense of individual identity, moreself confidence, less reliance on adult leadership, increasedleadership capabilities, and fuller understanding of one'splace in the work world. Another set of learner outcomessought in experiential learning programs relates to problem-solving abiIities. These outcomes focus on enabling thelearner to develop strategies for solving problems in thework environment or for making better decisions aboutcareer and educational goals. Still another group ofoutcomes is related to social behavior. These focus onhelping the student develop effective communicationsskills, get along with others, and become aware of the"social" and "polit:cal" nuances of work environments.

Many of these kinds of outcomes are, of course, sought intraditional learning programs as well. But in traditionalprograms they are usually sought indirectly. In experientialprograms they are sought directlyand this key differenceis one of the central problems in assessing experientiallearning. Thus, the major assessment problem for experien-tial learning programs is that most current assessmenttechniques were developed for and are best suited tomeasuring outcomes which were learned indirectly in thetraditional academic curriculum.

Let's look more closely at six major considerations inassessing experiential learning.

1. Assumptions about Experiential Learning

The assumptions (e.g., nature, purpose, value) underlyingexperiential learning programs vary from program toprogram. This variation is reflected in an evaluation studyof the Executive High School Internships Program (EHSIP,Crowe and Walker, 1979) The report revealed that the sixoriginal assumptions underlying the program did not reflectthe reality of the program or participants' (e g., students,sponsors, coordinators) behavior. As a result of theresearchers' experiences, six alternative assumptions areposited. This research suggests that a clear statement ofthe assumptions undergirding the experiential learningprogram is essential in order to design goals with which allpersons involved with the program will be in agreement.

101 7

. . . goals 2. Goals

.

As we have seen, the goals of traditional academicprograms are well known. State departments of educationhave reams of material describing them! Although voca-tional and cooperative education programs also have manywell established goals, the movement to include goalsrelated to values and attitudes about work has resulted insome difficulty. Additionally, while goals in the affectivedomain are appealing, they have not lent themselves toassessment as readily as have traditional academic goals

.outcomes 3. Outcomes

The individualized nature of experiential learning programsfor students presents some difficulty for the evaluator whoassesses a program solely against the extent to which itmeets its goals and objectives. For example, the EHSIPstudy found that there was a difference between theprivate intentions of the participants, program sponsors andprogram coordinators and the stated program objectives.Therefore, assessment of experiential learning programsshould focus on both the intended outcomes (as reflectedin the goals and objectives) and the unintended outcomes(which are present in any educational program). Whenstudied singularly, intended outcomes or unintended out-comes present a partial view of a program's effectiveness.However, together they provide a more complete view ofthe program's strengths and weaknesses. For more detailedinformation about intended and unintended program out-comes, see Using Systematic Observation Techniques inEvaluating Career Education (Kester, 1979), in this CareerEducation Measurement Series.

. .. learning environment 4. Learning Environment

In the traditional academic program, the focus of thelearning activities is within the controlled environment ofthe classroom In the experiential learning program, thelocation of the learning activities is in an environmentoutside the school building The assessment techniqueschosen should allow for these varying learningenvironments

. . . roles 5 Role of Assessors

The assessment of a student's behavior in a traditionalacademic program is provided by four or five teacherseach giving a single assessment related to a specificdisciphne This is in contrast to an experiential programwhere a student's teachers include not only the teacher orcoordinator from his or her school but also a variety of"teachers" in the work setting which he or she has selectedIn this case, the assessment of a student's behavior isprovided by the individual who is responsible for thestudent's learning program and with whom the student hasspent most of his or her time In the latter case. the

11

individual many times is not trained in a single area butassumes many roles within the work setting. The individu-al's assessment is necessarily global and more comprehen-sive than an assessment of a student in a single academicsubject.

. .. focus 6. Focus of Assessment

Traditional academic programs focus on what the studentcan do as a result of completing a unit of work in apreselected unit of time. A student is assessed on how wellhe or she scores on a test or performs on a project. Manyexperiential learning programs, in addition, focus on theprocess that the student went through. For example, thestudent becomes more aware of career interests, improveshis or her self concept and ability to comfortably andappropriately interact with others, and becomes moreresponsible for his or her own work. In experientiallearning, then, the experience itself and the way the studentfeels about it may be equally important goals or outcomesthat require measurement.

What does all this mean for assessing experiential learningprograms? Quite a bit. Assessment techniques currentlyavailable were designed to measure student achievement inthe traditional academic curriculum. They assume a certainlearning environment, a certain learning sequence providedby a known curriculum, and a certain set of prescribedinteractions between the student and teacher. Clearly, onemust question applying these same techniques to assessingstudents' learning through experience.

You have just been exposed to:

the historical underpinnings of experiential learningthe instructional aspects of experiential learningsome advantages, disadvantages and unique fea-tures of experiential learning andsome of the difficulties that arise in assessingexperiential learning

Now you can move comfortably into the next chapter whereyou will find different papers that reflect varied viewpointsabout assessing experiential learning from the secondaryperspective. As you read the papers, try to think about yourprogram and how you can adopt or adapt these ideas foryour own use.

12 1 9

Introduction

CHAPTER 3

ASSESSING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING :VIEWPOINTS FROM THE SECONDARY PERSPECTIVE

Career education has many faces and forms as doesexperiential learning and its assessment. As you developand operate your program, you will want to talk with otherswho are involved in experiential learning in their careereducation programs and are wrestling with some of thesame assessment problems as you are.

In the following pages, you will have the opportunity tolearn from a few people who have experience in assess-ment of experiential learning activities on the secondarylevel. You will find that their experiences vary as do theirapproaches to assessment, but this provides a healthyoverview from which you can select those ideas you feelcan be adapted to your own needs. If you'd like any furtherinformation from any of the writers, they are identified atthe beginning of each paper, and they welcome yourquestions or comments. Also you will find an index of themajor thoughts addressed by these writers in Chapter 7.

-. 13--- ii

Perspective

Asseuing the Service Learning Experience

by

Jeanne Carney, ChiefTechnical Assistance Training

National Student Volunteer ProgramWashington, D.C.

Nontraditional educational programs seem, by their verynature, to require nontraditional methods of assessing theirlearning value for the student. Service learning is one typeof experiential learning program, and practitioners in thefield have developed various alternative methods of evaluat-ing learning outcomes of the service experience.

While secondary schools have developed several differentmodels for implementing and managing student servicelearning programs, (e.g., integrated within the curriculum ofparticular course of study, interdisciplinary seminars withservice components, service learning with a career educationfocus) the philosophical concept on which these diverse pro-grams are based is generic.

Robert Sigmon, at the University of South Carolina, hasdefined service learning as: "The integration of theaccomplishment of a task which meets human needs withconscious educational growth." Proponents of servicelearning, therefore, believe that for a program to be termedservice learning it must embody the dimensions of bothsocial service and conscious learning from that experience.Consequently, teachers and others who coordinate suchprograms must be prepared to help students both delineatetheir service goals for the community and define theirlearning objectives for the experience

Further, a balance and an equality must be maintainedbetween the service and the learning components: studentsmust not use the community simply as a laboratory toexploit for learning purposes; rather, they must contributeto meeting the human and social needs of that community.As the students work to meet a human or social need in thecommunity, they gradually assume adult responsibilitieswhile expanding their capacity for learning through doing.If the service learning experience is properly structured, itwill enable the student to grow and learn, not only in theskill and cognitive domains, but in the affective domain aswell

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2 1

Problems

Practical suggestions

Because of the dual yet integrated purpo, of servicelearning programs, i.e., meeting both thepstudent's needsfor learning and the community's needs for work to bedone, assessments of service learning programs are usuallymade from both perspectives. On the whole, we have foundthat if the project does not involve meaningful workworkwhich has real value to the communitythe learning for thestudent will be minimal. Further, projects and serviceassignments must be well planned, developed and managedfrom both the educator's viewpoint and from the communi-ty's as well, and anticipated learning outcomes must bearticulated at the outset. If the student is placed in a socialservice agency to carry out a service assignment, it isessential that the student's agency supervisor understandhis/her responsibilities to the student for orientation,training, supervision, evaluation and feedback. It is alsoessential that classroom support from the teacher orseminar coordinator be provided, including leading thestudent to related readings, discussing theory as it relatesto the actual work/service experience, and guiding thestudent in reflecting on the experience.

Unless these elements are considered and plannedbeforehand, they can become problematic areas whichultimately will hinder the effective assessment of thelearning side of a service experience. If this groundwork islaid for a sound project or placement, for adequatesupervision, for well articulated service and learningobjectives, and for classroom support, the actual assess-ment of a student's learning from the experience can thenbe based on concrete and measurable objectives.

Service learning program coordinators have over the yearsdevised various methods and techniques to assess studentlearning from the service experience. One which I particu-larly like and use with students who intern with ourprogram is based on a general process that helps toprepare the student for the experience at the outset,enables him/her to process learning throughout the expe-rience, and assists the student to conceptualize theexperience at its conclusion.

The cornerstone of this process is the service learningagreement which we draw up during the first week of theinternship and against which we periodically assess ourprogress throughout the following months of the place-ment. The service learning agreement is tripartite: it mustbe agreed to by the student, myself as intern supervisor,and the professor or teacher

The student actually prepares the agreement, which is alearning experience in itself, for he/she must becomefamiliar with how to write a purpose statement and

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2

measurable service and learning objectives. The studentselects one or more projects which interest her/him andwhich we need to have accomplished, and preparesobjectives for completing the project within certain timeframes. Concurrently, he/she prepares learning objectives,in the skill, cognitive and affective domains that may ormay not relate to the specific project undertaken, but dorelate to his/her purpose for Interning with our program. Apolitical science student, for example, may select for aservice project the preparation of a technical assistancepaper for secondary educators on how to integrate aservice component into the traditional social studiescurriculum. In addition to the obvious learning objectivesassociated with such a project, the student may alsoindicate a desire to learn how a national federal programoperates. The measurement of this learning will be theability to articulate what he/she has learned from theexperience which coincides with or varies from theorylearned as a student of political science. We help to preparethe student for the experience by providing a thoroughorientation to our program and the agency in general, andguide him/her to specific readings and staff that can alsoprovide perspectives for the experience.

Away from the office, the student prepares a daily journalin which is reflected the day's activities and pursues outsidereadings that relate to his/her broader purpose. In theoffice, the student participates in decision-making, probingoften to learn why and how particular decisions are made,and occasionally challenging decisions and offering alter-natives. Periodically, we meet to process his/her experienceand to help the student generalize learning from it, as wellas to assess progress against both the service project andthe learning objectives. The student may berequired by the classroom instructor to prepare one ormore papers during the term and a final paper at the endthat articulates a combination of theory gained throughresearch and its relationship to his/her own experience. Atthe same time, I prepare an evaluation of the student'sservice contribution to the program which I share with bothhim/her and the classioom instructor. Since it is equallyimportant for me to know how to make an internexperience better for future students assigned to me, thestudent, too, evaluates the experience in writing and in afinal debriefing session that assesses the total internship.As we do periodically throughout the term, the final writtenand verbal assessments are again based on the measurableobjectives set forth in our original service learning agree-ment. W3 examine whether or not the student hasaccomplished both the service and the learning objectivesof the experience These final assessments, both writtenand verbal, are designed to help the student assess thelearning and generalize principles from it, while at the sametime coming to closure on the experience

17

Reflections

This general framework for a service learning experiencecan be used in almost any type of service learning program,whether the focus is providing companionship and recrea-tion for elderly nursing home patients, organizing day care

centers for preschool disadvantaged youngsters, or helpingpoor people complete their income tax forms. From therecipient's perspective, particularly when that recipient ofthe services is in desperate need of human assistance, it iscrucial that the student know clearly what is expected andhow to provide the service needed. And, when that serviceis beneficial to someone in real need, the student will oftenbe more motivated to increase whatever skills and knowl-edge he/she has in order to deliver effective services orproduce a sound project that can be used to improve thequality of life for an individual or a community.

When I was asked to prepare this paper on assessingexperiential learning, I was immediately reminded of a storywhich Dr. Alec Dickson, C. B. E. of England told during hiskeynote address at our national conference a few yearsago. (Dr. Dickson is the creator of England's counterpartsto our VISTA and Peace Corps programs.) He said: "Thereis a school of which undoubtedly you have not heardBriery Road Secondary Orphan School. Kids leave thisschool in great numbers at the earliest age to which theyare legally entitled. In fact, they are kicking at the door toget out into what they believe to be 'real life.' And in arecent class of thirty-two, sixteen were involved profession-ally with the local probation officer. An imaginativehandicraft teacher arranged one day to take the whole formto the local hospital. Confronting the class were ninechildren with congenital spinal injurychildren in whom akind of hinge mechanism in the bottom of the spine hasbeen cranked up at birth. Unless there is a particularlyintelligent and successful operation, they deform prettyquickly. There is not much that surgery or medicine can doafter that. But here they were, unable to moveterriblyimmobile, and a nurse had to lift them, to feed, to toilet, toput to bed, for every function. When Mum takes the kidhome, she becomes the prisoner of her own child

Then these difficult fifteen year old school kids were told,'What you see here is a technological problemthey can'tmove Do you think you can help thernr

Back at school, in the workshop, during the handicraftsession, they wrestled with the problem. What materialcould best be used? What design? In seven weeks time,they returned to the hospital, led by their headmaster. Theyhanded over nine beautifully polished, boomerang shapedtrays to take the splayed-out legs of each child. They weremounted on caster wheels, an inch and a half off theground, so that each kid with his/her fingertips couldpropel himself/herself in any direction across the floorWith the handing over, the Mums were in tears, the childreneuphoric, the staff astounded, and the fifteen-year-oldsstrangely silent

18

The headmaster himself was moved by the impact thisevidently made on his difficult young people. He asked aprobing question, and got two classically beautiful am,. ars.Why had this made such an impact on them? The firstanswer: 'Because it's the first bloody thing we made inschool we didn't have to take home afterwards.' But the second.'Because nobody said it was good fon us. They said it wasserious. Dead serious.'

Perspective

Problems

A Good Learning Contract ..

by

Frank D van Aalst, DeanCareer Development

College of CharlestonCharleston. South Carolina

My introduction to experiential education came throughforeign study programs, in which no one pretended that theclassroom learning has nearly the educational value as theIntercultural living experience For four yearS, I developedand supervised full time service learning internships at aState College in Maryland and have been in Charleston fora year in a position that combines responsibility for careerand experiential programs In Maryland, as chairman of theCounty Youth Commission and board member of the YouthServices Bureau, and in Charleston as secretary of thenewly formed Work Education Council, I have becomeincreasingly concerned with the career preparation of highschool students, or rather the lack of it, and the greatpotential that field experience programs have to addresscritical problems in education

Most high school students seem to me to be 'doing time,"waiting for the Irrelevance to pass, not expecting to learnmuch in the classroom, perhaps correctly sensing that theyare there because we, the adults, prefer to have them out ofour way, and out of our world Indeed we have succeededand they are in a world largely their own Within that worldthey are amazingly mature, with interpersonal sensitivitiesand ecological concerns that surpass by far the attitudes Iand my peers shared twenty-five years ago

The greatest flaw in this arrangement is that the youthworld is so complete and separate that it is extremelydifficult to break out of Adults have grown soaccustomed to it that they aren't sure they want it changedand most have developed condescending attitudes toward"irresponsible" youth Nowhere is this separation moretragic than in the area of work Youth have great difficultygetting any lob at all, let alone one in which they are givenany responsibility The transition from school to work hasbecome increasingly difficult

A solution comes quickly to mind simply provide ameaningful work experience for youth while they are stillassociated with school and thereby break down the barriers

21

Practical suggestioni

between youth and adults and between school and work.But it is not easy to implement. There are two differentworlds with different expectations and different vocabular-ies. While the teacher smiles hopefully, the employer can'twait to show this unappreciative youth what it means toearn an honest dollar, and the youth is determined to resistany dehumanization through being tied to a machine orforced to obey arbitrary commands. If the youth isinterested in changing the system, the employer is equallydetermined to preserve it by changing the student.

A second problem is that all three participantsteacher,employer and studentotten view an experiential programas a short cut. The school is glad to get rid of the studentand tends to use the space and the free teacher for otherthings. The employer brightens at the prospect of cheaplabor, and the student is pleased with any opportunity toget out of class, especially if he/she gets money and/oracademic credit for it. Any experiential education programworthy of the name will cost more than traditionaleducation in the developmental stage, and at least the sameamount when established.

Third is the difficulty of translating experience intoeducation. It shouldn't be so difficult, theoretically, but wehave based our -ducation on one type of learning for solong that most 01 us aren't able to translate experience intolearning. If we can't do it, then we can't expect students todo it. I am not referring here to the simple learning fromexperience that hopet6Ily we all do even when we don't try.Education is planned, reflective, and efficient learning, andexperiential education, as part of a school program, needsto be planned, with learning objectives, content and amethod of evaluation.

There is a way to skirt these problems, namely to simplyprovide work experience for the student with no attempt tomake it educational. This is better than nothing, and evenhas certain advantages because it is cleaner and forces theyoung person to "face up to the realities of the world ofwork." But it fails to address the serious communicationgap between schoul and work and tends to reinforce thatseparation in the mind of the student, and allows him/her toavoid the learning possibilities in working.

To hit the problem head on, I have concluded that alearning contract, or agreement, which spells out themutual expectations in advance, makes it possible to assessprogress along the way, and do a responsible evaluation atthe end, is essential. A good contract has, in addition to allthe vital statistics (hours, dates, etc.). four major sections.(1) Learning objectives, (2) Job description; (3) Supervisor'sresponsibilities; and (4) Formal learning component.

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9

The learning objectives are best written by the student, withsome assistance. They can include such simple statementsas "How to answer a business phone" or "What a labtechnician does all day" or "Whether I want to be a doctor."It has been helpful to me to think of three categories: skilldevelopment, knowledge of occupation, and personalimplications. The job description is written by the employer,but he/she also needs some help to do more than list thetasks that need doing. Learning opportunities and howresponsibilities may increase as the student learns need tobe made explicit. The agreement should also list the modeof supervision, with regularly scheduled conferences anddefinitions of progressive stages of responsibility. Finallythe formal learning component needs to be describedalong with the role of the teacher or program coordinator.Will he/she monitor the placement and visit the work site?Will the student keep a journal, write a paper, do someresearch, attend a weekly class? Whatever the format, myexperience strongly supportsvoekly contact betweenstudent and teacher to discuss how well the learningobjectives are being met. Part of the purpose of theprogram is to raise the level of awareness and openness tolearning. A weekly meeting reinforces that. It is alsoimportant to identify personality conflicts with employers orfellow workers as early as possible. The easiest way to doall of these is in a regular class setting where a group ofstudents share with each other. They can usually help eachother with most of the problems. This provides a continuingevaluation. The teacher needs to keep notes and have thestudents write their own ongoing accounts of whathappens

It is critical that a high level of integrity be maintained, thatthere be no hidden agendas. The communication gapbetween educators and employers and between youth andadults makes it easy to get caught in major misunderstand-ings. Get things written and signed by all parties from thebeginning. Then the final evaluation is easy because theobjectives are spelled out, and all participants can assessthe accomplishment in each objective. It is also easy,relatively, for the student to write a paper on the careerimplications of this experience, plus a description of the joband the function it performs in the society at large, whenthe group sessions have helped her/him think these thingsthrough from the beginning. In many cases they turn out to bethe most substantial papers students have ever written

How do we select good teachers and good employers? Letthem select themselves, after you explain the complexity ofthe design The best employers I find are those whose eyeslight up when I ask if they ever considered teaching as acareer. The best jobs are those in which the studentinteracts with a worker who has some decision-makingpowers and, more impo .ant, has an informal working stylethat allows for answering lots of questions and demonstrat-ing how things work.

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2 ki

Reflections

Such a program Is obviously intended for high schoolstudents and involves more than shadowing or observing,which are appropriate for the middle school level. To becost effective such a program has to last long enough forthe employer to get SOMO benefit from the students, for theteacher to be rewarded for the time spent in setting it up,and for the student to pursue his/her learning objectives toa meaningful set of conclusions. In most cases, a studentcan benefit more from having a second placement duringhis/her high school career exploration years. To beworthwhile, I think a placement should be at least fourhours per week for nine weeks, but preferably twelve hoursa week. In the senior year, a full-time nine-week workexperience would be well warranted.

For the present, such programs in a few schools for a fewstudents provide an exciting prospect. But what happenswhen we try to do this for all students, and continue itthrough the college years? Career education experientialprograms have far reaching Implications in breaking downthe barriers between youth and adult and between schooland work place. Many persons admit that we expect toomuch of the schools, dumping on them the full responsibil-ity for child and youth development. What is implied inthese kinds of programs into which an increasing numberof us are getting involved, is nothing less than a call toemployers to help in the education of youth. It may requiresignificant changes in their ways of doing things toincorporate this into their normal activity, but it would be ahealthy kind of cooperation and would significantly assistour youth in their transition from school to workand toadulthood.

24

Perhaps You Would Uke PIE?

by

Michael Ketterhagen, TeacherPius Xl High School

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

In my eight years of high school teaching, I have seen moreano more students become bored, disenchanted, andalienated not only from school, but more drastically, fromlearning itself or anything that seems to have anyconnection with it. Our junior and senior high schoolpeople today long for some activity to which they can givetheir hearts. They long for some meaningful involvement toreplace the superficiality of television.

Recently, in my educational career, I discovered an avenueof meaningful learning. All I needed to do was give theyoung people an opportunity to formulate their ownlearning goals and to gather many of their own learningresources. When this happened, I saw students whopreviously had violently ignored the school and valuablelearning, and had become powerfully interested in them-selves and their desires, become interested in other peopleand their needs, and learning itself. Five years ago, Pius XlHigh School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I teach, took aserious look at its philosophy and objectives and decided toimplement them. We were going to be a person-orientedschool, because we believed that every person is differentand all students cannot do the same things. We neededto offer alternative ways to use time, alternative methods ofteaching, alternative assessment procedures, etc. Weneeded to become more flexible.

With this flexibility, I found the atmosphere to organize andimplement the Project Individualized Education (PIE) pro-gram. This was different from the work study programswhich existed and even different from the field educationcourses Pius developed The PIE program looked ateducation as a whole and desperately tried to integratelearning into quality of life and/or career preparation goals

Although the PIE program is much more than experientiallearning, I would like to address myself specifically to thisunused well of potential learning, namely, the developmentof an experiential learning program and the evaluation orassessment of that learning

25

0 1 1

Many problems develop when you try to link education andwork through experiential learning. All of the people in theschool community, especially the administrators, coordina-tors, teachers, students and community groups or organiza-tions are usually involved in these problems. I boil themdown to three areas: security, communication and studentinterest and concern. If you can answer these needs--andthey take on all shapes and sizesthen you have arelatively problem-free experience.

In reference to security, I am not just talking about afeeling of confidence on the part of the student involved,although that is important, too. I am talking also about thephysical security of transportation. All the little things thatcrystallize this confidence must be discussed and dealtwith.

This brings us to communication. If you hope to coordinatea program, all the people involved have to know what toexpect and who to talk to in time of stress or difficulty.People must begin to deal with the feelings that mightsurface in the experience. Some group meetings of thestudents in school help surface and confront such feelingsas fear, inadequacy, anger, etc. This also enhances theindividual's security, because support and encouragementeliminate much loneliness.

Finally, and extremely important, are the students interestsand concerns. Fulfillment of their needs must be theprimary goal in any program of this nature. I have seen toomany students harming themselves and the others becausethey felt used or second class or just part of the furniture inthe organization. As a coordinator, you will need to findorganizations or groups that will give the students many ormost of the following:

Direct client contact

New and valuable skills

Practice in the skills they don't want to lose

Training in appropriate professional behavior

Close work with professionals in the field

Opportunity to test a career

Experience that may help them get a job

Greater understanding and development of their ownworth and skills

So now that you know some of the general concerns thatyou might need to respond to, I would like to give yousome helpful suggestions for developing such a programand appraising the experiential learning.

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Practical suggestions If you start from scratch in your school, here are twopossible roads to take. These will immediately flood youwith workbut this depends on the number of students youwish to involve. If you want to start out small, publicize togain students interested in doing volunteer work or inworking with different organizations or at ditferent jobs aspart of their high school learning. A small number of highlymotivated and interested students who know what theywant to experience and learn will usually respond. Yourtask is then to contact organizations and institutions thatmight fulfill their learning needs. However, if you want togive many students an opportunity to experience schoollearning in this way, you must collect some informationfrom interested organizations or groups first. Offering thislist to many students will stimulate much more desire andinterest than just asking for volunteers.

With either approach the data to accumulate are: plannedduties for the students by the agency, purpose of theduties, skill level needed upon entry, attitudes that areappropriate, (e.g., flexibility and enjoyment of older people,being comfortable with the visually handicapped), trainingneeded by the student, time commitment required, degree andnature of supervision needed, and potential supervisor.

The most pressing area of concern for yourself as aneducator will be the evaluation or assessment of theindividual student's learning. This can be done individuallyor in a small group with many similar learners. I prefer bothmeans of assessment. Meet with a number of the studentsevery week and discuss their reactions to their involve-ments and expect them to meet periodically with theirsupervisor in reference to the contract/agreement that theyformulated. Also ask the students to keep a log ofexperiences, feelings and uncertainties. This gives thestudent and yourself, or the student and the supervisor insome cases, a basis for sharing ir_:eas, for more effectiveways of handling difficult situations, and for letting the studentknow when something was done particularly well. Theeducational recognition for this involvement should becredit.

I need to clarify and define the contract/agreement Imentioned earlier I have found this agreement, in writtenform, to be the most valuable tool in the whole program.This nonlegal document defines the expectations of thestudent and the supervisor and addresses itself toquestions relating to the learning goals of the student Atminimum, this document should contain the following.

Student name, phone number and address

Supervisor name, title, phone number and address

Schedule agreed upon by the student andsupervisor

27

Reflections

Duties to be performed by the student and theobjectives to be met in the performance of thoseduties

Nature of the supervisionweekly meetings, dailydebriefings, on site

Nature and schedule of the assessments

Instructions regarding missed assignments on givendays and general reasons for justified absence

Length of contract

Learning objectiveswhat will the student learn asa result of the experience?

Productswill the student be expected to completea paper, keep a journal, complete a reading list, etc.?

As a final word, the success of the entire program dependson the fulfillment of the student's needs. If you havestudents who are generally pleased with their ownexperienceregardless of what the organization or agencymay sayyou have a successful program.

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Perspective

Serving and Being Served

by

Robert L. Sigmon, DirectorSchool of Public Health

University of South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina

The idea of full time education up to a given age, followedby full time work, is increasingly questioned as appropriatefor all young people. Programs which mix schooling withwork or service opportunities for junior and senior highschool students are essential. I have come to this beliefafter working at numerous jobs while enrolled in highschool, college and graduate school; serving internships;taking three years off to teach in a foreign country betweencollege and graduate school; and spending the pastthirteen years arranging opportunities for young people toserve and learn in the Southeast.

As someone who has been lucky to be employed in brokerand coordinator roles, I believe there are three key factorsinvolved in developing experience-centered learning oppor-tunities which mix schooling with work or service activitiesfor junior and senior high school students.

Young people benefit from involvement in produc-tive actions with responsibilities that affect thewelfare of others.

Schools should provide a variety of experience-centered learning options inside and outside theschool setting.

In order to make sponsored expenence-centeredlearning work outside the school environment, therehave to be "adult" organizations willing to committhemselves and be involved. Businesses, publicagencies, all levels of government and voluntaryassociations shoold join actively with schools toprovide a wide range of opportunities for youngpeople.

With few exceptions. I rarely meet anyone involved witharranging work-learning or Service-learning opportunitieswho doubts the proposition that young people can behighly responsible for their own learning and intentionalactions in the Community For those of us in educational

29

Problems

Practical suggestions

institutions providing learning-and-doing opportunities, Ibelieve our primary charge is how to enable young people"to serve and be served by their very performances insociety."

"To serve and be served by" is the motto used in theprograms I plan and manage. With this motto or some othercompelling reason to arrange experience-centered learningopportunities for young people, we are often victims ofgaps between what we want to happen and what in facthappens in our programs. Our limitations range frominadequate Support from principals and superintendents tolimited staff resources; from lack of assertiveness amongstudents to community indifference. In many cases limitationsstem from a lack of careful examination of the veryprogram design we have created.

As an aid to identifying the major elements supporting andhindering our efforts I have developed two simple tools.The "High School Student Option Interest Survey" (seeChart A) can be used to gather information on what yourstudents would want to do if they could decide how tospend their high school years. Two outcomes are predicta-ble if you use this tool. One, students will demonstrate anincreased awareness of options and will make noisesasking for more options if they are not already available.Two, teachers will be surprised to discover the wide rangeof interests among their students for how they would preferto spend their time.

The "Experiential Learning Planning Guide for Administra-tors, Teachers, Parents and Community Leaders" (seeChart B) can be used to assist in the identification of valuesand preferences for experiential learning from the point ofview of these groups. Students could be asked to rankChart B and the adult population could rank Chart A. Thesetools usually raise the consciousness level of the groupsyou involve and proviue direct clues to the types ofprograms and structures most appropriate in your setting.

If you use these tools, a picture could be drawn of how youmight interpret a set of observations. For example, assume50 percent of the students surveyed were interested instaying in school part time and doing part time serviceactivities either for pay or as volunteers. Also assume aclear majority of parents, teachers and community leadersranked high their desire for students to "engage inproductive action with responsibilities that affect thewelfare of others." As a coordinator or planner faced withthese data, you could organize a teacher study planninggroup supported by advisory groups of students, parentsand community leaders to examine the service-centeredlearning literature, explore service needs in the communityand begin drafting policies and procedures for a program.

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Chart A

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OPTION INTEREST SURVEYDeveloped by Robert L. Sigmon

If you, as a current high school student, could decide how you wanted to spend your highschool years among a number of socially approved options, what would you most like to do'?

All the following opportunities now exist in communities around the country Very fewcommunities offer all these options. To assist educational and community policy makers to decidewhich options might be most appropriate for your community, would you please rank thefollowing options'? Place a "1" by the item which best states what you would want to do withyour high school years, a "2" by the item which next best states what you would want to do, a"3" by the next, etc Rank order these options with the question in mind, "If I could make myown decision about what to do with my high school years, I would choose to

A

B

Stay in high school full time and complete the regular program as it is now.

Stay in high school part time and do public service work for at least minimumwages in the community for 20 hours a week.

C Stay in high school part time and do volunteer work for no pay 20 hours a week.

D. Stay in high school part time and work on a private enterprise job for 20 hours aweek for at least minimum wages.

E. Stay in school part time and work on a special project I designed part time andget paid to do so

F Stay in school part time and take some courses at a community college ortechnical institute

G. Stay in high school part time and take some courses at a junior or senior college.

H. Prior to finishing my high school requirements, be able to drop out and take a fulltime job or travel with an option to return when I was ready to

I Join a branch of the military service prior to graduating from high school

Please indicate your reasons for your number one choice (Remember, no choice is betterthan any other We're interested in discovering the variety of options students would beinterested in if they had choices for their high school years)

Please drcle the grade you are enrolled In: 9 10 11 12

Please check the appropriate spaces: 0 Male 0 Female 0 Black 0 Other

Please circle your age: 14 15 16 17 18 19

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Chart 13

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PLANNING GUIDE FORADMINISTRATORS, TEACHERS, AND PARENTS

Developed by Robert L. Sigmon

The idea of full time education up to a given age, followed by full time work, is increasinglybeing questioned by educators and community leaders. Programs which mix schooling and workor service activities, beginning at an early age and continuing through adulthood, are beinginitiated throughout the country. No one mix of experiences has proved to be more appropriate

than any other yet.

The items listed below attempt to state general learning objectives associated with work-learning,service-learning, or action-learning programs. By rank ordering these general learning objectives,placing a "I" by the item which best characterizes the behavior or attitude you seek for yourstudents, a "2" by the next most significant item, a "3" by the next, etc., you can arrive at datawhich will aid you in determining a suitable program structure. Each statement should beprefaced by "I want my students to . .. " (Remember, none of these objectives is better thanothers. We are interested in your judgements about what you think are important learningobjectives for your community experiential learning programs.)

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

J.

K.

L.

M.

-____

Explore career/vocational options.

Learn how to learn through non-academic experiences.

Develop new skills or competencies.

Refine and utilize existing skills or competencies.

Engage in productive action with responsibilities that affect the welfare of others.

Have intensive interaction with adults outside a school setting.

Develop personal autonomy for their own learning and doing.

Engage in peer group teaching-learning (reflection seminars on experiencesoutside school and their relationship to personal development and knowledgeacquisition).

Learn about people ditferent from self (cross-cultural experience).

Reflect on personal values and commitment to them.

Analyze institutional structures and behaviors.

Earn money for personal use.

Others (please spec..fi)

32 37

An important procedure I would pay particular attention tois to make clear distinctions between the work or service tobe provided and the learning that is expected to take place.Develop agreement forms for students to negotiate theirwork or service activity with a community organization. Anagreement can be simple or elaborate, but would includestatements about what the student is expected to do; whenhe/she will do it; who will supervise the student; and anyspecial terms and conditions (liability, travel, reports andthe like) needing to be clarified. You could also develop anagreement form for stating the learning expectations to benegotiated between teacher and student. Writing andstating learning objectives in experience-based learning isdifficult, but it is possible and desirable.

Some questions you can ask students about their ownlearning are:

What do you need to be able to do that you cannotdo now in order to do the work or service you haveagreed to do?

What do you want to learn from the people and theorganization with whom you will be spending sometime? About bureaucracy? About some subject?About how you handle yourself in a new situation?

How will this experience help you sort out whatkind of career options are available to you? Can youfind ways of discovering what is required to docertain roles?

What is it you are most excited about finding out?

Students can talk their responses out with teachers and/orwrite them out Learning objectives, concrete and specific,can be sifted out of the responses students make to theseor similar queries and translated into statements such as:

I will be able to perform/document/identity/demonstrate

I will be able to identify ten skills requiredto be a

The specific plans for both the work and learning activitiesshould be shared openly among the students, the person(s)in the organizations they work with and the teacher. Whenthese certainties exist, the chances for a stimulating andsatisfying set of experiences are greatly enhanced for allparticipants.

Substantial efforts are required to interpret your aims andprocedures if you involve -adult" Organizations in yourCommunity If the organization isolates tasks for studentswhich they are committed to seeing through and at least

33

,3)?

Reflections

one staff member takes a strong interest in both getting thetask done well and viewing the student as learner, then twomajor governing variables have been taken care of in the"out there" setting.

In your efforts to interpret your aims and procedures andwhat you need from "adult" organizations, be mindful thatmost of them place a low priority on involving students asdoer-learners. They have work to do, services to provide. Ifwe provide able bodies to do work, we create no unduepressure. But when we introduce the idea that we want ourstudents to also be viewed as learners, we create a dilemmafor organizations. They generally have no self-Image asproviding educational opportunities for anyone. It is thisfact which makes me want to reiterate the necessity forhaving your students negotiate work or service agreementsbased on the agencies' needs and suggestions. This formatappeals to their self-interest. But don't forget to alsointroduce the student's desire to be an active learner in thesituation. Pointing out to the agency that they control thework or service gets them interested, and in most casesthey will then warm up readily to being interested in thelearning dimension.

What is at stake intellectually in the questions dealt with inthese brief notes is the quest for ways to combine thoughtand action, theory and practice. This quest is not new, norwill we soon be satisfied with where it leads us. But thequest to find the better ways for the young to SIIIVe and beserved by their actions and learnings in the world isundersupported now and in need of teachers and coordina-tors with imagination who can lead schools and communi-ties to accept and prize youth involvement in productiveaction and learning.

34 39

Perspective

Centering and Venturing

by

Kenneth N. Wood, DirectorOffice for Experiential Programs

for Life Work and PlanningDavidson College

Davidson, North Carolina

Over the past eight years, I have been intimately involvedwith experiential learning at several levels. On the profes-sional level I have researched, designed, facilitated andcoordinated experiential programs in secondary and post-secondary schools in New York, Michigan, Ohio, and NorthCarolina. I am high on experiential learning because atevery level of involvement it has produced satisfying resultsin three basic areas of human developmentpersonalidentity (who), environmental awareness (what), and senseof fit in the scheme of things (where). Experiential learningis empowering An empowerment is what I believe we areaiming for in both education and career development.

Although the fundamental human task of learning fromexperience is life long, there is surely no time period moreimportant than that of secondary schooling for learninghow to do it effectively. It is during these years thatdiscoveries are made which enable one to deal with thewho, what, and where questions of life. These discoveriesrequire that a person explore connections or integrationswhich must be made in three separate but interrelatedspheres.

Internal connections of integrations between suchparts of the self as interests, abilities, values,ambitions, life style, beliefs, commitmentsenablingone to find a working answer to the question "Whoam I?"

External connections or integrations between suchparts of the world as natural reality, political rcality,social reality, economic reality and cultural realityenabling one to find a working answer to thequestion "What is going on here?"

Transaction& connections or integrations betweenwhat is happening within the self and what ishappening outside in the worldenabling one tofind a working answer to the question "Where do Ifit?"

35

Problems

These explorations are, in my opinion, best made experien-tially. The fact is such explorations and their resultingdiscoveries are always being made experientially byreasonably healthy people in spite of schools and educa-tors. People had successful careers lonv before we camealong. But I do believe we can facilitate the process bymeans of carefully planned educational programs.

Experiential learning programs whether internships, work-study, or volunteer services are never ends in themselves.NOr are they simply a means of helping students learn fromsuch isolated experiences. I believe their role is primarily tohelp students acquire the skills which will enable them tolearn from all of life's experiences how to make appropriateconnections or Integrations Internally, externally, andtransactionallynow, ten years from now, and fifty yearsfrom now. In my opinion, this is one of the most importantaspects of career deveiopment.

A major problem I have both experienced in my ownprograms and observed in others is inadequate goaldefinition. Experiential learning is powerful stuff, potentiallyinvotving nearly every aspect of personal development. Acommon mistake is to set goals which are too narrowlyfocused on a particular academic inquiry or careerexploration to the neglect of more substantive outcomesrelating to self-discovery, environmental awareness andlifelong-learning skills. Since experience Is by natureholistic, interdisciplinary, and capable of engaging all oursenses, program goals should be worthy of the medium.Particular obfectives will certainty include well definedsettings and specific learning outcomes. But these shouldbe defined so they complement the overall goal of learninghow to make the connections and integrations necessaryfor personal growth and career development.

Too often goals, even when adequately stated, becomemerely words on a piece of paper rather than ways ofprogramming ourselves for certain expected results. Learn-in the realm of experiential programs seem to bedirectly related to the expectations of both facilitator andstudents. Unless goals are translated into expectations theywill almost certainly be neglected and desired results willnot be achieved.

Another problem has to do with our methods. Frequentlythey subvert student initiatives which are necessary toaccomplish the goals stated above. Communicate with,stimulate, and motivate the learner but never take fromhim/her the initiatives required in deciding, negotiating,analyzing, reporting, and integrating the learning acquiredthrough experiential programs. Students come to youroffice asking "What's available?" and right away you reachfor your list of agencies. That is a strong indication thatthere may be a problem with your methodology. I havelear.ed to answer the question "What's available" with

36 4/

"The whole world's available, which piece do you want?"We then explore interests, enthusiasms, past experiences.values, and other aspects of the studenrs uniqueness. Herethe student takes responsibility for discovering amidst themyriad of internal and external possibilities the kinds ofexperiences or field explorations which fit. The analysis isthe student's, the decision is the student's, and so thelearning will be owned by the student.

I call this process "centering" which is necessary prepara-tion for the "venturing" which will take place later. Like you,I seldom have time to adequately facilitate centering withindividuals. So, I do it in optional, experiential workshopsmade up of about thirty students. The workshops run for aminimum of twelve hours over several weeks. Sometimescentering still produces ambiguous results in terms ofconcrete experiential goals. When this is the case we findthat an inquiry into such printed resources as the YellowPages, the Chamber of Commerce Directory of Businesses,and the Directory of Community Services, together withplanned conversations with people who share an interestwith the student, brings about sufficient clarity to makedecisions and take appropriate action. To the extent thatstudents fully participate in this process, they will haveacquired knowledge and skills which will serve themthroughout their careers.

The same kinds of comments can be made with respect tonegotiating arrangements between students, school offi-cials, on-site supervisor, and others who may be involved.As the program unfolds from the centering stage to theventuring stage, the learning process is undermined whenstudents are not major participants in program assessmentand evaluation. Facilitate, but do not insulate the studentfrom the process of self-analysis, decision making, nego-tiating, and integrating the experience. If the student ismature enough to learn from a "real world" experience,he/she is mature enough to fully participate in all theprocesses connected with it.

Practical I am acquainted with many good experiential programs andsuggestions each is appropriately quite different from the others. Your

situation may be still different, but here are a fewsuggestions you might want to consider as you developyour assessment plans.

As you formulate the behavioral characteristics or changesyou desire on the part of your student, e.g , assertiveness,imagination, initiative, inquisitiveness, enthusiasm, sense ofdirection, etc , make sure these are qualities characteristicof your behavior. If learning a process of making moresophisticated connections and Integrations is the mostworthwhile outcome of experiential learning, the example ofa program coordinator who is modeling the requisite

37

4 ,)

Rflections

behavior in his/her personal and professional life will speakpowerfully. If you don't want your students to be hung upwith the passive "What's available?" mentalitythen don'tget caught up in that trap yourself. If you, or one of yourstudents, need a certain kind of experience, go after it.

The major indication that meaningful connections are beingmade, both on your part and on the student's, isenthusiasm. Authentic enthusiasm is a primary assessmenttool. Use it in helping students decide what they need toexperience. Use it in facilitating site selection. Use It inyour debriefing process. I have found enthusiasm to be amuch more useful and reliable tool than printed informationor intellectual exercises in helping people of any age withtheir career development.

Finally, avoid the "slot filling" mentality. As much as youcan, individualize your approach to experiential programs.Take your cue from the enthusium and rudiness of thestudent. As an effective facilitator, you may well havecultivated these characteristics but, unless they are there,you may "place a student where he/she doesn't fit. Andwhen we do that we are not only manipulative, we aredestructive.

Slot fillers usually operate within rigid time frames as well.These too should be individualized. Consider such possibil-ities as a half-hour interview, a day of exposure to a setting,a week of intensive immersion, or a month or semester ofinvolvement. Will a part-time experience fill the bill or isfull-time best? Why not use holiday periods and summersto advantage on a voluntary, no-credit basis? I have beenamazed to find how much can be accomplished in a shortperiod of time when there is an appropriate match betweeninquiry and experience.

One of the most frequent comments students make afterparticipating in our centering-venturing program of expe-riential learning and career development is "Why couldn'tthis have happened to me earlier?" I hope you are making ithappen in your secondary schools and that soon we in thecolleges will be enrolling more students who have learnedhow to learn from their experiencesstudents who have aclearer idea of who they are, what is going on in theirworld, and where they fit with their emerging sense ofcareer.

38

.1 3

.Y1

Perspective

The Community Is the Classroom

by

Rex W. Hagans, DirectorExperience-Based Career Education

Northwest Regional Educational LaboratoryPortland, Oregon 97204

Experience-Based Career,Education (EBCE) is an opera-tional expression of the conviction that a comprehensivecurriculum exists outside the walls of the school. Itassumes that the educational environment can be restruc-tured to take maximum advantage of both the value ofdirect experience and the special capabilities of communityinstitutions in helping young people prepare for adultresponsibilities.

It has been my good fortune to spend the past seven yearsof my professional life working on the development, testingand implementation of this idea. During that time, I havehad the opportunity to observe and participate firsthandwith some sixty communities across some thirty differentstates as they struggled to make experiential education aregular, legitimate part of their secondary schools. Thereactions EBCE provokes range from "... I have seen thefuture and it works!" to "I can't believe one really learnspublic speaking by speaking in public." The fact that veryfew are neutral in their feelings about EBCE indicates thatit goes to the heart of our basic values about whatsecondary education should be.

My experiences with EBCE have reinforced my belief in thevalue of experiential education They have also strength-ened my conviction that if experiential education is to bean opportunity for any significant number of students, agood deal of attention must be given to its educationalintegrity In simple terms that means articulating its mostimportant outcomes and assessing how well they areachieved. One of the most challenging aspects of imple-menting experiential education is that those in leadershippositions very often have somewhat vague or evenconflicting goals which they hope to meet through anexperiential education program. Focusing on importantexpected outcomes is the only effective way I have found todeal with this dilemma

What are these important outcomes? Perhaps the mostsignificant and overriding one is an integration of work,service and learning for the young person More specificoutcomes which should be expected from experientialeducation include

39

For Students

A marked increase in ability to communicateeffectively with adults.

An increased willingness to assume responsibilityfor their own actions.

An increased awareness of their career options andof themselves in relation to careers.

Significant growth in the basic skills of reading,math and comprehension.

More positive attitudes toward learning (not neces-sarily schooling).

A marked increase in awareness of people as alearning resource.

For Parents

Positive changes in their youngsters' attitude towardwork and learning.

Improved self-responsibility on the part of their sonsand daughters.

Increase in their children's willingnesa and ability totalk with them about their current activities andfuture plans.

For School/Community Relations

Working adults who serve as resource people derivepersonal satisfaction from their role with studentsand often gain an increased appreciation of theirown jobs.

Organizations benefit directly from the increasedjob satisfaction and career awareness expressed byworkers who participate as resource people.

The school gains a broader perspective of thedignity and complexity of all types of work.

Community members gain in increased awarenessof the nature of the learning process and thecomplexity of the educational enterprise.

Schools benefit from the community's increasedinvolvement in and understanding of the educa-tional process.

Problems

For tho Tooching/Loorning Process

Teachers become managers of learning resourcesrather than just imparters of information.

Guidance becomes integrated into the instructionalact.

A "clinical" and individualized mode of learning(assessment, prescription, evaluation and integra-tion) is practiced.

The process skills of negotiation and criticalthinking become a way of life for both staff andstudents.

The overriding difficulty is that such outcomes are moreeasily stated than reached. There are several importantconditions which communities seriously undertaking acomprehensive program of experiential education mustaccept if they hope to succeed. These conditions are notnecessarily easy to internalize:

A deep, institutional commitment to experience as avalid, certifiable way of learning is required.

There must be a willingness to recognize that adultsother than professional educators can contribute tolearning in the whole range of disciplines, academicas well as vocational.

There must be a desire to give the learning processand the entire educational enterprise an unusualdegree of visibility in the community.

A willingness to allow students the right to asaumereal responsibilities and therefore occasionally tofail is necessary.

Teachers as well as students must have legitimateoptions as to how they conduct their work.

Without attention to these conditions and continuing effortsto achieve with them, the existing forces of tradition andinertiain the school, in the work place and in teacher-student relationshipswill pull very strongly toward "nar-row" activities For example, activities which address onlythe "vocational" aspects of a job or produce "actionlearning" projects which do not require the student to gointo the community to interact directly with the standardsof the adult world will inevitably fail to help studentsachieve the important integrative outcomes which experien-tial education is uniquely suited to produce.

41

Practical There are two distinct aspects to successful implementationsuggestions of experiential education in the secondary schools: the first

and moat important has to do with the instructionalactivities, the second with the assessment of outcomes.

Instructional planning in experiential education must bemuch more than a slogan. The students have to be involvedin independent learning, primarily outside the shelteredenvironment of the classroom. For many youngsters this istheir first experience in either of these realmsplanning orindependent learning. Helping a student learn to play amajor part in determining and managing what he or shewants to learn requires perseverance and sensitivity on thepart of the instructor. Students' first attempts to articulatewhat they want and need to know will most likely be haltingand general, yet a "program" must be built that is based onclearly specified objectives which are mutually satisfactoryand understood. Negotiation, guidelines, patience andpractice will, in almost every case, produce the type oflearning contract that assures the integrity and integrationof learning which are so important. Student participationand feedback through regular sessions, group discussionsand journals provide the analysis and synthesis of expe-rience, which is the key to assuring that the work or serviceexperience is generalizable and generalized to the broaderrealms of various disciplines. Reality-based dialogue whichlooks ai "bad" as well as "good" experiences and atsuccessful and unsuccessful fulfillment of the learningcontract is critical, as is the "real world" capability tomodify or adjust contracts while they are in process.

Assessment (or evaluation as some say) is only slightly lessimportant to the success of experiential education thaninstructional planning. People at all levels need to knowhow things are going, particularly when many familiar"indicators" (time spent in a classroom, textbooks assigned,etc.) are absent. Students and their community instructorsmust assess achievement of objectives specified in alearning contract; parents and professional educators needto know about overall changes in the student; schooladministrators and school boards need to know aboutgroup progress and community acceptance. All of this mustbe assessed across the very important dimension ofacquisition skills, attitudes toward learning, communicationattributes and vocational choice.

The key to providing answers to these questions effectivelyand efficiently lies in combining common sense andeclecticism Well written objectives and an understanding ofhow to use them can provide the more short term, specificfeedback that community instructors and students require;selective and intelligent use of "standard" procedures andprocesses such as analysis of written work, discussion,diagnostic and prescriptive tests will provide answersimportant to assessing overall changes and progress. and

42

I ?

Reflections

standardized instruments and survey questionnaires cancontribute to knowledge about group progress and com-munity acceptance. These, however, should be supportedand supplemented by well thought out and in-depth casestudies on a small, random sample of students if the spiritand depth of experiential learning is to be conveyed. Thereal key is to identify the important questions you need toanswer and then use multiple devices to get at them. Forthe more important outcomes, such as those listed earlierin this article, this multiple approach is critical. Owens, etal. (1975) have described one such approach in rathercomplete detail in The Use of Multiple Strategies inEvaluating an Experience-Based Career EducationProgram.

Experiential education is exciting and has obvious value tomany learners. It offers one of the best hopes for bringingan understanding of options and responsibility and a senseof worth and dignity to young people coping wfth a societywhere the value of work and the individual seem underconstant attack. It is my strong belief that we must"protect" this hope by unyielding efforts to make allexperiential education quality education and by aiming foroutcomes that are significant, even if difficult to measure.Only such a tack can keep us from squandering a realopportunity for positive educational change.

43 1

CHAPTER 4

ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNINGIN CAREER EDUCATION

A word to the wise

Types of assessment

As career education coordinators and teachers, you arefaced with the task of assessing learning that occursthrough a variety of experiences ranging from generalcareer awareness activities through specific Job-skilltraining tasks, to comprehensive alternative high schoolprograms. In these situations the students learn byexploring and doing: they engage in handa-on experienceSaimed at expanding an understanding of the utility andapplicability of "academic" learning and at developingpractical application abilities. These kinds of learningexperiences do not merely draw upon information process-ing skills, but rather involve the total personhis/herpsychomotor skills, sensory perceptions, cognitive skills,attitudes, feelings, and ability to relate to others. As youmight expect, there is not a single test that can assess thistotal learning experience but there are techniques whichcan help you to assess the various activities that make uplearning experiences.

An analogy can be drawn to the doctor trying to assess apatient's general health. A variety of measures can beusednumerical measures such as temperature and bloodpressure readings, reflex reactions to stimuli, the patient'sown assessment of how he/she feelsall this is siftedthrough how she/he relates to the doctor. With experientiallearning, too, many methods can be used in the assess-ment. In the following pages are descriptions of somemethods that can be used either singly or in combination.

This discussion will cover two basic types of assessment:performance assessment and outcome assessment. Briefly,you may assess the experience as it occurs, or in a settingthat resembles the sitiation in which a specific type ofexperiential learning is applied (performance assessment).Or you may assess the experience by means of evaluatingthe result or end product such as drawings, photographs,or understanding of self, others or societal systems(outcome assessment) The primary difference betweenperformance assessment and outcome assessment then iswhen the assessment occurs With performance assess-ment, the learning is assessed throughout the experience.Outcome assessment focuses upon the end of the expe-rience and assumes that the outcome reflects the learningthat has taken place.

45

1 9

Assessment methods

Another important variable when choosing the type ofassessment is where the assessment occursat the work-place or in the school. Methods are available to assess theexperience either way. These distinctions are summarizedin Figure 1.

,

FIGURE 1Choosing an Assessment Method Based

on Where and When the Assessment Occurs

ThroughoutExperience

At Endof Experience

PerformanceAssessment

PerformanceAssessment

,

OutcomeAssessment

OutcomeAssessment

At the Work Setting At the School Setting

Where Assessment Occurs

However, like the doctor who uses multiple measures todetermine the health of a patient, the evaluator also seeksto use multiple assessment techniques to (1) obtain a morecomprehensive view of the level of learning that hasoccurred, and (2) obtain more reliable information bychecking the information for consistency with differentsources. This is known in evaluation jargon as "triangulat-ing the information sources."

This chapter will discuss five methods that may be used toassess experiential learning: direct assessment, self assess-ment, work sample, simulation, and tests. The followinginformation will be presented for each method:

A definition

Data collection strategies

Strengths and weaknesses

An example

The methods discussed in this chapter were selectedaccording to the level of realism present in the assessment.It assumes that assessments conducted at the work settingare more realistic than those done in the school. Forexample, direct assessment is a more realistic assessmentthan a work sample because the former is conducted at thework setting while the latter is a re-creation of the worksetting. However, the work sample, in turn, is a morerealistic assessment than a test because a work samplere-creates the work setting These relationships are identi-fied in Figure 2

46

5 1 I

Direct assessment

8

0

20

FIGURE 2Choosing an Assessment Method Based on theAmount of Realism in the Assessment Method

Direct AssessmentSelf Assessment

Work SampleSimulation

Tests

Direct AssessmentSelf Assessment

Work SampleSimulation

Tests

High Moderate

Amount of Realism inthe Assessment Method

Low

Figure 2 raises three points about assessing experientiallearning programs. First, different assessment techniquesmay be used to evaluate your program. Second, eachmethod has a different level of realism associated with it.Finally, many of the same methods may be used for bothperformance assessment and outcome assessment.

At first glance it might seem odd to you that performanceassessment and outcome assessment use the samemethods. If this is true, let's take a few minutes to stop andthink about it. Performance and outcome assessment arereally just two perspectives for looking at the samequestion: What (and how much) was learned in theexperiential setting? The methods are just tools to answerthis question, and they can be "massaged" to answer thequestion from either of the two perspectives. It's just liketaking a trip by car, train, or airplane. Each of the three aretransportation methods to get you from one destination toanother. The one you choose depends upon your perspec-tive (e g., cost, time available, purpose of trip, etc.). Now weare ready to look at each method to see which best fitsyour program.

A dollnition. A strong element of realism exists in directassessment because the student's learning is assessed byexamining the actual work. Through observation, attentionis focused on the work behavior as it occurs at the worksetting and/or an outcome that represents the student'sactivities at the work setting. For example, in order toassess a student's learning of auto mechanics, you couldassess his/her performance at a garage or some outcomethat represents his/her experience at the garage. such as arepaired distributor.

47

... Systematic observation

.. Ratings

. Rankings

Data co/faction afreteglee. When you want to use thedirect assessment method, observation techniques are arelatively easy way to collect information since observingis something we do all the tin». By systematizing ourobservations we are able to get specific evaluationinformation such as the procedures followed by students inthe learning process or the quality df the outcomesproduced. Three major types of direct assessment includethe use of systematic observation, interviewing, andgathering data unobtrusively.

To gather systematic observation information about astudents performance, he/she can be periodically observedat the work setting. This can be done in various ways, butthe three most common techniques are ratings, rankings,and checklists. While these techniques are dependent uponexpert opinion, they are an excellent means of assessingexperiential learning. For a more detailed discussion on thecollection of systematic observation data see Using Syste-matic Observation Techniques in Evaluating Career Educa-tion (Kester, 1979), in this Career Education MeasurementSeries.

Ratings, as you might expect from the name, involvesassigning numbers to specific tasks required of individualsin a work setting. As students perform their duties anassessor rates the performance levels of the students byassigning numbers to the observed behaviors according toa predetermined scale. For example, "1" might be assignedif the student half-heartedly performs tasks and "5" ifhe/she performs them in a superior way. Or a "0" might begiven for absence of the behavior and "1" for presence of it.Ratings can then be combined within categories for totalperformance scores. This information might also be placedon a graph and compared with later results. When usingratings, care should be taken to insure that the ratings arenot assigned subjectively. One good way to guard againstthis is to have several assessors participate in the process.

Using the ranking technique, a student's performance isshown in relationship to the other people. Using theexample described above, the assessors would rank theindividuals in the group from lowest to highest on eachbehavior being assessed. The danger here is that assessorsmay feel compelled to give each student a different rank,from low to high, even when performances are equallycompetent. Don't be swayed to do this. Again, care must betaken to avoid bias

... Checklists To use the checklist technique, you will need to list thebehaviors you want the students to exhibit and give the list

48

... Interviewing

... Unobtrusive datacollection

to the assessors. They in turn observe the student duringsimulated or on-the-job performance and put checkmarksby the behaviors they observe. The lists are then tallied andcomposite scores are derived. As with ratings and rankings,care must be taken to insure that you avoid bias.

The student, supervisor and/or coworkers may be periodi-cally interviewed as another asseument technique. Theinterview could consist of either structured or unstructuredquestions. It too could be used to rate, rank, or check theindividual student's progress.

In cases where products are not readily available, such asan experience as a nursing aide, the interview may beparticularly important. Again, a preselected set of criteriashould be designed against which the learning could beevaluated. In this case, the interview might include suchitems as familiarity with hospital procedures, importance ofhospital procedures, and an understanding of patientneeds.

Another direct assessment method to use would begathering data unobtrusively. For example, the wear andtear on tools or the use of raw materials could also serve asan unobtrusive source or information.

Systematic observation techniques may also be used toassess the outcomes produced as the result of a learningexperience. For example, a student submits a sample ofwork or product created as a result of the experience thatreflects the type and amount of learning that took place.You can then assess that learning based upon observingthat product against appropriate criteria. For example, if astudent is working, exploring or observing in a graphicsdepartment to learn about photography techniques, he/shemight submit a portfolio of photographs or a paper onphotographic techniques. The photographs could then beevaluated according to some preselected criteria, such asthe use of light, clarity of the photograph, and the types ofsubjects photographed. The paper could be evaluated onthe depth of understanding about different photographictechniques, the use of different lenses, etc. The successfulcompletion of the product would imply that learning hasoccurred.

Gathering data unobtrusively may also be used tocomplement the other two techniques. Let's go back to thepromising photographer. Complementary assessment infor-mation to the actual photographs might be the total numberof photographs taken or the number of photographs he/shedeveloped without assistance from his/her mentor.

49

53

SO assessment

. . Informal selfassessment

Strength. end weaknesses. Direct assessment allows you toassess a learning experience in the setting as it occurs. Byusing the three complementary techniques (i.e., observing,interviewing, and gathering data unobtrusively) you cancreate a relatively complete picture of the learningexperience. The three techniques are not difficult to learnsince you are systematizing something you do naturally.Practice will help you to generate more and moresystematic observations. However, direct assessment maybe more difficult to use than the other methods which willbe discussed because it may require one assessor perstudent and multiple assessments over time (if you aredoing a performance assessment).

An example. David is a high school junior who isparticipating in a series of short-term work experiences aspart of his high school curriculum. At present, David'slearning experience is in a library. Let's use directassessment methods to assess David's latest experience. Toassess the experience, we can observe David at the libraryseveral times during the time he is there. At the conclusionof each visit, we can complete a rating scale to assess hislearning using such criteria as relationship to patrons,accuracy of information provided, cooperativeness andattitude. We can also interview David and the librarian toobtain information about his learning experience such asthe tasks performed, areas of accomplishment, and areasthat still need to be developed to complete his plannedexperience. Unobtrusive information could be collectedregarding the number of patrons assisted, attendancerecord, the number of times assistance from other librarypersonnel was required, or the degree to which the learningobjectives of the experience were completed.

A definition. Self assessment is a method by which thestudent judges his or her own level of accomplishment.This method will help you to gain more insight andinformation about your students and ultimately will makethe assessment results more meaningful. It will also helpthe students to gain more knowledge about themselves.Basically, self assessment can be either of a formal orinformal nature.

Date collection strategies. On an informal level, selfassessment might consist of discussions between thestudent and his/her mentor. These discussions should beaimed at determining whether predefined learning goals arebeing accomplished.

5051

. .. Formal selfassessment

A good way to build rapport with students and toencourage informal self assessment is to s:t down withthem and talk about where they are in relation to their owngoals and those of the program. As a basis for discussion,students can keep logs in which they record their progressin relation to given milestones. Daily diaries, in whichstudents describe their feelings about program activitiesand their thoughts about how the activitic> relate to theirown goals and to those of the experiential learningprogram, are another good basis for discussion. Manyproblems can be "put on the table" and the information youobtain from the students will help you to interpret your ownassessment measures.

There are also more formal kinds of self assessment whichcan help students look more closely at their attitudes,general levels of accomplishment, and development ofspecific skills. The three most popular formal techniques arethe self inventory checklist, standard self assessment tests,and skill history form.

Self inventory checklists can be used to help studentsassess their previous experiences and their knowledge andlevels of interest in given tasks or fields. You may want tobegin your experiential learning program with such aninventory.

As your students gain knowledge and skills in a particulararea, it will be useful to you and to them to view theirprogress in relation to the level of knowledge and skillsacquired Standard self assessment tests can be used bythe student for this purpose without the threat of beinggraded. These tests are usually constructed in a multiplechoice form. If desired, the student can score his/her owntest and discuss the results with you in an informal manner.

It your program is designed so that students learn specificjob related skills, then the skill history form is a selfassessment technique similar to the inventory checklist. Itprovides a means for the student to assess preNjouslylearned skills in specific career areas. The skill history formalso can be used in conjunction with the self inventorychecklist

Strengths and weaknesses. Self assessment provides infor-mation about the learning experience from the student'sperspective Oyer time Thus, it complements other assess-ment methods The information obtained from self assess-ment often is insightful and may provide a more completeview of the learning experience over time. However, if sdfassessment is to be a useful method the student must begiven guidance in how to do it For example, students maynot be objective evaluators of their own accomplishments,so specific standards should be provided

51

Work sample

An oxemple. Tanya is a high school senior participating inan experiential learning program designed to have studentsloam about organizational leadership as interns to execu-tives In business and government. She is spending this termshadowing the director of the state legislative researchoffice. Since her work assignments have varied from smallresearch reports to answering citizen requests to monitor-ing legislative committees, it may be difficult to observe herperformance or assess a tangible product of the expe-rience. So, the self assessment method might be approp-riate. In this case, as part of her experiential learningprogram, Tanya might be required to keep a log where sherecords her major daily activities, what she has learned, andreflections on her experience. She also might be asked toindicate the tasks she haa performed or be given a problem inwhich she is asked to provide a correct response from a listof potential answers.

A dnfinition. Work sample is a variation of the directassessment method and is most useful in programs wherestudents do productive work (for which they should bepaid) and are expected to learn a specific set of work skills.The major difference between the direct assessment andwork sample methods is where the assessment is con-ducted. Direct assessment is done at the work setting,whereas the work sample is conducted away from the worksetting. When time or cost does not permit you to usedirect assessment, a work sample may be second best. Awork sample attempts to reproduce all, or an importantpart, of an actual task learned at the work setting. Thismethod uses the same type of equipment found at the worksetting. The student might be asked to perform a tasklearned (e.g., designing a filing system for a set ofmaterials) or analyze a situation and .Tect its errors (e.g.,critiquing and redesigning an existi% Ming system). Usingthe filing system example, the student's performance mightbe assessed against a variety of criteria such as howthoroughly he/she analyzes the office information needsbefore the filing system is redesigned. However, the resultof the work sample, the new filing system, may also beassessed from the outcome perspective (e.g., potentialutility of the filing system, the technical accuracy in itsconstruction, etc.).

Data collection strategies. Since the work sample is avariation of direct assessment, some of the same datacollection methodsratings, rankings, checklists, gatheringdata unobtrusivelymay be used.

Strengths and weaknesses. When time or cost do not allowfor direct observation, a work sample may be designed thatrepresents that learning situation. However, it may take

52

5 6

Simulation

more time to arrange an appropriate work sample than todo a direct assessment. The usefulness of a work sample isdirectly proportional to how well it represents the actuallearning at the work setting. To be useful it must be basedupon the objectives of the learning experience. Second, itshould be representative of the type of tasks the studentperformed at the work setting. Third, adequate equipmentand time should be provided for the work sample chosen.Next, the evaluator of the work sample should have nriteriaagainst which to rate the student's learning. Finally, thework sample should be tried out (or pilot tested) onexperienced individuals to detect any problems.

Even with these caveats, it must be remembered that awork sample is a representation of what occurred in thelearning experienceyou are not assessing the experiencein the actual learning situation. In addition, the worksample primarily relies upon one systematic observationtechniqueobservation. Although the assessor may gatherunobtrusive information (e.g., the number of different waysthe student began to design the filing system beforedeciding upon one to completely design) the work sampleis not conducive to collecting interview information fromthe student's supervisor and/or coworkers.

An exempla Manuel has participated in a careerexploration program and has decided that his careerinterest lies in repairing comr ication equipment. He nowattends school in the morning .lid works repairingcommunication equipment at the local university in theafternoon. Since it has been determined that directassessment of Manuel's experience at the work setting isnot possible, we have decided to assess his experiencethrough a work sample. Using the same kind of equipmentthat Manuel usually works with on the job, we can create awork sample away from the work setting and ask him todiagnose problems with some communication equipmentand make the appropriate repairs. We could then assess hisexperience by using systematic observation techniques.His work sample might be assessed against such criteria asthe speed of diagnosis, the efficiency of the repair and/orthe adequacy of the repair.

A definition. Simulation asks the student to pretend thathe/she is engaged in some real task. The simulator used indriver education classes is a common example of asimulation. Like a work sample, simulation is a modificationof the direct assessment method. However, while a worksample assesses tangible skill performance, simulation canalso address the measurement of attitudes, motivations,personalities and social skills which interact with aptitudesto get a job accomplished. Since a simulation is made up ofmany interrelated actions and reactions, it is a way oflonking at the total picture of real life performance, notmerely assessing the separate skills or personality traitsthat make up the total picture. For example, a simulationmay be used to measure leadership ability or decision-making skills

53

5 '7

-

A simulation may take several variations. One variation isthe paper-and-pencil simulation. Simulations in this groupinclude a case study (where the student writes an analysisof the assigned problem in a specific period of time) and anin-basket test (where the student is asked to solve theproblem described in memos and correspondence found inan in-basket). Non-paper-and-pencil simulations are ususallyconcerned with interpersonal relationships and personalbehavior. Some types of these simulations are leaderlessgroup discussions (where students assume roles and find asolution to a problem through discussions) and simulatedinterviews (where the student plays roles during theinterview and the assessor either plays an opposing role orrates the players while observing the interview).

Like a work sample, simulations are usually used to assesslearning from the performance perspective. However, theymay be used to assess a student's learning from theoutcome perspective. For example, if you were to use thein-basket method to assess a student's learning of adminis-trative skills, you could look at the method of disposition ofthe in-basket items (performance perspective) and the finalresult, such as the percentage of items addressed, dele-gated, and discarded (outcome perspective),

Data collection strategies. Since simulations are modifica-tions of the direct assessment method, systematic observa-tion techniques (primarily observing and gathering dataunobtrusively) may be used to collect information.

Strengths and weaknesses. Simulation will allow you toassess learning that involves complex qualities such asmotivations, attitudes, and social skills. This type ofinformation may not be gleaned easily from the othermethods. Simulations have other benefits such as low cost,the opportunity to develop standardized assessment instru-ments over time, and the opportunity to assess the studentwithout interrupting the work setting. For the assessment tobe meaningful, it must be carefully designed. Like a worksample, it must represent the learning situation in the worksetting. Adequate equipment and time must be provided forthe simulation chosen, criteria should be established toassess the student's learning, and the simulation should bepilot tested to detect any problems before it is used.

An example. Shandy is in the tenth grade and is notsucceeding in her high school program. As a result, she isnow enrolled in an experiential learning program whichconsists of classes in such areas as basic academic classes,career awareness, self-awareness and a two week expe-rience in a work setting Shandy selected the informationoffice of the city personnel department as her work settingSince her main observations have been associated withdiscussions about job openings with applicants, we havedecided that a simulation might be an appropnate way toassess her experience To do this. Shandy could be given a

54

Tests

list of open employment positions in the information office.Then we would simulate the interview process by havingdifferent people with different employment histories applyfor positions. Shandy's performance may be assessedagainst such criteria as her ability to communicate and tomatch an individual's previous experience, aptitudes, atti-tudes and job autonomy desires with existing openings.

A definition. Tests are the least realistic way of assessing astudent's learning in an experiential setting. However, thereare times when some aspects of experiential learning maybe assessed by administering tests. For example, you mightuse tests to assess knowledge of basic facts when it isimpractical or economically infeasible to use other methodsor you might find that time, space, and the breadth of thesubject matter makes it desirable to use tests on selfconcepts, locus of control or attitudes in concurrence withthe measurement of selected standards or instruments.Tests are especially effective when used in conjunction withother kinds of measures to help verify the information youcollect.

Data collection strategies. Several types of tests areavailable. These include matching tests, true-false tests,completion tests and essay tests. The education literaturecontains many works that describe these different types oftests, their uses, construction, and pitfalls.

Strengths and weeknews. The use of existing valid andreliable tests may be the least expensive way to assess astudent's performance. However, as mentioned above, theyare also the least realistic. Therefore, they should seldombe used as the sole assessment measure. When used inconjunction with another method, the information obtainedthrough tests can be complementary. But you should bereminded that most written tests are highly dependent uponthe student's vocabulary, writing ability, socio-economicstatus, sex and maturation. Also, for a test to be useful inassessing performance, it should be administered prior toand at the end of the learning experience in order to gaugethe student's growth

An xample. Danny is a high school dropout who nowparticipates in an experiential learning program that offersremedial education and part-time work experience. He hasbeen spending the last few weeks working at a seniorcitizens center as a nutrition aide Although we will beassessing his experience by observing his work andreviewing the meals he plans, he has had to learn a lot ofbasic information about biology and nutrition Thus, wemight also use a written test to determine how much formalknowledge about biology and nutrition Danny has learnedduring his experience by administering a test prior to theexperience and again at its completion

55

59

Two other factors

. . . Triangulation

... Program outcomes

We have just discussed five methods that can be used toassess experiential learning programs. The choice of themethod Or methods used is up to you. However, before youmake a decision, there are two other factors that should bekept in mind: triangulation and program outcomes.

Triangulation is simply the process of obtaining informationfrom several different sources (e.g., student and supervisor)or from the same source (e.g., student) using differentmethods. The purpose behind triangulating information isverification. Although we have placed a formal name onthis process, we verify information daily by triangulating.For example, we often solicit opinions from severalcolleagues in order to gather their viewpoints and todetermine if there is a consensus of thought. Anotherexample is adding a long column of four-digit numbers. Wemay add the numbers from the top down and then from thebottom up to see if we arrived at the same totals. In the firstcase we sought the same information from many sources.In the second case, we used two variations of the samemethod to determine if our finding was accurate.

As with all types of assessment, triangulation is very usefulwhen assessing experiential learning programs. It is alsonot very difficult. If you want to assess performance, youcould triangulate your information by using direct assess-ment, self assessment and tests. Or you could use directassessment several times. From an outcome assessmentperspective, you could use both direct assessment andtests. Another route to take is to triangulate your informa-tion by doing both performance and outcome assessment.The information you obtain by using one method from eachperspective will help you to verify the findings.

The program outcomes will help you to decide theperspective and methods you will use for assessment.Different assessment methods are better suited to differentoutcomes. For example, tangible skill development may bemost easily assessed by direct assessment and/or tests,while more complex behavior may be better assessedthrough simulation The point to keep in mind is thatexperiential learning programs have multiple outcomes. Theone outcome or combination of outcomes you want toassess must be determined before you select assessmentmethods Figure 3 attempts to illustrate this relationship byidentifying three potential outcomes job skill development,career development and personal growth All three out-comes may be evaluated from the performance andoutcome assessment perspectives However, some methodswork better with one outcome than another Pleaseremember that Figure 3 is an interpretation Just because amethod is included in one box does not mean that youcannot use it to assess a different outcome It is just aguide

56

,-.t) I l

Four questionsto consider

FIGURE 3Outcomes and Assessment Methods

Job SkillDevelopment

OutcomesCareer

DevelopmentPersonalGrowth

Direct Assessment Direct Aueument Direct AssessmentSimulation SO Assessment Se It Assessment

Work Sample Interview SimulationSelf Assessment Tests

Direct Assessment Direct Assessment Direct AssessmentWork Sample interview Tests

Tests Simulation

Before you continue, this might be a good time to pauseand think about the information you have read and Itsrelationship to your program. Below are four questions toconsider as you develop your assessment strategy.

Are you Interested in assessing the learning from aperformance perspective and/or an outcome perspective?One thought that undergirds this chapter is that theperformance and outcome perspectives are two sides of thesame coin, or two ways of looking at the learningexperience. And from looking at the program from twoperspectives, you get a more complete picture of thelearning experience.

Haw you cons/doted the methods appropriate tor eachperspective? This chapter was filled with methods that canbe used to assess the learning experience from bothperspectives. When reviewing these methods, several pointscome to light. First, many of the same methods can be usedwhether you assess the program from the performance oroutcome perspective. Second, the amount of realism varieswith each method. The most realistic method is directassessment (e.g., observing, interviewing, gathering dataunobtrusively). When direct assessment is not possible, itmay be adapted by using work samples or simulations.Tests are the least realistic method, but they do comple-ment the other methods.

Did you consider the program outcomes when youdesigned the assessment? Experiential learning programshave different intended outcomes. These might include jobskill development, better career decision-making capabilityand/or personal growth. Some methods better fit oneoutcome than another. For example, Figure 3 illustratedthat interviews may be used as the major measure forcareer development while tests may be more useful tomeasure personal growth.

57

An Illustration

How you considered verifying your Information? Informa-tion is not terribly useful unless it is accurate. One way tOverify your information is to assess the learning experienceby using more than one method. Thus, you can use twomethods to measure performance or two methods tomeasure the outcome, or one method to measure perfor-mance and one method to measure the outcome. This isknown as triangulating.

These questions and other issues that affect the assess-ment of experiential learning programs are summarized inthe checklist below. The checklist is designed to be a quickreview of the issuesnot a substitute for the text. So, whileyou are designing your amassment strategy, the checklistcan be used as a guide so that major points are notforgotten.

checklist

No

Have you determined:

1. If you will assess the program from aperformance and/or outcomeperspective?

2. Which methods you might use toassess the performance?

3. Which methods you might use toassess the outcome?

4. Which assessment methods are themost feasible for you to use givenprogram constraints (e.g., time, cost)?

5. If the assessment methods chosenbest fit the program goals?

6. Which combination of methods willhelp you to verify the informationcollected?

..

We have just discussed assessing experiential learning byfive different methods: direct assessment, self assessment,work sample, simulation, and tests. We have also discussedthe issues of triangulation, outcomes and four generalquestions to consider when designing an assessmentstrategy Most of these methods may be used whether youassess the learning experience from a performanceperspective or an outcome perspective The method(s)selected are up to you depending upon what you want toassess (the performance or the outcomes of the program),

58 5,,,

the assessment setting (at the work setting or in the school)and the resources available for assessment (e.g., time,money). This section will indicate how you might assessthe same learning experience from both the performanceand outcome perspectives using the methods we havediscussed. Please bear in mind that this is only anillustration. If you were to use all of the methods in yourassessment, you could end up with more information thanis needed. For example, a work sample is a modification ofdirect assessment. If you can actually observe the processor the outcome, you need not reproduce it in a worksample. With this caveat in mind, let's look at anillustration.

An Illustration

During her junior year in high school Susanparticipated in a career exploration program. She hasdecided to spend the spring semester of her senior yearin the experiential learning program. After discussing herinterests and available work sites with the programcoordinator, and since she is interested in helpingchildren she has decided to work in the city's head startprogram as a teacher assistant. It was decided that therewould be two primary outcomes of Susan's experience.First, she should be able to tutor children, and second,she should be able to interact more comfortably withadults. Susan's major responsibilities include assisting theteacher. In addition, she often works with small groupsof children by herself to reinforce the topics discussed inclass

How might Susan's program be assessed? As you read thisshort scenario, several ideas probably came to mind Themethod you use to assess your experiential learningprogram will depend upon several factors We havediscussed several, including

Perspective you wish to assess

When the assessment will occur

Where the assessment will occur

Tnangulation

Program outcomes

In addition, the papers in Chapters 3 raise other issues foryou to consider The choice of the method or methods isup to you

59

63

On the following page, space is provided for you onWorksheet 1 to jot down your assessment ideas for Susan'sexperiential learning program in the head start program.Feel free to refer back to the various sections in thischapter for information as you complete this section. Whenyou have finished, turn the page and you will see how wetackled the problem. However, don't forget that oursolutions are not necessarily "the best" since there are noright or wrong answers. They are only suggestions.

6064

Works Me 1Assessment Strategy: Susan's Experiential Learning Program

Performance assessment. From this perspective I Outcome aueument. From this perspective Iwould like to use the following assessment would like to use the following assessmentmethods: methods:

Direct assessment

Self assessment

Work sample

Simulation

Tests

5 '3

Direct assessment.

Self assessment

Work sample

Simulation

Tests

Completed Wortsheet 1Asesesment Strategy: Susan's Exponential Leming Program

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT. From this perspective we would liketo assess how much Susan has learned at her work setting and howher performance has improved over the spring semester.

Direct ersessemeM. Susan's learning may be assessed through a series ofobservations by both the classroom teacher and the day care centerpersonnel. Her performance could be judged against suCh criteria as herability to transfer information to the students, her ability to organize thematerials she teaches, her poise and confidence, etc. The observationsmay be complemented by (1) interviewing Susan, her supervising teacherand perhaps some of the children and (2) gathering data unobtrusively(e.g., Susant attendance record at the head stall program).

Self amasament. Since we cannot observe Susan's work on a daily basisnor assess a work sample on a daily basis, Susan has been asked to keepa log of her daily experience, with comments on what she learned. Areview of this daily log will present an overview of Susan's experience,what she felt was important, and what things she felt she learned. The logcan also help to determine the progress she has made on her fob.

Work sample. If it is not fessible to visit Susan at the day Care center, agroup of children may be brought to her school to simulate the day carecenter Once the children are present, Susan's experiences may be*valuated using systematic observation methodsobserving and gatheringdata unobtrusively

Simulation. The simulation might be used to assess the more complexaspects of the experience. For example, a -no risk interview may be usedwhere the program coordinator might play the director of a day carecenter and Susan plays a prospective teacher The interview would centeron Susan's ideas about teaching young children In addition toassessing the subject matter, other qualities such as responsibilities,persuuiveness, logical conversation under stress, and demonstratedlistening ability may be rated

Teets. A written test may be periodically used to determine the cognitiveattitudinal gains Susan has made Items might center around childdevelopment, learning theory. self concept and locus of control

OUTCOME ASSESSMENT. From this perspective we would like toassess how much Susan has learned in the program by looking atthe outcome, assisting children.

Direct seseseasent. Susan has been asked to Submit elf of the materialsshe developed herself and all of the materials she used as a beaching aid.

The materials would then be rated as to their originality, appropriateness,and content. She also has been asked to submit class projects she helped

the children complete and inClude an explanation of her role. Regardingthese projects Susan and her supervising teacher may also be interviewedto determine the utility and appropriateness of the materials.

mainamant. Susan can be asked to rate the degree to which she issatisfied with her level of competence in caring for small children. Anothertechnique that could be used would be to ask her to prepare an essay onthe satisfaction she receives from her work as a head start teacherassistant

Wore wimple. If we were not able to visit Susan periodically at the daycare center, we may choose to design a work sample to moss herexperience. Although a work sample generally is used to assessperformance, we may also assess the outcome of the work simple. To dothis, systematic observation techniques may be used, such as talking tothe children at the end of the work sample.

Simulation. In order to assess the more complex aspects of Susan'sexperience from an outcome perspective, a simulation may be used. Usingthe example of the "no risk" interview which we might use for theperformance assessment, we can carry it one stop further snd use it as anoutcome assessment. For example, atter the intentiew is completed,another "director" might decide whether or not to hire Susan and explain

the reason(s) behind the choice.

Tees. The tests we will administer to Susan throughout the experiencemay be administered once more at the end of the spring quarter todetermine her overall knowledge about child development and learningtheory The final test scores may be compared to the earliest test score todetermine what she has and has not learned from her experience

Where do you gofrom here?

... Students

Learning outcomes

. . Feedback to students

... Communication with others

Planning an assessmentstrategy

Now that you have had a basic introduction to experientiallearning, its departures from and similarities to traditionallearning, some techniques for its assessment in careereducation, and viewpoints of assessing experiential educa-tion from the secondary perspective, you should be able toadopt or adapt techniques appropriate for your ownprogram use. Below are a few guidelines to consider as youdevelop your assessment program.

Your students' socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic back-grounds; sex; maturation; and previous experience in careereducation should be considered when you are selectingassessment techniques. Assessment can be a learning toolfor both you and your students if measures are appropriatefor the students.

Take care to clearly identify the outcomes you expect toachieve in your program. Make sure that they areappropriate for the students and that the learning tasks aredesigned to produce those outcomes. And be sure yourstudents understand what they are expected to achieve.

Daily or weekly feedback to students of your assessmentresults is extremely important. The students' increasedawareness of their competency levels will make it possibleto choose career alternatives on a sound basis.

Although you may be working in only one program, don'tlimit your awareness to what is going on in your ownprogram. Talk with others who are involved in experientiallearning programs. Find out what they are doing. You knowthe cliche .. "Two heads are better than one." Perhapsthree or more are even better! In the meantime, some"others" are waiting to talk to you in the next chapter. Theyrepresent a perspective of assessing experiential learningas seen by personnel in postsecondary agencies.

Before you turn to Chapter 5 and begili reading the papersfrom the postsecondary perspective, take a few minutes toorganize your thoughts about assessing experiential learn-ing by applying the information in this chapter to your ownprogram We know that this is not an easy task since manyfactors will affect the assessment strategy you choose. Tobegin with, you will find Worksheet 2 on the next page Theworksheet contains some factors that you should considerwhen designing your assessment strategy. However, sinceeach program is different only you know which factors areapplicable to your program. So we have left space for youto "personalize" the worksheet We hope you find it to be ahelpful way to collect your thoughts

63

Worksheet 2

Factors to consider

1. What assessment perspective willbe used (performance or outcome)?

2. Where will the assessment occur?

3. When will the assessment occur?

4. What methods (direct assessment, self assessment,work sample, simulation, test) will be usedto assess the performance? outcome?

5 Do the methods selected best fit theprogram goals?

6 Are the resources available to conductthe assessment?

7 Will the evaluation data be reliable')

8 Will the evaluation data be valid?

Rationale

64

CHAPTER 5

ASSESSING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING :VIEWPOINTS FROM THE POSTSECONDARY PERSPECTIVE

Introduction As we have seen in Chapters 3 and 4, there are many waysto assess experiential learning programs, and the peopleworking in the secondary area have varied viewpoints.Experiential education is also heing used as aninstructional method on the postsecondary level. They tooare trying to determine some of the best ways to assessexperiential learning

In order to acquaint you with the current thinking in thisarea from the postsecondary perspective, we haveassembled papers that reprasent the viewpoints of severalpeople working in the postsecondary area. You will findthat although their viewpoints vary, the papers provide anoverview of ideas about assessing experiential learning. Ifyou'd like any further information from any of the writers,they are identified at the beginning of each paper, and theywelcome your questions or comments. The major ideasaddressed in these papers are also indexed in Chapter 7.

65

6.9

Perspective

Observations on Experiential Learningin Career Education

by

Sheila Gordon, Associate DeanLaGuardia Community College

Long Island, New York

My own perspective on experiential learning has evolved asa result of three major "experiences." First, once I began toworkat a series of exciting, though initially confusingpositionsI felt enormous gaps in my earlier formaleducation in a highly academic university setting, Much as Iappreciated my education, I felt strongly that I would havebeen much better prepared had I had some careerexposure and some experiential learning opportunities. In1970, after several different work experiences, I moved tomy present position at LaGuardia Community Collegewhere I worked to design ird build into this new college acomprehensive experiential and career education program(cooperative education) required of all studentsin thiscase an urban, low income open admissions population. Mywork at LaGuardia led me to involvement at a national levelin the broader experiential education movement in highereducation, where I have had considerable exposure toassessment issues and to the diverse problems of the fullrange of postsecondary institutions in grappling withexperiential education.

Such experiences have certainly helped to form my ownperapective,,or, if you will, "biases." Primarily, I am a strongbeliever in liberal or general education, and I feel verystrongly that experiential learning is a key part of generaleducation. To me, it is an essential piece of a balancedpedagogical strategy* it formally recognizes that people dolearn through experience, as well as through books andclassrooms; it helps build learning skills pertinent toexperience; it facilitates students' integrating classroomlearning with experience, testing out or observing thereality of academic concepts, it helps ensure that theprimary purpOse of education is met by clarifying whetherstudents can functionally use classroom learning in theirlives as informed citizens, effective workers, and socialbeings

My own work experience has tended to orient me towardquestions for providing experiential learning for studentswho are low income, typically "educationally disadvan-taged." unassertive in the classroom or work place, and

67

Problems

Practical suggestions

quite unsophisticated about the world. Thus, while I believethat experiential learning is appropriate for all populations,I, myself, have focused on developing it as a strategy forsocial and career mobility.

Regarding assessmentthe topical concern of thishandbookI would tend to emphasize the importance ofsetting objectives. In order to develop appropriate assess-ment techniques, it is essential to be very clear about yourprogrammatic objectives. Are they primarily to providecareer exposure, to promote personal development, or toreinforce classroom taught skills? Good teachers inevitablyhave good assessment capability: the problem is usuallydefining what one is assessing.

As my "biases" indicate, a major problem area in experien-tial learning programs is defining the program's objectives.Then, the related problem is ensuring that the program'scomponents are consistent with its objectives. Permit me toillustrate briefly, drawing on my particular experience in acooperative/career education program. Perhaps the mostcommon problem, I find, derives from inconsistenciesbetween a program's objectives, e.g., to provide exposureto different career options within a field, and the needs ofthe employer or firm.

You may aim to have students spend a few days in each ofseveral departments to observe different operations andtypes of personnel. The company, however, may find thispattern disruptive and be interested only in students whoare not merely observers but who can "do something" andwho can be reasonably productive.

This problem can often relate to another, that of timeframe. The school's administrative needs may indicate afield placement which occurs after 3:00 p.m while thecooperating firm finds those hours difficult. Teachers mayhope to have students observe certain career roles incertain sequences to correspond with their course plans,but the sequence may not be realistic for the employingfirm. A school serving, for example, upper middle classstudents may want them to spend a brief period working onan assembly line, but these students relate poorly to theline workers and create many attitudinal problems. In short,there is an overarching problem of developing a workablesystem, which has many different and often conflictingparts.

The best advice I can give is to be systematic! Thinkthrough your entire program, its objectives, your institu-tional characteristics, strengths and limitations, your staff,your potential resources, cooperating firms for providingexperiential learning, and your capacity to individualize andmonitor a program Let me suggest some specific points.

1 Clarify your rationale for offering an experientialprogram and develop a statement of your philosophy

68

2. Define the educational objectives which you hope toachieve, e.g., career exploration, personal testing orsurvival, cross-cultural exposure, and work experience.And don't overlook your students' own learningobjectives.

3. Define appropriate experiential learning setting or fieldplacement. In considering whether a factory, asummer camp, a local supermarket, a political cam-paign or a Mayan ruin is "appropriate," you have toexamine several different subpoints: how much staffsupport is needed (and can be provided) to monitorthe learning; who your students are and what they canhandle emotionally, financially, intellectually and tech-nically; what time frame is best for the field experiencefor you, your students and the field institutions, e.g.,summers, after school, alternate weeks, one or twoweeks during the school year; and as suggestedearlier, the needs, constraints and expectations ofcooperating agencies.

4. Develop your field placements or sites for experientiallearning. This typically requires a number of relatedsteps: identifying potential placement opportunities;identifying and, as may be necessary, training staff todevelop placements; using a whole range of negotiat-ing and selling skills to obtain the placements youwant; establishing linkages with individuals or associa-tions which can help; confirming specific arrange-ments with the "employer" of your students;maintaining relationships with and meeting the needsof your "employers" over time to ensure the viability ofthe placements.

5. Select and prepare students for your program. Whichstudents do you intend to serve in this program? All?Certain groups? Only those highly motivated towardthe program? Whichever, you need to define yourcriteria and, as necessary, recruit or develop selectionprocedures Once you have your student group. youwill need to prepare them for a learning experiencewhich may seem very strange to them and which ismost likely quite different from other school-associated learning You will want to orient them tothe program and its objectives and perhaps teachthem observational logkeeping and other skillsappropriate to experiential learning You will want toalert them to the importance of interpersonal relation-ships and to the perceptions and needs of the peopleor agency with which they will be involved You willwant to help them to anticipate problems. difficultiesand change Finally, if an interview or application isnecessary, you will want to help them prepare it

69

Reflections

6. Place your students carefully, sensitively according totheir needs and the needs or demands of the agencyor field setting. If you are dealing with a large numberof students, this may require developing an organizedmatching and placement process.

7. Structure and monitor the students experiential learn-ing. Don't just assume it will happen. Accompany orvisit your students. Make sure that any agencysupervisor is well apprised of and supportive of yourprogram.

8. Assess your students' experiential learning. Determinein advance what you will assess, which may includeunanticipated learnings. Be realistic about what learn-ing will be obtainable in particular settings. Gauge thelevel of performance or learning you expect for yourlearning objectives. Engage the student in the assess-ment process; give him/her self-assessment skills andthus greater ownership of the process. Use assesig-ment techniques which are appropriate to the kinds oflearning and, wherever possible, use techniqueswhich, in themselves, further learning. Any number oftechniques can be useful for assessing experientiallearning* thoughtful paper and pencil tests are familiarand often helpful; simulations can deepen studentlearning and permit you to observe the way studentsfunction; similarly, on-site observations provide excel-lent data, as do evaluations by site supervisors;assessment of "products" of the experience (a piece ofpottery, a set of campaign flyers, a lesson plan from apre-school arts and crafts session); evaluation ofjournals or logs kept; interviewing by individuals orpanels (which may include faculty, "experts" or otherstudents).

Most of my "practical suggestions" have been to the "nutsand bolts" of experiential programs I would like toconclude with a few more general, if somewhat randomobservations.

On the one hand, I would like to stress the need for us, aseducators, to develop thoughtful, constructive programs.This includes the need to develop a conceptual frameworkand in turn a curriculum to guide an experiential program.Such a curriculum should help students to learn aboutcareer, personal, and functional roles, as well as work andlifestyle values, and the impact of interpersonal skills inboth their own and others' lives. These learnings are central toexperience and life success and are too often overlooked inmost textbooks and organized curricula Related ly, we canuse experiential learning to help students develop agenuine respect for people with different backgrounds,skills or values. Too often, academic perspectives ignore ordenigrate work and the business world. Here, we need tosearch our own values and biases

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I would also like to reiterate what I see as a key underlyingvalue of experiential education: that is, that it inculcates anapproach to life which stresses testing out one's assump-tions in the exacting crucible of experience and whichencourages a continued interplay between experience onthe one hand and reflection and study on the otheracontinued mix, not a sharp demarcation between schoolingand one's life career.

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Perspective

Internships and Assessarent

by

Jack Alex Sperling, CoordinatorOff Campus College

State University of New YorkBinghamton, New York

In 1970, I helped organize Off Campus College (OCC), astudent service unit of State University of New York atBinghamton. Students who do not live in dormitories areOCC's primary constituency. In order to build effectiveservice programs for off campus students, we had to courtkey community peoplethe local public defender, foodstamp administrator and others. For the past five years,OCC has used those contacts to put together academicprograms. Community professionals teach OCC-sponsoredcourses in their fields of expertise, e.g., "The Administrationand Distribution of Justice in Broome County" is team-taught by the local district attorney, public defender andtwo other lawyers, and approximately thirty local agencieseach semester, including again, the public defender's officeand host student interns.

The internship program is the most difficult program Iadminister. Each internship is as fragile as an orchid. We'vefound that excellent internships happen only when acomplex series of things happen simultaneously, forexample, when the internship is as good for the agency asit is for the student. We've found that intemships, even oneswhich have a history of success, fall apart often quicklyand for many, many reasors: the program requiresrelentless monitoring and an unfailing high level ofcommitment from every participant.

The internship program also is the most rewarding programI administer. I get a certain joy from helping to break downbarriers between a learning institution and surroundinginstitutions, and from exciting "traditional" teachers inoutside-the-classroom learning. But a greater joy is to seewhat happens to students engaged in experiential learning.They change and blossom! Many gain self-esteem. "I've gota sense of being valuable, actually being able to help otherpeople," writes an Intern at Broome Legal AssistanceCorporation: "I think I have the confidence to speak to agroup," writes a Planned Parenthood intern Careerchoices are made or tested, discarded or reinforced. Andthe experience itself is valued and appreciated by students

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Problems

in ways that exceed by far their appreciation of traditionalclassroom situations. You are lucky to be Involved inexperiential education programs, I think, especially if youvalue and want to be near student growth.

Institutional commftment to experiential Naming. As anexperiential learning coordinator, you have to make schooldecision-makers realize that your program, if it is to workwell, needs adequate resources. Frankly, experiential team-ing programs are, almost without exception, more expen-sive in terms of teacher time per enrolled student thantraditional learning programs. This fact has to be under-stood and accepted by those who control the resourcesyou want. Don't court disaster by trying to operate on awing and a prayer. If you need (and you probably will) acertain number of teacher hours for experiential learningsupervision or integration, push your principal to give themto you. Even better. push tor these hours not as a dutyimposed on top of regular teaching schedules but inconjunction with reduced responsibilities in traditionallearning situations for those colleagues whom you tap asexperiential learning supervisors. If you want to getandkeepyour program off the ground, your institution has toreorder some of its priorities and funnel appropriateresources your way.

Your relationship with the community agencies and/orIndlWduais hooting students In your program. It is easy toexpand an experiential learning program with a goodreputation in the community and very difficult to keepafloat a program in which even a few connections betweensponsoring and host institutions turn sour. You will havenot only to watch these connections with an eagle eye butalso to figure out short and long term ways for the programto "pay off" for host institutions and individuals. Youshouldn't, I believe, base your program on the altruism ofthese individuals and institutions.

Assessmnt of experiential education as an xtension of theideology of experiential education. It is wrong and counterproductive, I think, to assess student performance inexperiential education programs in the same way astraditional educators assess traditional education. Sincewe're talking after all about experiential education, doesn'tit make 9ense to have the students themselves heavilyinvolved in their own evaluation? And, since I understandtwo goals of experiential education to be (1) the explorationof career and other options in an atmosphere free ofpunitive measures and (2) the exploration by individuals oftheir own (unique) potential, does it make sense to use atraditional, competitive grading system here? Why not letthe form of the assessment complement and reinforce thecontent and ideology of experiential education? Studentparticipants will catch onto this very quickly and will learnnot a little from it.

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Practical suggestions institutional commitment to xperiential looming. Volunteertime and bake sales are useful sometimes but much lessuseful than a secure budget and "purchased" time. Thinkabout your resource needs, detail them cogently and be upfront about these needs. The literature on experientiallearning is growing rapidly. Quote from it in your budgetdocuments. Many successful experiential learning programsare described in this handbook Write away for moreinformation and include some in your budget documents. If

you've organized a successful pilot program, trumpet itssuccesses. Use alliesstudents who have participated orwant to participate in your program can make fine allies, ascan their parents. A final suggestiondon't be snowed. Lipservice often is paid to the importance of outside-the-classroom learning. One resource you want is worth morethan 10,000 kind words from your principal.

Your relationship with the community agencies and/orindividuals hosting students in your program. Most com-munity agencies are flattered by an initial request to hoststudents. The trick is to keep that relationship healthy andwe have developed various ways to try to do this.Community supervisors of our students receive frequentinvitations to attend cultural events of our institution. Someare "awarded" honorary institutional titles. All are invited totwo evaluation/thank you wine-and-cheese get-togetherseach year. All are asked to help select the students withwhom they will work and to assess the performance ofthese students. In addition, and perhaps most importantly,we see to it that the work students undertake in theiragencies not only is a learning experience for the studentsbut also is of benefit to the agencies.

.Assssmnt of experiential education as an xtnsion of theideology of xperiential education. Student participants inyour program should be significantly involved in evaluatingtheir own experiences It is not difficult to developmechanisms and forms for this purpose.

All of our experiential learning opportunities are graded ona pass/no credit basis. (If a student successfully completesa semester, he/she receives four credits and a pass grade.If a student is unsuccessful, no notation is made on his/hertranscript.) I suggest that you try not to lam the assessmentof experiential learning into the traditional A's and F's

Of course, there is more to say about pitfalls and sidestepsFor example, you will have to make certain that the trainsrun on time all of the time. student participants must notmiss work sessions or teacher conferences, teachers mustmeet periodically with host agency personnel, interventions

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Reflections

y

to save deteriorating situations must occur promptly, etc.For example, you will have to figure out how best tointegrate the students' experiential learning experienceback into their academic work. For us, this involves,among other things, (I) trying to match particular studentswith particular experiential learning opportunities and (2) adecision to make the experiential learning opportunityone-fourth of the intern's academic load, an eight hour perweek work obligation instead of a forty hour a weekobligation.

The point with which I close is an extension of earlierstatements that students can serve as allies in gainingresource support for your program and that studentsshould be involved heavily in the assessment of theirexperiential learning experiences. I encourage you toinvolve students in all levels of your program. We do inBinghamton and it works. Students sit on our program'scommittee, seek out additional internships, lobby forresources and help with the nuts and bolts administrationof the entire operation. Your program itself can be . . . anexperiential learning opportunity!

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Perspective

Sister Duncan's Assessment

by

Sister Virginia Clare Duncan, Assistant DeanOur Lady of the Lake University

San Antonio, Texas

Experiential learning has, in my opinion, only recentlygained "respectability" among moat educators. For my part,had anyone suggested to me a decade or so ago thatlearning could be acquired outside the carefully structuredenvironment that was my classroom, or by some methods otherthan the intellectually stimulating experiences which Iprovided in my classes, the idea probably would not havebeen given a second thought. Too many "innovations" werealready threatening to effect havoc in my secure world ofthe self-contained classroom. Oh! I readily admitted that"the whole world was a classroom," but, well, notreally.. . I

Several years of working with both "younger" and "older"adults at the college level have altered my views aboutwhen and where valuable and "respectable" learningoccurs. I am becoming more and more suspicious thatmuch of what goes on in the realms of academia is oftenonly accidentally related to future adult roles in the "real"world; also, I suspect that much of what we do teach mightbe learned more easily and more effectively in certain "real"world environments. I am well aware that positing suchideas may make me persona non grata with many of mycolleagues, but that is a risk I must take. Perhaps I canredeem myself somewhat by hastily adding that I haveabsolutely no empirical base for the suggestions I havemade. They have their origins only in years of personalexperience teaching pre-schoolers to graduate students.

In my opinion, participants in experiential learning pro-grams can derive many benefits not as readily or as fullyavailable to them in formal classroom situations. Here I willmention only three which come to mind.

Enrichment of personal and social life. Activitiescarried on outside the confines of a classroom oraway from the more secure environment of theschool often make demands on students which theymight not otherwise experience until much later inlife Punching time clocks, taking orders from "the

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c 9

Problems

boss: interacting with many diverse personalities,maintaining production standardssuch actMtiesseem to provide a better opportunity for acquiringunique skills, attitudes and vaiues necessary foreffective functioning in adult roles.

Came odvonconionf. Mi of us are acquainted withat least one person who has risen from dishwasher,gas pumper, or messenger to a high level manage-ment position. The surest way to the top is throughhard work and experiential "know how," and thekids who begin that process in junior or senior highschool may have an edge on those who do not.

Educotlonel advencement. Educational advance-ment is a possible benefit of experiential learningwhich might easily be overlooked. In the last fewyears however, personnel in many colleges anduniversities have begun to recognize the value ofexperiential learning outcomes, and are seekingways to evaluate and credentialize those competen-cies. I, personally, have worked with over 300"older" adults in a program which assists them inidentifying, articulating, and evaluating their life/work experience outcomes. If the evaluation is favor-able, applicants may be awarded academic credit forthe competencies achieved; credit which may be ap-plied toward the earning of a degree.

Assessing outcomes achieved is the most difficult task ofany experiential learning program. How do we determinewhether or not students really know what they say theyknow, or can do what they say they can do? In suchnontraditional learning situations, traditional assessmentmethods just don't work. And therein lies the problem.

We seem to encounter a number of pitfalls when weattempt such assessment. Often we either assess inade-quately or not at all, use inappropriate methods, or applymuch more severe standards than those used in assessingmore traditional learning. In an attempt to remedy suchweaknesses, I would suggest that any experiential learningprogram provide the following:

A sfsfsmont of philosophy of oxperfontlai looming.A statement of philosophy of experiential learningshould address itself to the nature, purpose, value,and anticipated outcomes of the process. Schoolpersonnel as well as persons at work sites shouldbe in basic agreement regarding this philosophy;otherwise, students will be caught in the crossfire ofopposing or incompatible views held by personsresponsible for the program.

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Assessment design. This is perhaps the mostdifficult task to accomplish, but it is likewise thumoat crucial. The ultimate success of any experien-tial learning program will depend largely on theextent to which all those involved can indeeddemonstrate professional accountability for qualityand effectiveness. Accountability requires assess-ment and assessment requires a design, or a plan.Such an assessment design has four essentialcomponents.

Outcomes. Here you will want to list the anticipatedoutcomes of each experience (office assist, teachersaide, restaurant employee, etc.). Outcomes shouldinclude the specific skills, concepts, attitudes,values, or knowledge which a student would beexpected to achieve as a result of a particularexperience. Stated outcomes provide the contentand the rationale for assessment.

Assessment tasks. Assessmenttasks identify the way in which a student willdemonstrate the mastery of an identified out-come. These may include performance tests,written tests, simulations, interviews, portfolios,projects, case studies, etc. In designing a taskyou must keep in mind that it must be appro-priate for the type of outcome being assessed andthat it provide ample opportunity for students todemonstrate mastery of outcomes.

Criteria. Criterion statements communicate tostudents essential characteristics of the assess-ment task. They include such qualifiers asconsistency, clarity, organization, communicationeffectiveness, accuracy of information, etc. Usu-ally a certain number of points is assigned toeach criterion, with the one which is most crucialto the task being given the greatest weight.

Standards. Standards define to what degree orhow many times a student must demonstratemastery in order to be considered competent,e.g., achieve a total score of 70 percent on a task,thread a 16 mm projector three times withouterror, give an oral presentation that is satisfactoryto a panel of three judges, etc. When dealing withoutcomes in the affective domain, criteria andstandards tend to get a bit fuzzy. Here you mayhave to be satisfied with more general character-istics, and simply accept certain types of behavioras indicative of achievement.

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!Indio& suggestions

Quality control. if your experiential learningprogram is going to be worth the paper on whichit is written, you will need to make provisions forstrong quality control. Quality control is, in thefinal analysis, dependent upon quality assess-ment. If you have an assessment system that isreliable and functional, if you assess outcomesconsistently and thoroughly, quality control ofyour experiential learning program should beassured.

AS I reflect upon whit I have learned during the past threeyears, it occurs to me that the general principles andprocedures of assessing experiential learning in junior andsenior high school and at the college level are not tooforeign to each other. So, I offer a few suggestions.

1. Draw up an assessment design to match the problemareas previously given, or in accordance with othersimilar guidelines. This, in my opinion, is your mostimportant responsibility.

2. Develop instruments for assessing learning outcomesfor each area of experiential learning in which youplace students: health services, business, social workactivities, classroom simulations, etc. Some types ofinstruments which you may wish to design arementioned in the problems section. Your intent shouldbe to develop instruments appropriate for assessingthe diverse learning outcomes which students mightachieve in all areas of experiential learning which youcoordinate. You will also want to develop instrumentsfor student self-assessment in many areas.

3. Communicate all assessment requirements to studentsprior to their engagement in the learning process.Often, even in tradlaonal learning situations, studentsperform poorly on tests or other evaluative tasksbecause they receive no prior information concerningthe content of the assessment, or even the time ofassessment. The purpose of assessment is to deter-mine what students have learned, not to create aguessing game between assessors and assessees.

4. Select assessors with care and provide adequate andappropriate training for all. In selecting assessors youwill want to draw not only from among personsdirectly responsible for the learning process itself butalso from "experts" in the field. These will bepractitioners and professionals highly experienced intheir area of expertise. It is my opinion that thepersons who provide instruction or training should notbe the only ones who assess the outcomes of theprocess. In most assessment situations it is good tohave more than one judgment of student achievementif at all possible I realize, however, that it may simplynot be practical to have multiple assessments.

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Reflections

5. Provide frequent and adequate feedback to studentson assessment results. Feedback should include adiscussion of strengths revealed as well as an analysisof apparent weaknesses. Too often feedback tostudents on assessment results emphasizes thenegativewhat the student does not knowand it isthis that becomes fixed in students' minds. Theprssible causes of poor performances should bewialyzed and students given the opportunity to repeatlearning experiences or engage in new ones designedto achieve the outcomes not yet mastered.

6. Provide opportunities for students to reflect on wilatthey have achieved in experiential learning situationsand to evaluate that learning in the light of theirpresent intemsts and future Hfe goals. Such reflectionand evaluatio,, may occur in special seminar-typesituaons, during feedback sessions, or in any numberof ways. I believe that it is only through suchreflections that learning is internalized and mademeaningful. Reducing the traditional dichotomybetween theory and practice should still be a majorconcern. Just as theory, divested of practice, is usuallybarren, so practice without any regard for theory ishollow and often meaningless.

You will have to find your own techriques for engagingstudents in such reflective and evaluative processes. Noone set of techniques is aporopriate for all situations. Thetechnique that will lead a student to ask, "Why is thisimportant?" "How har this experience changed me?" "Howwill this experience affect my life in general?" is the righttechnique to use.

Is experiential learning the thing of the future in secondaryand postsecondary educational institutions? Can studentsof the 1980s expect to receive at least a portion of theireducation at off-campus sites and in more nontraditionalways? By 1985, will most institutions of higher educationhave formal programs for evaluating and credentializinglife/work exporience competencies? It is my hope thateducators will soon begin to give more credence to thenature and the quality of learning and less to the methodsby which learning is achieved, that instructors will see theirrole ore as diagnosticians and assersors of learning, andless as dispensers of information.

There is the strong possibility that we could overemphasizethe experiential approach to the detriment or neglect ofother equally valuaLle approaches to learning in myopinion, there is and always will be a need for morestructured classroom learning experiences, for the stimulat-ing and informative lecture, for the social and intellectualgive-and-take of a group discussion It seems to me thatmany of our educational problems have been rooted in our

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monolithic approach to learning. My philosophy has alwaysbeen: "If a method works (is the most effective way toachieve the outcomes addressed) use it." Experientiallearning, if pursued properly, is a highly effective method oflearning, but it is not and cannot become the only method.We are still novices in the art of designing, directing, andassessing experiential learning programs.

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Perspective

Problems

Harnessing the Spirit!

by

Donald A. Casella, DirectorContract Learning Center

Birmingham Southern CollegeBirmingham, Alabama

It is not easy to wrestle with a spirit! Yet wrestle you must ifyou use experiential learning to build bridges to the worldof work.

Some say that traditional education (and traditional work!)is so cut up, measured, defined, codified, routinized,objectified, timed, and packaged that the mystery and 'elanof learning have been completely exorcised. Asseument iseasythe questions have already been answered. Toengage in this kind of learning is safe. It is secure. Bydutifully applying formulas, normative curves, and lettersymbols, the teacher is efficiently spared most wrestlingand struggle. The "spirit" is gone.

In assessing experiential learning, however, there is "spirit"aplenty to challenge even the most experienced teachers.This overall "spirit" is nebulous, elusive, and attitudinalgenerating vibrant ghosts such as "experience," "quality,"and "value"leaming dimensions which have yet to bepinned and defined. This "spirit" must be struggled withrepeatedly in individual learning situations. Since experien-tial learning ofton takes place simultaneously in two areas,academy and rr arketplace, the wrestling becomes evenmore 6;fficult. While problems are numerous, the assess-ment of this kir d of learning forces wrestling with threepersistent spiril 3: "experience," "quality," and "value."

"Experience" may be the best teacher, but who canadequately harness this spirit? For educators, such anattempt means a careful continual distinction between anexperience in itself and the learning which the experienceengenders "Experiential education" or "credit for expe-rience" are colossal misnomers unless one understandsthat "learning" is the central objective of any assessment.While I have no right to judge an experience with itscomplete personal meaning for the student. I can and dohelp that same student identify and articulate the learninginvolved Thus, assessing "experience" rather than subjectmatter means wrestling.

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Practical suggestions

"Quality" is that elusive goal of all learning from Zen tomotorcycle maintenance! Again, it is also a free spirit,though many have deluded themselves into thinking they havecaptured, delimited, or even marketed it. From age to age,group to group, and region to region, educators wrestlewith this evasive spirit. In experiential learning, the burdenof proof for "quality" usually falls upon whoever seekschange, and these must somehow document and measure"quality " to asst.. that existing standards (whether they be"quality" or not!) are met. The assessment of "quality"means wrestling.

The "value" problem also challenges the aware educator.What values lie beneath the evaluation? The student'spersonal development? The "purity" of the academicdiscipline? The institution's growth? The work or produc-tion factor? A grade of A or B can have many meanings,depending upon the grader, grades, and circumstances.Experiential education, with its roots in both the worlds ofeducation and work and with its emphasis on individualiza-tion, forces the bigger evaluation issues which, in turn,demand wrestling.

The wrestling begins in earnest when the "spirits" quickenthe practical, when concepts become programs, andtheories become practices. By way of practical advice, Ihave two suggestions. The first suggestion is obvious: beready to wrestle. If you are not willing to engage the spiritof learning, if you are not set for challenges andconfrontation, if you are not prepared for new patterns ofassessment, then forget experiential education.

The second suggestion is: use learning contracts. If there isany one practical thing that facilitates the assessment, it isthe learning contract. Contracts serve as "currency" or"invoices." They can be a medium for informationexchange, clarifying the many variables and details involvedin the learning. In brief, learning contracts are "negotiatedlearning agreements." They are usually writtencooperativelystudent, teacher, field supervisor together.They specify in advance (or in retrospect, with adult priorlearning contracts) the goals and objectives, the methodol-ogy, the resources, and the evaluation of the learningexperience Simplified, a contract looks like this:

Goole and Oblecdves Methodology Resources Evaluation/grading

(What do you want (What will you (What persons. (What evidence ofto team?) do to loam?) places.things will

you use to learn?)learning will you

present?)

With a contract, the wrestling is focused Because contractsdemand both planning and quality control, the assessmentprocess blends with the planning process. A contractcommunicates well by cutting through vague generalities.

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Reflections

by demythologizing objectives, by focusing on specifics.With a contract, there is no philosophizing about abstrac-tions such as "learning experience," "quality," or "value."With contracts, these "spirits" take on flesh, becomespecific, and can be encountered, engaged, harnessed, andused to advantage. The problems do not disappear, butregular use of contracts can reduce the "haunting" effectsof prejudged opinions of "quality," pre-set "value" judg-ments, and pre-determined definitions of "learning." Con-tracts can speak a common language for all education'svarious audiencesstudents, teachers, administrators, busi-ness/labor/professional/governmental workers, parents, andcommunity groups.

In bridging the education-work gap, a learning contractworked up and signed by the thrde parties involvedstudent, teacher, and work supervisorcan be a majoringredient in increasing understanding between the worldof learning and the world of production. This kind ofeducation can bring these worlds closer together ... aslong as there's a willingness to wrestle with "spirits."

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Perspective

Omar's Dilemma

by

Robert F. SextonExecutive Director

Office of Experiential EducationUniversity of Kentucky

All sorts of virtues have been ascribed to experientialeducation as an instructional approach. I've heard dozensamong them: it relates theory to practice, it tests ideas inthe "real world," it is career preparatlry, it sharpens skillsthrough "hands on" activity, it focuses student interest inacademic and vocational pursuits, it contributes to self-awareness and self-confidence, and pouibly, it providessome pocket money. I have little doubt that experience canat least help accomplish these objectives.

From my liberal arts background, I am more concernedwith another aspect, more difficult to describe, which wemight call intellectual growth or personal growth orunderstanding. Ken Kesey's novel, Once a Great Notion, anautobiographical account of his frustrations in moving backinto his family's logging operation in Oregon after a longabsence, makes a statement which has meaning for me inthinking about the type of learning I want to emphasize. Ina small anecdote, Kesey wrote:

To know a thing you have to trust what youknow, and as far as you know in whateverdirection your krylwing di ags you. I once had apet pine squirrel named Omar who lived in thecotton 3ecret and springy dark of our old greendavenport: Omar knew that davenport: he knewfrom the inside what I only sat on from the Out,and trusted his knowledge to keep him frombeing squashed by my ignorance. He surviveduntil a red plaid blanketspread to camouflagethe worn-out Outsideconfused him so he losthis faith in his familiarity with the In Insteadof trying to incorporate a plaid exteriorinto the scheme of his world he moved to therainspout at the back of the house and wasdrowned in the first fall shower, probably stillblaming that blanket* damn this world that justwon't hold still for usI

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Problems

Practical suggestions

In the most general goals of our educational programs weare trying to help students understand, in a way beyondOmar the ground squirrel's comprehension, the Interre-latedneu of the "Inside" and the "outside" of situationsthe relationships between what happens to us personally andall sorts of other events over which we have little control.Only with such awareness can we make sound choices andbe truly effective participants in the larger society.

When "service" to community is part of the experientialactivity, the aim should also be to help the studentformulate personal perspectives on the relationshipsbetween "work" (meaning the way one earns a living) and"contribution" (meaning what one does that is of more thanimmediate importahce). Experiences should do more thanshow the student how to do a specific job. They shouldprovide a forum for analyzing the way that job will fit intostudents' lives and balance with other activitiesthe use ofleisure time, service to others, family responsibilities andpersonal growth. The nature and personal significance ofthe job must be reflected upon.

Building a program with these goals and knowing what hashappened to students in the process is easy to argue forbut difficult to do. The obvious danger is that circumstan-ces often pull student and teacher toward the simplestsolutiondesigning an activity which addresses the needfor job training or work experience but with little or noopportunity for broader understanding. The forces of thework place pull in this directionthe need to "get the jobdone" often has to take precedence over quiet conversa-tion. And the teacher may be overloaded simply by findinga placement for the student and decide that only skillacquisition can be measured.

The key to a sound experience-based learning programcomes at the beginning and during the program, not indevising assessment techniques for the end of the process.The selection of substantial learning environments, thematching of students learning needs with the workassignment, the formulation of clear learning goals orobjectives, and constant interaction between teacher andstudent during the work assignment are absolutely criticalto success. If these steps are successful, standard pro-cesses used by professional educators to determine whathas been learned may well complete the job of assessment.These often include analysis and discussion and writtenwork, class presentations, reflections on readings, or evenreflective essays.

A work or community service experience may be astudent's first exposure to substantial independent learning.Consequently, careful attention has to be devoted tohelping the student determine what he or she wants tolearn from the experiencc. The rare question "What do you

88S 9

want to learn?" should begin this process. The answer willprobably be halting and vague at first, as the student triesto articulate very personal ("non-academic") goals. "I justwant to see what it's like." But with coaxing and dialogue,these first efforts can be turned into genuine learning goalsand related to a broad learning plan. Careful advice aboutwhat questions to ask of the employer, preparation for aninitial interview, and the formulation of complementarylearnings (such as -eadings or field trips) should follow.

Ideally these objectives should t al in writing, preparedinitially by the student. With constructive reactions from thesupervising teacher and careful rewriting, r contract orlearning agreement will result. I have found it constructive,however, to permit the student to modify the agreementwah the consent of the teacher during the experience.

During the experience, in addition to regular discussionsabout the work experience (which may be conductedindividually or in a group), a written journal or "diary" isoften useful. With a strict agreement of confidentialitybetween student and teacher, the process of distillingreflections and observations into writing and then discuss-ing them often leads to insights which don't emerge fromcasual or unstructured conversation. For advanced stu-dents, readings might be assigned to parallel the workexperience and these too commented upon in the journalor diary.

The ongoing dialogue between student and teacher is theprimary means of preventing the student's completeabsorption by the work environment, or "going native." Theteacher should explore the negative as well as the positiveaspects of the student's experience, and in fact should evendraw learning from bad experiences. For career purposesthe relation of the work to other personal goals (and theprocess of setting goals) should be a central part of thediscussion.

What I haven't addressed, of course, is a precise means ofanalyzing the changes which take place in the student.Some say that pre- and post-tests to measure attitudinalchanges, vocational choice, or other personality character-istics can be useful, although these are sometimesproblematical because of administrative red tape orbecause of the limited time commitment in many experien-ces. I hope that some of the current work in the area ofmoral dew' .pment (especially that of Lawrence Kohlbergat the Center for Moral Education at Harvard University)might eventually lead to more sophisticated mechanismsfor measurinc developmental changes But WS hard toassess these prospects because of controversies swi rlingaround Kohlberg's work itself and because of the unpredict-able pace of the research

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R.flectIons

Another prospect has been suggested by Richard Graham.Graham hopes that through an evaluation of the develop-mental stages of the student at the time of entrance into awork experience, the student will be matched carefully withan environment which would help him/her move to a higherstage of development. In other words, if we can determinethe student's stage, the placement might be structured toachieve movement from one stage of development toanother. The fact that this is difficult with regular classroominstruction leads me to be pessimistic, but the outcome isnonetheless desirable.

Most of the outcomes of experiential education I considerimportant can only be evaluated over the long run."Satisfaction" and "contribution" and "constructive use ofleisure time" clearly can't be measured immediately atter anexperience. As a result, I continue to argue for educationaloutcomes which cannot be measured to the satisfaction ofsocial science researchers or political decision-makers. Butthe fact that something cannot be measured doesn't meanthat it's not valuable. So we should try to create a qualityprocess before we create a measurable process, and toinstill in faculty and students the understanding thatlearning is something that occurs in many different waysand at many times. It's a process which encourages peopleto look at many aspects of their lives as the opportunity forlearning and personal growth, and a process whichemphasizes building intellectual relationships between diver-gent kinds of activities. lt's my conviction that only in thisway, as Omar the ground squirrel discovered, can individu-als learn to work effectively in a rapidly changing andhighly technical society, where the value of the individual'swork and the opportunity to make a contribution areconstantly being challenged and diminished.

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Perspective

Whars the Difference?

by

Layton Olson, PresidentNational Student Educational Fund

Washington, D.C.

and

David Rosen, Principal InvestigatorNSEF Project on Education and Work

We offer these observations from a perspective of six yearsof experience in analyzing the effect of programs inpostsecondary education on the lives of students andprospective students. We have focused on student financialaid programs, information programs, admissions policiesand opportunities for completion. In matters of work andeducation, our experience has included analysis of com-munity service opportunities at the high school andpostsecondary level, the quality of work experience in theCollege Work Study Program, and during 1976, theidentification of exemplary education and work programs atthe postsecondary level under a contract from the NationalAdvisory Council for Career Education (NACCE).

The NACCE contract, involving site visits, analyzingcharacteristics of programs, and writing profiles of sixteenprograms, provided an opportunity to look et work andeducation programs arising from several traditions, includ-ing liberal arts, cooperative education, professional educa-tion, ei riential education, comprehensive counseling andcommu ,ity college education, and competence-based edu-cation. What made the diverse programs which we selected"exemplary" was their focus on what actually happened tostudents in terms of changes in skills and attitudes. Theywere widely recognized as exemplary because of theirprimary purposes (regardless of the specific activities) inmeeting the needs of students, rather than those ofindustry, teachers or administrators, and which led topositive changes in skills and attitudes of students.

It is this focus on positive changes for students which wefeel must underlie any effective educational strategyseeking to clarify student perceptions of education, work,and their place in the world.

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Two primary problem areas will arise for teachers attempt-ing to relate education and work experiences for students.The first area centers on the importance of clarifying thevalues a student holds regarding self-image, relations withother people, perceptions of diverse groups (families,classrooms, neighborhoods, schools, cultural groups), andactivities (work, recreation, school, religious observance).It may be a problem for teachers accustomed to workingwith subject matter (information) to focus on learningactivities whose aim is to make students aware of their ownvalues and experiences. This problem involves the movingaway from learning based on information which is impor-tant in a classroom setting toward learning based on themotivations, attitudes and skills of students which aredeveloped both in and out of the classroom context. It maybe a problem for teachers to focus on assisting students tobecome aware of their a .n values and the values of others,to recognize the importance of values and attitudes inworking and living in and out of the classroom, to test theirown values and attitudes, to compare their values andattitudes with those of others, and to articulate orally andon paper how it feels to act out and be responsible for theirvalues.

The second problem area teachers are likely to face is thepractical one of how to actually provide meaningfulexperiences for students to test out their values andattitudes. This problem area challenges a teacher to changethe traditional meaning of "a test" from that of measuringthe possession of information or a skill into that of having astudents test themselves on what it is they want tolearn, and what they actuey did learn.

We view the difficulty in providing appropriate opportunitiesfor experience as arising from the way most classroombased learning is organized. As described in Figure 1, theGeneral Learning Model often breaks down at the elemen-t3ry and secondary level as well as at the postsecondaryoducation level, by not affording students the opportunityxo test by direct e(perience the importance of theinformation discussed in class. Such learning does notallow students to test their own values by comparingtheir classroom information to their experience outside theclassroom.

The testing of these new conceptual structures is the finalphase. It is a phase at which the cycle is often broken informal, university-level education because today there arefew pedagogic mechanisms available to students bywhich the, can test the implications of their new understand-ings The richness of the learning process is broken, too, asnew conceptual bases are learned and then stored away togather dust Stage 4 is clearly more often reached incourses run along experiential lines, in short "executive"programsor in courses allowing access to a pseudoreal-world environment, via simulation models, forexample(See Figure 2)

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Figure 1

A General Learning Model(Rockart and Morton, 1975)

Acquire bask.. newknowledgefacts, skills,processes, concepts, etc.

1

Test implicationsof concepts innew situations (4)

11--------(3)Integrate new facts, etc.,

into existing conceptsand generalizations

(2)

mbsd new knowledgethrough reflection,

practice, etc.

Figure 2

The Experiential Learning Model(Rocked and Morton, 1275)

Testing implicationsof concepts in newsituations

Concreteexperience

(1)

(4)

(3)Formation of abstract

concepts and generalizations

Observations and(2) and reflection

A Value Learning Model (Figure 3) may be helpful forteachers having students test the importance of theirvalues. This model is based on having students learn abouttheir values through classroom and non-classroomexperiences.

In addressing the problems of clarifying values through alearning process and testing them through an experientialprocess, teachers at different grade levels will be faced withdecisions about the level of detail they will use in materials.Older students will be able to look in more detail at theirown attitudes, skills, and information presented about theattitudes and skills of others and about the outside world'sdemands

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Test own values,attitudes in specificsituations, in (4)specific conflicts(in role play oractuality), reflecton values, attitudes

Fl Wm 3

The 1la lus Learning Model(Rockart and Morton, 11175)

Acquire information about thefunctions, importance of values

1)

(3Look at values of

others what they feelis important, whythey feel that way

(2)

Identify some ofown values,

attitudeswhat ismost important (andwhy) to me at home,

in school, amongfriends, in neighbor-hood, at a job

The primary problem shared by coordinators and teachersin experiential education and work programs is how tomost clearly understand and communicate the outcomes ofthese programs for students. That is, the success of theprogram can only be clearly communicated to parents, toadministrators, to school board members, and tO othermembers of the outside community if it is felt orunderstood by the student that a change has occurred. Thecrucial question becomes: Can the student articulate thechan ge orally, on Pa Per or in other ways? Has the studentbecome engaged enough in the process of his or her ownchanges that he or She is conscious in describing them?

In many ways, this problem area should be helpful tocoordinators and teachers by pushing them to simplify theprogram to the point that it assures the ability to assess (ina clearly understandable way) what happened to studentsin the program.

Thus, the perceptions of the teacher about what happenedmay be important, but are clearly secondary. They aresecondary because they are at a level of generalizationwhich is most important only in verifying what studentshave reported about themselves. And, since teacherperceptions may vary so widely, their perceptions are notvaluable outside one classroom or outside a situation wherea coordinator or other person can interpret what happenedto the students. Clearly, without direct student perceptionsvery little useful assessment can be done about values orattitudes.

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Practical suggestions We offer the following broad statement of positive out-comes for students participating in experiential educationand work programs: Students should articulate insightsabout the kinds ol qualities, personalities, and skills used invarious work actiWtiss.

Toward this end, we feel a clarification of values forstudents, both their own and those of othei,, is essentialfor an effective program. We also feel that students musthave opportunities to test the validity of their values ("Howdoss it feel to be this way or that way?"). They should haveopportunities to experience the values of others (throughrole playing and other activities), and to compare them totheir own. In providing such experiences, teachers shouldgive their students clear statements of expectedoutcomeschanges in skills, attitudes, informationwhichare understandable by students. Such statements ofexpected growth in skills and attitudes will prove valuablein integrating experiential and value centered learning,together with learning which occurs in a general learningcycle.

Our primary suggestion for coordinators and teachersworking in experiential education and work programs is tocenter activities on tapping students' natural curiosity tolearn about themselves, rather than about a subject matter.Students are interested in exploring their questions about

-work, a career, or other ideas in relation to their tentativenotions about what they want to do, can do, in relation totheir abilities, information a 4 personality. Students arenaturally curious to learn wh..., their best qualities are(analyzing, communicating, administering, deciding, coun-seling and other personal characteristics), how they canimprove these qualities, and what they mean in relation tothe world of work. Thus, the best experiential educationand work materials and activities will often test "what youknow about yourself," rather than the traditional teachingapproach of testing "whatt you know about the subjectmatter

It is imperative to record initial statements of students oftheir goals and interests for a courso, and to compare thesestatements with the students' comments on what theylearned at the end of the course. We further suggest thatany course activity begin with opportunities for students toput down on paper and to speak with teachers orcounselors about their own aspirations, qualities and whatthey want to get out of the course or work experienceactivity. Activities should then confront students withinformation about what they have said they wanted toknow, or with an opportunity to choose an environment inwhich they can test their interests. The emphasis should beon allowing students to become conscious about theirinitial interests, goals and additional information, forexample, in the format of a personal notebook. Studentsshould take responsibility for putting such info' nation

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together and seeing it build. At the end of the period,students should be able to evaluate on paper and orallywhat they learned: "What I now know more about myself:skills, attitudes, personality," "What I was most disappointedwith in the experience," "What I hope to try in the future,next semester, next year," and "What I suggest as betterways to run the course."

The materials used to elicit the initial desiretrof studentsand to evaluate their experiences in relation to thosedesires will be valuable for use in discussions withteachers, parents, administrators, the school board andothers to get suggestions on how to improve the program.Many ideas should result from these discussions. Theyshould try to consider the amount of time and resourcesavailable for placement, supervision, formal testing, specialcourse workbooks, visual aids, trips and other programactivities.

The overall tone for experiential education and workprograms is not much different from any well taughtcourse. Everyone is good at some things. Students shouldbe challenged to find out "What are you best at?" Teachersshould also keep an ear out for 'What do students from thisschool actually do after high school?" in terms of jobs,further schooling, marriage, the military. "What do studentsdo who come out of other school programs?" "Why are theredifferences?"

Perspective

Two-Bladed Shears

by

Barry Heermann, Project DirectorSinclair Community College

Dayton, Ohio

I am Barry Heermann, Project Director for Experience-Based Education at Sinclair Community College in Dayton,Ohio. Sinclair is a 13,000 student, urban college whichprides itself on its technical/occupational programs. Threeout of every four students attend Sinclair to developparticular job related competence. My professional coMmit-ment is to learning experientially at secondary andpostsecondary levels, and my position at Sinclair andauthoring Cooperative Education in Community Collegehas allowed direct linkage to this pursuit.

The essence of learning from experience is expressed byHarold Taylor (1976),

If you want to ride a horse, dance a jig, climb amountain, build a boat, write a novel, studyhistory, think intelligently, become educated, acertain amount of instruction in a class in thesubject will be useful .. . After that you will needto get a horse, start dancing, climbing, building,writing, thinking, and educating on your own.Otherwise, you will not have learned what youneed to know, that is, how in fact to do the thingyou have set out to learn to do. To learn to dosomething it is necessary to practice it. (From theForeword to the Jossey-Bass book by Peter Myer,Awarding College Credit for Non-CollegeLearning).

Arthur Morgan (1950) succinctly makes the point.

Practice and theoretical study should be like theblades of a pair of shears; neither blade is goodfor anything by itself, but they cut by being incontact with each other Conventional educationhas been like shears with only one bladethat oftheoretical education.

Before considering the problems of assessing experientiallearning, I would like to "nit-pick" about nomenclature.Experiential learning, some would suggest, is redundant; all

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Problems

Practical suggestions

learning is experiential. But for me there is a cleardifference between "book learning" about an experienceversus the experience of learning about the experienceitself. The difference between experiential learning andnonexperiential learning is the difference between moreand less theoretical learning, more and less passivelearning, and more and less abstract learning.

Also, I am put off by those who equate experiential learningwith nonclassroom learning. Much experiential learning isnot limited by location. The challenge to traditionaleducators is to approach the reality of the experience to belearned in classroom settings. Vocational/technical educa-tion can properly pride itself on considerable forwardmotion in this regard.

The notion that important learning may result fromexperience can hardly be refuted. What is refuted is the"who," "what," "where," "when," and "how" of assessment.Specifically: Who should perform the assessmenttheemployer? the student? the faculty-coordinator? What is tobe assessed? Where should the assessment take placeatthe training station? at school? When should the assess-ment take placemidterm? end of term? continuously?And how should the assessment be conducted?

The assessment of traditional learning experiences is tidy,neat, and clean. A lesson plan, a course syllabus, learningobjectives or sequences of competencies organizes thelearning and defines the content of the assessment.Conversely, a lesson plan or syllabus cannot so readilyorder the learning experiences of students in training sites.The highly touted "training plan" was, in theory, supposedto do this. But my experience suggests that the theory isnot easily translated into action. Students are the first topoint out that much unanticipated learning results fromcooperative assignments. Moreover, numerous uncontrolla-ble variables intervene

There are numerous ways to assess nonclassroom expe-riential learning. I would like to suggest a process whichcould be easily transportable to secondary or postsecon-dary settings. To facilitate the discussion, I would like to ,focus on who, what, where, when, and how.

WHO? The student, faculty-coordinator, and the employershould be participants in the assessment process While thefinal assessment is the charge of the faculty coordinator,the student's self-assessment (a powerful learning expe-rience in itself) and the employer's evaluation are strategic.

WHAT? The kinds of learning to be assessed are as vanedas the programs from which they emulate. Learning fromexperiential or nonexperiential settings can be convenientlyclassified into three categories- information skills (datastorage and retrieval). psychomotor skills (physical manipu-

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Reflections

lation), and interpersonal skills (human interaction). Asinterpersonal skills are so crucial to job success, and as itis so difficult to provide for interpersonal developmentunder nonexperiential circumstances, it is my strong feelingthat this area deserves particular attention.

WHERE? The location of assessment should not beexclusive. On-site visitations, school conferences andseminars, employer evaluation at work, and end-of-termmeetings at the school suggest settings and opportunitiesfor assessment.

WHEN? Assessment should be continuous. As theemployer cannot regularly devote time for this purpose andthe faculty coordinator can be present only during periodicvisitations, on-going assessment should be encouraged onthe part of the student. A log or diary in which the studentrecords expected and unexpected learning related tohis/her goals or competency areas will facilitate thisprocess. The action/reflection progression should be adaily or weekly activity of students.

HOW? This is at the crux of it all. I would like to advocate amechanism involving two phases. The first focuses onexpected or intended learning: the second identifiesunexpected learning. The first phase takes place at thebeginning of the term and includes the writing ofwork/learning outcomes by the student in consultation withthe faculty coordinator and the employer. The employersees the work and learning outcomes as a mini-jobdescription or MBO s (management by objectives). Thefaculty coordinator uses this time to suggest application/development of particular competencies. The student estab-lishes unique learning goals distinct to his/her developmentalneeds. Typically four or five measurable work/learning outcomes are written. At the end of the term thestudent does a self-assessment in addition to the on-goingassessment in diary form, and the employer also evaluates theachievement of the work and learning outcomes. The uniquedynamics between the participants results in the developmentand assessment of the work and learning outcomes.

The second component of the assessment involves thestudent's interpretation in a short theme of the unexpectedlearning that resulted from the experience. This "reflectionpaper" is submitted along with the work and learningoutcomes form to the faculty coordinator at the end of theterm The faculty coordinator considers the reflection paper.the work and learning outcomes assessment, the diary, and thefeedback from the student and employer during visitations,in making a final assessment.

It is on a personal level that I am most intensely anadvocate for learning from experience. Over a period ofyears, it has become clear to me that my most significant

99

learriing resulted from grappling with important issues andresponsibilities related to my work. Traditional educationalmedia, e.g., books and journal articles, took on new andimportant meaning for me only as it connected with mywork experience. Learning to take rasponsibility for my ownlearning followed work-related pursuits. That experience isa powerful vehicle for learning is obvious enough tomewhether it involves my six-year-old daughter, a sixteen-year-old vocational student, or a sixty-year-old corporatepresident.

100.1 01

Perspective

A Word from Competency Based Assessment

by

Earl Leininger, ProfessorMars Hill College

Mars Hill, South Carolina

I approach this subject from my involvement on the facultyof a small liberal arts college which has had a more thanten year commitment to experiential learning as an integralpart of the curriculum, both in the general educationprogram and in the various areas of specialization in whichstudents prepare for careers. The college has been movingtoward implementation of a competency based curriculum,both in the general education and in all the academicdepartments that offer majors. Our commitment to expe-riential learning not only predates our decision to develop acompetency based program, but our experiential learningprograms were something of a catalyst in initiating thespirit of innovation, inventiveness and adventure that led tocurricular reform. At the same time, while experientiallearning has informed our curricular design. our under-standing and evaluation of experiential learning has alsobeen affected by the concept of competency basededucation

The best contribution I can make to this handbook is tooffer some suggestions about experiential education and itsassessment from the standpoint of competency basededucation. I will argue that most of those insights aretransferable to any experience or curricular structure.Furthermore, since competency based education in theliberal arts, expecially the humanities, is somewhat rarerthan the application of that concept to more skill-orientedareas, and since the relationship of the liberal arts to careereducation is being called into question these days, perhapsI can usefully address myself to that issue.

I would like to make two distinctions at this point. first.between traditional education and competency basededucation; and, second, between traditional learning andexperiential learning. By competency based education, Imean that learning outcomes expected of all students areidentified and made public as are evaluative criteria andproficiency levels required for successful attainment of thecompetence Sets of experiences are also designed toassist students in attaining the required competencies.Traditional curricula in both secondary and postsecondary

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Problems

education have emphasized a set of subjects, representedby courses, which the student is required to pass.Competency based education, by contrast, emphasizes aset of skills or abilities to be learned. Some of thoserequired skills will, of course, be in mastery of contentareas; however, the focus is on the attainment of thecompetencies and not upon a prescribed set of subjects.The emphasis is upon the process by which the studentbecomes competent and stress is placed upon personal,primary participation in learning, e.g., competency basededucation stresses diversity of learning, whereas thesubject matter curriculum has tended to stress uniformity oflearning. Since there is no one most effective way to developknowledge or skill for all people, effective education shouldprovide varied but interrelated units of experience that canlead to desired learning outcomes. Ideally, these experien-ces should be designed so as to encourage each student todevelop at his/her own pace with the support of anyresources available. I suggest that experiential education,as a learning component, fits nicely into the goals I havedescribed.

ExpdRiential learning differs in certain ways from traditionalclassroom learning. Traditional learning begins with receiv-ing information that is usually transmitted through a lectureor book or other symbolic media. The student then tries toassimilate this information and understand some generalprinciples, e.g., to learn what the information "means." Thenext step is to be able to figure out how the generalprinciple can be applied and to actively apply it. In otherwords, the student moves from concepts to application andaction. Experiential learning is almost the reverse. Thestudent starts with action, sees and understands the actionand its effect in a particular situation, then moves towardgeneralizing some principle under which that particularinstance falls, and finally applies that principle approp-riately to a different situation.

Neither kind of learning is sufficient by itself, butexperiential learning has some distinct advantages Expe-riential learning is not dependent at the outset on facilitywith symbolic communication skills as is traditional learn-ing Further, lack of motivation may be the prime obstacleto learning for many students Traditional learning usuallydepends upon some external motivation, often supplied bythe teacher, while experiential learning is more likely toprovide its own motivation intrinsic to the experience.However, there is far more likelihood that students willlearn to apply and act upon their learning in experientialeducation, largely because of the circumstances in whichthey learn, and experiential learning is less easily forgottenthan traditional learning.

Experiential learning is not universally appreciated. Somepeople in all sectorsadministrators, teachers, students,community leaders. parentssee it as a departure from anda subversion of the goals of education, even though it

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appeals to many as an affirmation of the dominantAmerican value of practicality. In coordinating an experien-tial learning project, problems are likely to arise in some orall of those sectors. For example, experiential educationcan be expensivenot cost-effective when compared withtraditional learning. Given sufficient motivation (ah! there'sthe rub), traditional learning can reduce the time and effortnecessary to learn something new. Experiential learning isusually slower and often requires repeated efforts to masterthe skill or concept. Administrators and community leaderswith an eye on budgets may chafe under that, and teachers,who find that the work load becomes heavier with theindividualized attention necessary to this process, canapproach "burn-out."

A wide variety of experientially based programs has grownup in this country because it was thought that the studentshould experience the "real world" in order to get an edgeon the job market, to serve a humanizing function, to servethe community, to make money, or to explore a career. Butseldom do program objectives relate directly to the centraleducational goals of the school system. Some peopleadministrators, unsympathetic teachers, communitycriticsare quick to point it out if your experientialprogram seems to be a "sidecar" with no integralrelationship to the basic curriculum of your school. And itis difficult to answer those objections if no learning goalshave been stated at the outset of the experience. When theobjectives of the experience are unclear, it is difficult tojudge the qualitybut what is it that one judges?

A further problem with the assessment of the nontraditionalnature of experiential learning is the subjectivity of theevaluation. All evaluation of student progress involvessubjective as well as objective measures, but objective,standardized measurements are usually more acceptablebecause they are available for public examination andjudgment. Subjective measurements are held in suspicionby all concerned, even by students, because they involvearbitrary criteria A potential problem in trying to specifysuch criteria is the double danger of either being so explicitand narrow that student-initiated learning options are eithersmothered or missed, or, on the other hand, being so open-ended that quality control becomes haphazard

Finally, the most vexing problem I have faced in evaluatingexperiential learning (or traditional learning, for that matter)is the difficulty ,n assessing affective learning Highlycognitive or skill-oriented learning is easier to judge, butthe affective learning that takes place, especially in anexperiential program, may be the most valuable dimensionof all This problem is puzzling for the evaluator, difficult toexplain or defend to critics, and may be most frustrating tothe student if there is no avenue to express what he/shefeels has been of most value in the experience

13

1 gi

Practical suggrations In trying to speak to the problems I have raised, let mebegin with the last one. My suggestion is very simple: don'tneglect the affective domain. As a paradigm case, let meuse the realm of values. Values do get dealt with in one wayor another in any learning experience. They may be"bootlegged"unconsciously dealt with, or they may behandled on a purely cognitive and theoretical level. I wouldargue that values are best confronted and understood notas abstractions, but as they are expressed in the norms thatundergird and determine the character and direction of theinstitutions of society. At one level, attention to thosevalues, recognition of them, and the ways in which theyrelate to the student's personal values can provide asignificant dimension to an experientially based program.Notice that this is very different from requiring a student toadopt or reflect certain specified values. The goal, rather,would be specification of the ability to identify andconsciously employ the skills or processes by which valuesare formed.

A second suggestion is to specify the desired learningoutcomes, the educational goals, of the experientialprogram or project in advance. Three benefits can resultfrom such a practice First, it becomes possible to see theexperience in relation to the curriculum and to tie theexperiential program, conceptually, to the goals of theschool system, i.e., it is no longer a sidecar, but analternative learning mode whose goals do not necessarilydiffer from those of traditional learning. If you start withlearning outcomes, it then becomes possible to designexperiential programs whose goals reinforce traditionaleducation, so V-- t "liberal education" or the humanities areseen as integral to career education rather than extraneousto it.

Second, the student is provided with a "filter" throughwhich to view his/her experiential program If he/sheknows beforehand what you expect the experience toproduce, the very concentration on those goals maximizesthe chances for their realization. Specifically, the studentdoes not enter into, say, an internship as a purely open-ended experience with a merely hopeful, let's-see-what-happens attitude Rather, he/she knows some specificobjectives, has done some preparation, has decided onsome desired outcomes, and knows how they will beassessed For example, a student undertaking an internshipin a local government office is likely to find it a valuablelearning experience, even with minimum supervision. But ifthe student has decided in advance that one of the goals ofthe experience is to identify and evaluate the dominantvalues that are expressed by and undergird our form ofgovernment, the expenence would take on a certain focus,and some preparation would be done to help him/her toaccomplish that task

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Reflections

Third, a statement of desired learning outcomes providesyou with a starting point for determining criteria forassessing the experience. If you know beforehand what youare going to assess, it becomes possible to decide whatstandards you will use to assess them, what productspapers, projects, interviews, advisor reports, etc. willprovide the information and what levels of proficiency youwill expect. That is helpful not only to you but to thestudent who, in my judgment, deserves to know thosethings in advance. The tendency of students reportingexperiential learning (even adult students, I have disco-vered) is to talk about what they "did." They have difficultyseparating what was "done" from what was "learned." If,therefore, it is learning you wish to assess, the studentneeds some help in telling you what was learned. I wouldsuggest that as a part of the evaluation process you ask thestudent to respond to three questions: What did you do?What did you learn? How did it affect you? This makes itclear that learning can be distinct from activity andprovides a vehicle for generalization. " further gives thestudent an outlet for the affective and attitudinal dimen-sions of experiential learning.

Finally, I suggest that you not be afraid of the subjectiveside of assessment It is unavoidable. I propose that criteriawhich may admittedly be subjective and arbitrary shouldnevertheless be stated and made public, and that they besubmitted to a review process. A learning contract can be

drawn up in light of the learning goals and then submittedto an assessment team for review. The quality control is inthe review process. The criteria are spelled out, and theteam decides the "worth" of each individual situation. Thisprocess places th,.2 responsibility for arguing the specificmerits of the proposed experience with the student andhis/her faculty mentor. Some general formal guidelinescould be established by the assessment team for alllearning contracts, thereby assuring greater uniformity andreliability.

I have tried to argue here that experiential learningdovetails with and can be aided by some concepts fromcompetency based education and that the differencesbetween traditional learning and experiential learningparallel to some degree the differences between traditionaleducation and competency based education. Some of theinsights which can be used in the assessment of experien-tial learning in career education are. (1) concentrate onstating learning outcomes, (2) integrate general educationwith career education, (3) emphasize the usefulness ofvaried learning styles, (4) attend to affective learning, (5)

lend credibility to subjective measures in your assessment,and (6) introduce by means of a review process, amechanism for quality control of experiential education.

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Perspective

Problems

Simulation

by

Christine McGuire, ProfessorCenter for Educational DevelopmentUniversity of Illinois Medical Center

My own experience with experiential learning has beenprimarily in health professions education: medicine, dentis-try, pharmacy, nursing, and allied health. In all of thesefields it has been traditional for a part of the professionalcurriculum to be devoted to what is called "clinicalexperience." Typically, such experience consists of assign-ing students to out-patient clinics or hospital wards where,except for the prohibition against prescribing treatment,they are expected to interact with patients and senior staffin much the same way as does the mature professional.Recently, concern for career mobility has also inducedsome health professional schools to add various kinds ofwork/study programs wherein applicants with relevant workexperience may be admitted with advanced standing; inothers, students may combine work with study, either forcredit or simply to gain field experience.

In implementing and assessing programs of this type, wehave encountered many problems When I first started towork in this field some fifteen years ago, I found thatexisting tests were simply not suitable either for evaluatingprogram outcomes nor for certifying individual compe-tence Not only did the paper-and-pencil tests lackrelevance and validity, but they were also woefully deficientin terms of the range of competencies they were designedto measure On the other hand, traditional practicalexaminations, in which each student is observed examining,diagnosing and recommending treatment for one or morepatients, often failed to meet even the most modeststandards of interrater or sampling reliability. Generaliza-tion about student competence based on limited andunstandardized observations of performance in such cir-cumstances was hazardous indeed And you can be sureyou will encounter analogous hazards whenever you try touse limited, unstandardized slices of reality to assess theoutcomes of experiential learning in any field.

At this point, we considered relying on something analo-gous to "on the job" ratings solicited from students'supervisors or instructors, ratings which presumably couldbe based on many observations over a long period of time.However, our experience in trying to use such ratings either

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1 g'-/

Practical suggestions

to assess individual competence or to evaluate programswas extremely discouraging. Not only did the process ofcontinuous assessment contaminate and jeopardize thelearning environment, it actually contributed little usableevaluation data. All too often, we found that all theproblems of interrater and sampling reliability, characteris-tic of practical examinations, were actually exacerbated inthe ratings of students ootained from so many untrainedobservers. I say "untrained" because instructors in clinicalsettings are typically chosen on the basis of theirqualifications to do research or to deliver health care, noton the basis of their ability to make the clinical experiencean educational one; thus aspiring professionals sometimesreceive less than adequate supervision, guidance orevaluation, and the criteria used to evaluate them are oftenhighly variable. Nor could ratings be used to evaluateprograms. The student's actual experience depends uponthe accidents of nature and the flow of real problems in theparticular work setting in which each was placed, and it wasdifficult to control, standardize or sequence that experience prop-erly, or to assure that all desired learning could occur.Since the experience was unstandardized and inevitablyvaried both within and between sites, it was oftenimpossible to obtain generalizable outcome data to assessthe effectiveness of particular program designs. Alterna-tively, cost considerations made it unfeasible to rely onobservations of an "educational process" which was beingconducted in dozens of different clinical settinge, each withonly a few students.

We turned to a technique which princes, kings and generalshave used for centuries in the training and assessment ofmilitary personnelthe technique of simulationwherebygreat armies, locked in mock battle with banners flying andequipment rolling, can be observed and their performancecan be assessed, though fortunately, their "casualties" canusually get up and walk unaided from the field of combat.Similar strategies have been employed from the beginningin teaching and testing personnel for some of the newerand more hazardous occupations, where in real life, practicalexperience is either too dangerous (as in the case ofcommercial pilots) or is simply unfeasible (as in the case ofastronauts).

My first experience with simulation occurred when I beganto work with medical colleagues to construct a set ofexercises designed to simulate the data-gathering anddecision-making process involved in diagnosing andmanaging patients From these early efforts, some verysophisticated forms of written simulationnow known asbranched problems in patient management have evolvedThese exercises are now being increasingly employed notonly in the formative evaluation of medical students,residents in training and physicians in practice, but also incertifying their readiness to be let loose on the pubhc andto assume full responsibility for patient care.

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The basic approach to the construction of written simula-tions, as elatorated in Construction and Use ot WrittenSimulation, (Mc Quire et al., 1976) was readily applica-ble to the construction of games and simulations in otherformats: audiovisual, computer assisted and oral interactive.We now use simulations employing all these modalities toteach and test data gathering and decision-making skills. Inaddition, we have found that simutations based on visualrepresentationsphotographs, movies, sound simulators,and three-dimensional modelsare exceedingly effective inthe instruction and assessment of observational andinterpretative skills. Similarly, three-dimensional modelsand live simulators, programmed to represent variousproblems are useful for teaching and testing technical skills.Additionally, live simulators, programmed to representvarious types of patients, colleagues and interprofessionalgroups, are exceedingly valuable for enhancing andappraising interpersonal and communications skills. Finally,our experience indicates that the methodoiogy of simula-tion is widely applicable to the implementation andevaluation of experiential learning in an almost unlimitedvariety of content areas, educational levels and training andmanagement settings.

The simulations which we prepare are much more tightlystructured than are typical games and simulations. Theypresent realistic situations that the health professional willfrequently encounter and should be competent to handle.The whole range of possible outcomes that a student couldobtain with different patterns of inquiry and intervention ina particular situation can be predicted and scaled accord-ing to the level of competence they indicate.

Students immediately perceive and are enchanted by theobvious relevance of these simulations. This perceivedrelevance can be achieved without being dependent onsituational constraints in the range of problems available ata particular place and time. The very fact that learning andassessment tasks can be predetermined means that theycan be carefully graduated in difficulty and complexity anstudents progress through an educational program Fur-thermore, by having available a libriry of standard, parallelsimulations, it is possible for students to teach and testthemselves repeatedly with interesting variations in what isessentially the same task, until performance is personallysatisfying and an appropriate level of mastery can bedocumented. Similarly, just as a single student can beconfronted over and over again with the same task,simulation enables a teacher or an examiner to standardizethe task for all students and to do so without sLujectinganyone to risk or inconvenience.

Thus, it is possiblein a given time periodto instructstudents and to sample their performance with respect to amuch broader and more representative group of situationsthan is feasible in a real life setting. For example, iffor

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Reflections

either instruction or assessment purposesyou wish toconfront students with problems that evolve over manyyears or problems in which the full effects of interventionare long delayed, it is not necessary to wait months oryears to discover the outcome of the students actions; incarefully developed simulations a lifetime can be collapsedinto a half-hour exercise. Furthermore, when the exacttasks that are to compose any learning or assessmentexperience are precisely defined and selected, it is alsopossible to develop specific, detailed criteria for judgingstudent performance, and to train teachers and examinersin their use. Thus, a much higher level of interrater andsampling reliability can be obtained in scoring performancethan can be obtained in direct observations of real lifesituations.

Finally, one of the most appealing advantages of simula-tions over reality is that, in dealing with even the mostcritical situations, all students can be allowed full freedomto careen down their merry way to disaster without any riskwhatsoever to anyone! And at each stage of such anexercise, students can be provided with informative feed-back on their decisions in a manner more instructive thanlife itself usually yields. The prompt, specific and unambig-uous feedback characteristic of well designed simulationseven those used purely as assessment exercisesmakesthem a powerful tool for the enhancement of learning.

The foregoing discussion of the advantages of simulationshould not be construed as implying that I am advocatingthat conventional instruction and evaluation strategiesshould be entirely replaced by simulation technique.Clearly, there are some aspects of reality that cannot now,or ever, be economically simulated. For example, factualinformation is more economically conveyed and moredirectly measured by conventional techniques of teachingand testing. On the other end of the scale, personal andprofessional habits and attitudes are most firmlyentrenched by repeated reinforcement, in diverse settings,over a long time span; they are most reliably assayed bycareful and repeated observation under similar conditions.However, just as the advantages of simulation should notbe construed as suggesting that it is a universal panaceafor implementing or evaluating all components of experien-tial learning situations, discussion of its limitations shouldnot be interpreted as suggesting that simulation is a pale,but adequate, substitute for appropriate real life experience,to be used only when the latter is unavailable, rather,simulation is a valuable tool in its own right and animportant adjunct to other educational methods I am surethat as our skills in developing and employing thismagnificent tool increase, its application will expand and itwill increasingly serve to bridge the gap between the worldof work and the world of study

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CHAPTER 6

CHECKLISTS FOR ASSESSING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNINGIN CAREER EDUCATION

What do I do now? The materials you have read thus far in this handbookshould provide you with a basic awareness of:

The purpose and history of experiential learning

The difference between traditional and experientiallearning

A variety of methods to assess experiential learning

Different viewpoints about assessing experientiallearning

One thought that permeates this handbook is that formalassessment of experiential learning is relatively new. Aquick glance at the resources identified in Chapter 8reveals that the preponderance of related literature waspublished in the seventies. In a sense, then, we are on theground floor of this effort; and since we are at thebeginning, tried and true techniques and methods for everysituation do not exist. This handbook attempted tosynthesize the current state of the art by providing you withsome information about possible methods to use and theviewpoints of fifteen people working in this field Althoughthe state of the art does not lend itself to a "how to"handbook, a thorough review of Chapters 2 and 4 of thehandbook and the viewpoint papers does lend itself to thecompilation of a series of checklists that you might findhelpful as you begin to plan, implement, and evaluate yourassessment activities. These checklists may serve to bridgethe gap between the information in this handbook andyour assessment efforts by beginning to answer thequestion, "What do I do now?" Each checklist raisesquestions for you to think about as you plan (Checklist 1),implement (Checklist 2), and review (Checklist 3) yourassessment strategy

We sincerely hope that this handbook has been and will beuseful to you as you develop, operate, and assess yourexperiential learning program. There are four other hand-books in the Career Education Measurement Series whichmay also be helpful to you and are mentioned below

Career Education Measures. A Compendium of EvaluationInstruments describes over 200 career education measure-ment instruments to be used for grades K-16, the

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community, educators and teachers. Each abstract identi-fies the instrument title, author, availability, instrumentdescription, administration requirements, validity and relia-bility data, and a sample item.

Using Systematic Observation Techniques in Evaluatic.aCareer Education provides a more complete discussion ofthe three systematic observation techniques; things toconsider when using systematic observation techniques;and organizing, analyzing and justifying systematic obser-vation data.

A Guide for Improving Locally Developed Career EducationMeasures discusses several issues that should be consi-dered when creating assessment instruments (i.e., design,reliabiltiy, validity, elimination of stereotypes, formatting, andreadability.)

Improving the Accountability of Career Education Pro-grams: Evaluation Guidelines and Checklists presents thesteps involved in planning an evaluation, implementing anevaluation, and using evaluation results.

Other resources that may be helpful to you are identified inChapter 8. We encourage you to investigate these resour-ces as you begin planning your own assessments.

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CHECKLIST 1: PUNNING THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Yes No N/A

1. Are the objectives clear to:a. you?b. employers?c. students?d. fellow assessors?

2. Are the objectives consistent with the goalsof the program?

3. Have you established a rationale for the kindof experiential learning which will occur?

4. Have you established a rationale for the kindof assessment planned?

5. Have you provided sufficient staff support tomonitor the assessment process?

6. Do you have a learning agreement orcontract for each student?

7. Does your staff have adequate training inassessment techniques?

8 Do the following people understand theirroles and responsibilities in the programassessment:a. school staff?b. employers?

.

c. students?d fellow assessors?

9. Have you provided for assessments on aregular basis using the following techniquesa. written ?b. oral?

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Yes No=11

N/A

10. Are the necessary assessment resourcesprovided for:a staff?b. materials?

11. Have you identified the outcomes fora. host agencies?b. students?

12. Did you clearly define each assessment taskin terms of the following educationaldomains:a cognitive?b affective?c. psychomotor?

13 Do the following understand each assess-ment task.a. school staff?b employers?c students?

14. Are your assessment methods (e.g., simula-tions, logs) matched to fit the specificlearning tasks?

15. Have you established a program philosophyregarding experiential learning?

16 Is there staff agreement with the basicprinciples?

17 Have you determined when the assessmentswill take place?

18 Have you determined where the assessmentwill take place?

19. Have you provided for incremental feedbackduring the course of the assessmentactivities?

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CHECKLIST 2: IMPLEMENTING THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

YesT

No N/A

1. Do the assessment techniques seem to beappropriate for the learning tasks?

2. Do the aspects you are assessing representthe more important aspects of the totalprogram?

3. Are your written tests relatively:a free of cultural bias?b. readable?c. understandable in their directions/

4 Have you made sure that the assessmenttechniques are free from:a sexual stereotypes?b. racial stereotypes/

5. Are your tests designed to provide a balancebetween obvious and obscure answers/

6 Are you providing adequate time forstudent-teacher reviews of the results beforeentering the next phase of the program?

7. Have you attempted to provide for validity:that is, does your instrument test what it issupposed to test?

8. Do you have information concerning the tests'reliability: that is, are the results consistentacross many implementations/

9. Are you conducting item analyses toimprove the tests/

10 Do you collect feedback regarding theassessment on a regular basis froma. employers?b. students/c school staff?

11. Have you developed a time schedule for theassessments?

CHECKLIST 3: REVIEWING THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Yes

1. Have you examined your assessment resultsfor:a. unexpected outcomes?b. expected outcomes?

2. Can you see agreements between assess-ment results and your stated objectives?

3 Have you provided for feedback on theassessment techniques so that modificationcan occur by:a. school staff?b. employers?c. students?

4 Did you review your staff and materialresource inputs for clues to revision needs?

5. Do your results indicate a need for changingyoura. program philosophy?b grading or credit system?c assessment techniques?

6. Have you noted the program impact on:a. administrators?b parents?c the business community?d. the social community?

7 Is your assessment program attempting tostrike a balance among the educationaldomains ofa. cognitive2b. affective?c. psychomotor?

8 Do any of your results suggest the need foralternative.a. program settings?b facilities?c equipment2d. human resources?

9. Have you provided for a student evaluationof the total program?

10 Do aspects of your assessment results lendthemselves toa planning2b implementation2c. reviewing modifications?

A.

_

No N/A

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Introduction

CHAPTER 7

INDEX OF MAJOR CONCEPTSAPPEARING IN THE VIEWPOINT PAPERS

When reading the viewpoint papers in Chapters 3 and 5, wefound that several writers discussed similar issues fromdifferent viewpoints. Since it is often difficult to go backand remember who said what about an issue or to find aspecific point in a paper, we have developed a brief indexof over thirty major concepts addressed by the writers. Theindex is divided into the same four sections as the papers:Perspective, Problems, Practical Suggestions, and Reflec-tions. We hope that you will find the index to be a usefulquick reference to the papers as you plan your assessmenteffort and review specific issues.

Indx of Major Concepts Addressedby the Viewpoint Papers

Perspective Page Reference

Balancing the learning and service componentsin learning programs 15

Benefits from experiential learning

Difference between experiential andtraditional education

29, 35-36

98, 101-2

Outcomes of experiential learning forstudents 40parents 40school/community relations 40-41teaching/learning process 41

Role of experiential education 77-78

_

Problems

Assessment DesignOutcomes 79Tasks 79Criteria 79Standards 79Quality Control 80

Consistency between programcomponents and objectives 36

Institutional commitment toexperiential learning 41, 74

Learning and service perspectivesin learning program 16

Philosophy of experiential learning 74

Practical Suggestions

Agreements (see Contract/Agreement)

Assessment design 98-99, 104-5

Clarifying program rationale 68

Communicate assessment criteria inadvance (see Contract/Agreement) 16-17, 22-23, 27-28,

84-85

Contract/Agreement 22-23, 27-28, 33, 42, 84-85

Daily journal/dally log 17, 69, 89, 99

Developing assessment instruments 69-70, 80

Feedback in the assessment process 42, 81

Monitoring experientiallearning programs

42-43, 70

Multiple assessment measures 42-43

118 1 1 rk?

Pre/post assessment analyses 89-90

Simulationusesstudent reactions to

Reflections

108-110109

Need to develop a conceptualframework for experiential learning 70

Outcomes that should only beevaluated over the long run 90

CHAPTER 8

RESOURCES

A basic text in the field of assessment of experientiallearning programs is Experiential Learning by Morris T.Keeton and Associates, published by Jossey-Bass, SanFrancisco, 1976. Other resources you might find helpful arelisted below.

Cooperative Aaseserant ofExperiential Learning (CAEL) Publications

Cooperative Assessment of Experiential Learning(CAEL) is a joint project of the Educational Testing Serviceand a group of colleges and universities. A variety ofdocuments published by CAEL will be helpful to the localpractitioner interested in experiential learning. These publi-cations are listed below. All can be ordered from CAELPublications, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NewJersey 05840.

Breen, P.; Donlon, T., and Whitaker, V. Learning andAssessing Interpersonal Competence.

Breen, P.; Donlon, T ; and Whitaker, V. Teaching andAssessing Interpersonal Competence.

Calhoun, A. and others. An Individualized Competence-Based Assessment Model.

Da loz, L and Pitkin, C. Standard Setting by Students andCommunityHow Much is Enough?

Forrest, A Assessing Prior Learning: Student Guide.

Kelley, R L.; Taggart, Mac; and Spencer, R. Analyzing Costsin the Assessment of Prior Learning.

Knapp, J. Assessing Prior Learning.

Knapp, J. and Sharon, A A Compendium of AssessmentTechniques.

Permaul, V.S , and Miko, M.B. Documentation and Evalua-tion of Sponsored Experiential Learning, InstitutionalReport 3.

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Reilly, R. et al. Expert Assessment of ExperientialLearning.

Tatzel, M. Prospects and Methods for Interpersonal Studies.

Willingham, W. et al. The CAEL Vocational Report.

Willingham, W. and Nesbitt, H., eds. Implementing aProgram for Assessing Experiential Learning.

Willingham, W.; Valley, J.; and Keeton, M. AssessingExperiential Learning.

Books, Papers, Articles, and Reports

Coleman, Deborah, ed. Experiential Education in theWorkplace: An Annotated Bibliography. Columbus, Ohio:The National Center for Research in Vocational Education,The Ohio State University, 1979.

Crowe, Michael R., and Adams, Kay A. The Current Statusof Assessing Experiential Education Programs. ColumbusiOhio: The National Center for Research in VocationalEducation, The Ohio State University, 1979.

Crowe, Michael R., and Beckman, Carol A., eds. Perspec-tives on Investigating the Consequences of ExperientialEducation. Columbus, Ohio: The National Center forResearch in Vocational Education, The Ohio State Univer-sity, 1979.

Crowe, Michael R., and Walker, Jerry P. Evaluation of theExecutive High School Internships Program: ExecutiveSummary. Columbus, Ohio: The Center for VocationalEducation, The Ohio State University, 1977.

Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Devel-opment. Employer-Based Career Education: EvaluationReport, FY 1973. San Francisco, California. Far WestLaboratory for Educational Research and Development,1973

Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Devel-opment. Experience-Based Career Education: Final Evalua-tion Report, Volume II. San Francisco, California: Far WestLaboratory for Educational Research and Development,1974

Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Devel-opment Experience-Based Career Education: Intern Eva-luation Report, FY 1974. San Francisco, California: Far WestLaboratory for Educational Research and Development,1974

Heerman, Barry. Cooperative Education in CommunityColleges. San Francisco, California Jossey-Bass, 1973.

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Hilderbrand, John A. et al.Experience-Based CareerEducation, Appalachia Educational Laboratory. Final Eva-luation Report.

Charleston, West Virginia:AppalachiaEducational Laboratory, 1974.

Hood, Paul D. and Blackwell, Laird. An Assessment Systemfor

Competence-Based Education: The Educational Devel-opment, Dissemination, and Evaluation Training Program,San Francisco, California: Far West Laboratory for Educe-tional Research and

Development, 1975.Hoyle, John R. Evaluating an Alternative High SchoolProgram: A Beginning. ERIC

Clearinghouse, 1974. ED 117816.

Jones, Joan; Watts, Rebecca; and Downing, Sybil. WorkExperience and Academic

Credit: Issues and Concerns.Columbus, Ohio: The National Center for Research inVocational Education, The Ohio State University, 1979.McGuire, C ; Solomon, L.; and Bashook, P Constructionand Use of Written Simulations. New York: The Psychologi-cal Corporation of Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1976.Minneapolis Public Schools. Work Experience CareerExploration Program (WECEP) Advisory Committee Report:Evaluation and

Recommendations. Minneapolis, Minnesota:Minneapolis Public Schools, 1972.Miguel, Richard J., ed. Experiential Education PolicyGuidelines. Columbus, Ohio: The National Center forResearch in Vocational Education, The Ohio State Univer-sity, 1979.

Myer, Peter. Awarding College Credit for Non-CollegeLearning. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass, 1975.Owens, Thomas;Haenn, Joseph; and Fehrenbacher, Harry.

The Use of MultipleStrategies in Evaluating an Experience-Based Career Education Program. Portland, Oregon:Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, 1975.

Owens, Tom; Haenn, Joe; and Fehrenbacher, Harry."Evaluation of the CommunityExperiences for a CareerEducation Program " Paper presented at the AmericanEducational Research Association Convention, 1975.

Rockart, John and Morton, Michael Computers and theLearning Process in Higher Education. Berkeley, California:Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,1975.

Rose, Marcia et al But For Me It Wouldn't WorkImplications of the ExperientialEducation Guidelines.Columbus, Ohio. The National Center for Research inVocational Education, The Ohio State University, 1979.

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Seyfarth, John T. and others. Parents Attitudes Toward the

Program as Technical Report No. 43. Indicated by an

Analysis of Interview Data: Employor-BasedCareer Educa-

tion. Charleston, West Virginia: Appalachia Educational

Laboratory, 1972.

Seyfarth, John T. et al. Students' Attitudes Toward

tha Program asIndicated by an Analysis of Interview Data:

Employer-B*3WCareer Education, Technical Report No.

42. Charleston, West Virginia: Appalachia Educational

Laboratory, 1973.

Silverman, Debra Watkins. "The Developmentof Tech-

niques for Evaluating a School-CommunityChang* Pro-

cess." Paperpresented at the American Educational

Research Association Convention, 1975.

Virginia Polytechnicinstitute and State University. Develop-

ing and Testing Simulated Occupational Exporiences for

Distributive EducationStudents in Rural Communities,

Volume I and II. Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Polytechnic

Institute and State University, 1975.

Wasson, Louise. Experiential Education: A Primer on

Programs. Columbus,Ohio:The National

Center for

Research in Vocational Education, The Ohio State Univer-

sity, 1979.

Games

How to Apply for a Job. New York: Fairchild Publications,

Inc.,

Job Scene. Tallahassee:Florida State University, Career

Education Center.

National Center for Rasearch in Vocational Education,

Canter Education MeasurementSeries, 1979

Assessing ExperientialLearning in Career Education

Career Education Measures A Compendium of Evaluation

Instruments

Improving the Accountabilityof Career Education. Evaluation

Guidelines and Checklists

A Guide for Improving Locally Developed Career Education

Measures

Using Systematic ObservationTechniques in Evaluating

Career Education

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