Dr. Melinda Adams from the University of the Incarnate Word recorded a session for the Lilly Conference online this past may entitled “Clients and Experiential Learning” that I watched tonight. Dr. Adams is a full professor and teaches a draping class for more than ten years. Over the years, Adams learned that students were not applying much effort to create original designs, designing only for themselves. In fall 2018 and 2019, Adams “made students design for someone else” by adding a client project. Students were working for another person. Based on experiential learning strategy and the work of Merriam & Caffarella, Adams explained that apprenticeships allow students to think and apply what they are learning and work with clients in low-risk situations. One of the parameters that Adams included was to design for a person who was not 20 something. Fall 2018 was the first time Adams tried this project. For this round, clients could be someone they knew or one recruited from faculty and staff on campus. Students were randomly assigned to clients and took measurements. Students then made appointments for fittings. In 2019, client was recruited from the Fiber Artist of San Antonio, and students were randomly assigned to clients. After students made contact with the clients, Adams only intervened when clients or students were not responding. Students had to communicate with their clients to make improvements and revise the garment. Final garments were presented to clients, and staff/faculty enjoyed working with the students. Adams mentioned that students were putting more effort into the project because they wanted the client to be happy and meet their expectations… Students learned valuable skills and, in 2019 since they worked with clients outside the university, students gained networking opportunities. The topic and project are something I had not considered and enjoyed the presentation. I particularly appreciate the ownership that students undertook as they were the ones who had to set up all the meetings for measurements, fittings, and improvements. The experience of having clients transforms this project into something more meaningful than a grade. While in 2019 students were able to network with clients outside of the university, I thought it was meaningful to have students interact with staff and faculty on campus that may not have the opportunity to engage with students (frequently or from this course/program). This experience made me think about the possibilities of connections with the staff from the Sustainability Office and Composting Facilities, for example, as part of the project for BIT 295.
apprenticeships allow students to think and apply what they are learning and work with clients in low-risk situations
Dr. Melinda Adams, Lilly Conference 2021
The next recorded session was entitled “Service Leadership Education: Teaching Non-Journalism Major To Interview Para-Athletes” presented by Lai Yu “Bonnie” Chiu from the Hong Kong Baptist University. Chiu described a course that had 32 students and only 2 from journalism: 94% had no journalistic skills. Groups submitted a proposal for interviewing para-athletes. The products were compiled and some shared on a Facebook page. Other assignments included presenting to different groups of people. I was surprised to see that there were weekly teaching evaluations and opportunities to gather feedback from the students. Sixteen para-athletes were interviewed, and seven were included in a handbook printed for the community (500 copies). The Facebook fan-page was popular: almost 200 subscribers in a couple of weeks. The recording included clips from the event with students and para-athletes. They all seemed to be enjoying the event and sharing copies of the handbook they made about athletes with disabilities. Student feedback emphasized a meaningful experience and opportunity to meet athletes. From the “pedagogical perspective” Chiu spoke about having to be flexible and include topics such as athletes with disabilities as well as journalism background. To manage student expectations and projects, Chiu mentioned having to communicate with students 4-6 extra hours a week. What an interesting class project and course design! In a way, this is related to the experiential learning session by Adams. The level of investment of students when given the opportunity to work with and interview clients and athletes is evident in the photos shown in both presentations.
