Office of Experiential & Integrative Learning

>> Taking tomorrow boldly, one experiential learning opportunity at a time!

Experiential Learning at Bowie State University

As we progress towards academics and careers of the future, we have discovered that the experience of learning takes place both within and beyond the classroom. At BSU, we want every student to be elevated by boldly engaging in experiential learning activities, which are a transformational component of our undergraduate and graduate education.

What is Experiential Learning?

Experiential learning (EL), also known as applied learning, is an engaged process of learning whereby students “learn by doing” and “reflecting on that experience" (Kolb, 1984). 

Rather than through lecture alone, experiential learning actively involves students in hands-on experiences within real-world, expert guided, laboratory, role-play, or simulated situations and settings. As a result, students are placed in the center of the learning process, and the entire campus and world becomes their classroom. This provides for authentic and meaningful learning for students, through which their potential and transformation is unleashed. 

Across the university, experiential learning activities integrated throughout the curriculum and co-curriculum both on- and off-campus take many different forms for students such as capstones, entrepreneurship, internships, research, study abroad, and much more. However, all of these types of experiential learning activities allow students to have "direct hands-on experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop individual capacity to contribute to their communities" (AEE, 2024).

Office of Experiential and Integrative Learning