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, students are actively involved in hands-on experiences within real-world, expert guided, laboratory, role-play, or simulated situations and settings that provide for authentic and meaningful learning. As a result, the whole campus and world becomes the classroom. This places students in the center of the learning process by way of experience from which potential and transformation is unleashed.

Across the university experiential learning activities integrated in the curriculum and co-curriculum both on- and off-campus take many different forms, all of which allow learners 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