STLHE 2016 SAPES

The pressure to graduate students with “real world skills” is significant. Repeated studies in the US and Canada demonstrate that employers and businesses want the skills provided by the BA in these areas: problem solving, critical thinking, team work and communication. But how can experiential learning further the study of Liberal Arts? We need to do more than match students to existing employers. Using the tools that students acquire through each discipline we can offer opportunities to genuinely engage with real world problems inside and outside of the classroom by adopting the classic tenets of experiential learning as developed by educational theorists over the past century: Jean Piaget, John Dewy and David Kolb.


The presentation will focus on the case study of a successful applied Liberal Arts degree at Cape Breton University, created 40 years ago. The presenters will explore how experiential learning can move beyond learning by doing. Imagine what an Applied Liberal Arts degree could be.