NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

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NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION
STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

• Eight Principles of Good Practice
• for All Experiential Learning Activities
• Regardless of the experiential learning
  activity, both the experience and the learning
  are fundamental. In the learning process and in
  the relationship between the learner and any
  facilitator(s) of learning, there is a mutual
  responsibility. All parties are empowered to
  achieve the principles which follow. Yet, at the
  same time, the facilitator(s) of learning are
  expected to take the lead in ensuring both the
  quality of the learning experience and of the
  work produced, and in supporting the learner to
  use the principles, which underlie the pedagogy
  of experiential education.
• National Society for Experiential Education.
  Presented at the 1998 Annual Meeting, Norfolk, VA
  
• www.nsee.org

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Eight Principles of Good Practice

• 1. Intention
• 2. Preparedness and Planning
• 3. Authenticity
• 4. Reflection
• 5. Orientation and Training
• 6. Monitoring and Continuous Improvement
• 7. Assessment and Evaluation
• 8. Acknowledgement
• National Society for Experiential Education.
  Presented at the 1998 Annual Meeting, Norfolk, VA

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Eight Principles of Good Practice1. Intention

• All parties must be clear from the outset why
• experience is the chosen approach to the
• learning that is to take place and to the
• knowledge that will be demonstrated, applied
• or result from it. Intention represents the
• purposefulness that enables experience to
• become knowledge and, as such, is deeper than
• the goals, objectives, and activities that define
  
• the experience.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice1. Intention

• All parties must be clear from the outset why
  experience is the
• chosen approach to the learning that is to take
  place and to the
• knowledge that will be demonstrated, applied or
  result from it.
• Mission Statement of the University of New Haven
  (UNH)
• The University of New Haven is a
  student-centered comprehensive university with an
  emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and
  professional education.
• Our mission is to prepare our students to
  lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a global
  society by providing the highest-quality
  education through experiential, collaborative and
  discover-based education.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice1. Intention
continued

• Intention represents the purposefulness that
  enables experience
• to become knowledge and, as such, is deeper than
  the goals,
• objectives, and activities that define the
  experience.
• Strategic Plan of UNH
• Strategic Direction II Experiential Education
  with the goal of investing in this long-time UNH
  strength such that UNH takes on a leadership
  position in the field.
• Over the past two years the University of New
  Haven has become a recognized leader in
  experiential education. Visit the Office of
  Experiential Education at www.newhaven.edu,
  Academics, Opportunities, Experiential Education
  for more information.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice2.
Preparedness and Planning

• Participants must ensure that they enter the
  experience
• with sufficient foundation to support a
  successful
• experience. They must also focus from the
  earliest
• stages of the experience/program on the
  identified
• intentions, adhering to them as goals, objectives
  and
• activities are defined. The resulting plan should
  include
• those intentions and be referred to on a regular
  basis
• by all parties. At the same time, it should be
  flexible
• enough to allow for adaptations as the experience
• unfolds.

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• The internship is a senior level course where
  previous skills and knowledge allow the student
  be placed in an internship related to the
  profession of interior design or an allied field.
• The Pre-Internship preparation in Steps 1-4 of
  the course prepares the student for making an
  appropriate internship placement selection to
  meet their education, career and personal goals.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice 3.
Authenticity

• The experience must have a real world context
• and/or be useful and meaningful in reference to
• an applied setting or situation. This means that
  it
• should be designed in concert with those who
• will be affected by or use it, or in response to
  a
• real situation.

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• Step 1 activities on world view and social
  responsibilities in addition to personal values
  broaden the students perspective individual and
  societal needs.
• Step 5 activities assist the student and mentor
  in establishing the interns responsibilities in
  relation to their goals and objectives.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice 4. Reflection

• Reflection is the element that transforms simple
  experience
• to a learning experience. For knowledge to be
  discovered
• and internalized the learner must test
  assumptions and
• hypotheses about the outcomes of decisions and
  actions
• taken, then weigh the outcomes against past
  learning and
• future implications. This reflective process is
  integral to all
• phases of experiential learning, from identifying
  intention
• and choosing the experience, to considering
  preconceptions
• and observing how they change as the experience
  unfolds.
• Reflection is also an essential tool for
  adjusting the
• experience and measuring outcomes

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• Reflection is woven through the internship
  experience from Pre-Internship activities to the
  weekly Electronic Reflection Journal, the
  mid-term evaluation where goals and objectives
  may be adjusted based on reflection to the final
  summary paper and Internship Notebook.
• The weekly Electronic Reflection Journal with
  specific questions provides the primary activity
  for the student to look at preconceptions and
  observe how they change week by week. Multi-color
  responses between the student and the instructor
  provide enriched dialog and learning
  opportunities for both.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice5. Orientation
and Training

• For the full value of the experience to be
  accessible to
• both the learner and the learning facilitator(s),
  and to
• any involved organizational partners, it is
  essential that
• they be prepared with important background
• information about each other and about the
  context and
• environment in which the experience will operate.
  Once
• that baseline of knowledge is addressed, ongoing
• structured development opportunities should also
  be
• included to expand the learners appreciation of
  the
• context and skill requirements of her/his work.

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• The Company Survey Form provides the basis for
  learning activities that are available to the
  intern and qualifies the firm for an intern. The
  form assists the student in determining a site
  selection.
• The Pre-Internship Steps 3 and 4, Internship Site
  Research and Interview Preparation prepares the
  student for selecting internships sites and the
  internship interview.
• The Electronic Reflection Journal provides the
  structure for communication between the student
  and the instructor to expand their appreciation
  and knowledge of the field.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice6. Monitoring
and Continuous Improvement

• Any learning activity will be dynamic and
  changing, and the parties
• involved all bear responsibility for ensuring
  that the experience, as
• it is in process, continues to provide the
  richest learning possible,
• while affirming the learner. It is important that
  there be a feedback
• loop related to learning intentions and quality
  objectives and that
• the structure of the experience be sufficiently
  flexible to permit
• change in response to what that feedback
  suggests. While
• reflection provides input for new hypotheses and
  knowledge based
• in documented experience, other strategies for
  observing progress
• against intentions and objectives should also be
  in place.
• Monitoring and continuous improvement represent
  the formative
• evaluation tools.

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• While the Electronic Reflection Journal provides
  a week to week monitoring system for the
  instructor, midterm evaluation forms completed by
  the mentor and the intern along with a summary
  paper by the intern evaluating their success in
  meeting their goals and objectives is completed.
• Adjustments to responsibilities and learning
  activities based on the established goals and
  objectives may be made at this point or any point
  as needed.
• One or more group meetings with the interns
  provides a method for the interns to share and
  learn from each other.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice7. Assessment
and Evaluation

• Outcomes and processes should be systematically
• documented with regard to initial intentions and
  quality
• outcomes. Assessment is a means to develop and
  refine
• the specific learning goals and quality
  objectives
• identified during the planning stages of the
  experience,
• while evaluation provides comprehensive data
  about the
• experiential process as a whole and whether it
  has met
• the intentions which suggested it.

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• The mentor, intern and instructor complete
  midterm and final evaluation forms. At midterm an
  assessment is made on the goals and objectives
  that allow for adjustments.
• At completion of the internship (135 hours) the
  final evaluation forms, which includes a summary
  paper by the student and the Internship Notebook,
  provides a comprehensive look at the experience
  in order to evaluate the success of the
  internship and to establish a grade for the
  course.
• Periodic surveys with the internship site mentors
  provide a method for adjusting the learning goals
  of the internship course.

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Eight Principles of Good Practice8.
Acknowledgement

• Recognition of learning and impact occur
  throughout
• the experience by way of the reflective and
  monitoring
• processes and through reporting, documentation
  and
• sharing of accomplishments. All parties to the
• experience should be included in the recognition
  of
• progress and accomplishment. Culminating
• documentation and celebration of learning and
  impact
• help provide closure and sustainability to the
• experience.

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• The final exam period provides a time for a
  scheduled meeting of the interns to acknowledge
  their accomplishments through the sharing of
  their internship experience.
• A program-wide meeting open to all interior
  design majors provides a time for acknowledgement
  and sharing of the interns successes and a
  learning opportunity for classmates.
• The Experiential Education Office and Career
  Center provides an annual celebration day where
  students engaged in experiential education
  activities can exhibit and discuss their
  experiences. The Internship Notebook provides a
  visual show-and-tell of the experience.

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PresenterChristy Somerville, Assistant Professor
Coordinator of Visual Arts ProgramsInterior
DesignUniversity of New Haven

• Background
• M.A. and B.S. in Environmental Factors
  Interiors
• California State University, Long Beach
• Title Registered Interior Designer in
  Connecticut
• Professional practice corporate office
  design, healthcare and residential design,
• President-elect of Connecticut Coalition
  of Interior Designers
• Allied Education Member of the American
  Society of Interior Designers
• Interior Design Educator
• Corporate Member of the Interior Design
  Educators Council,
• Instructor - California Community College
  System
• Assistant Professor - Paier College of
  Art, University of Bridgeport, and Albertus
• Magnus College, Connecticut
• NSEE Experiential Education Academy
• Certificate of Completion June 2007
• Contact Information
• Christy Somerville, Assistant Professor
• Department of Visual and Performing Arts
• University of New Haven