What are these descriptions for?
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The descriptions you provide will help students understand what kind of experiential learning opportunities they will access if they take your course.
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Experiential descriptions will be posted in the Experience Catalogue and be recorded in students experience records.
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Hours catalogued for each experience type will be totaled.
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The experience catalogue aims to aid students in writing job and graduate applications, and be a form of proof of their experiential experiences.
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To learn more about the why the experience record was developed, visit the Experience Record page.
Use our description generator
Create an experiential description for your course in just a couple minutes.
Click here to be taken to the experiential description generator. Start by describing the experiential component in 2-3 sentences. After, use the drop down menus to fill in the remainder of the description. You can then click 'Copy the description' and paste it into the widget.
You can also use the template and selection lists below to generate a description instead of using the linked app.
Students will engage in _______(select from typology)______ and gain experience related to _______(select from experiences)_______. Students will practice the following competencies: _______(select from competencies)_______ through the role of _______(select from roles)______.
Typology
- Lecture
- Classroom-based experiential learning (e.g. case studies, projects, games, etc.)
- Simulation
- Outdoor or place-based learning
- Land-based learning (Indigenous pedagogy)
- Other Indigenous pedagogies
- Applied research
- Service or community engaged learning
- Work-integrated learning (co-op, internship, field/clinical placement, practicum)
- Classroom-based work-integrated learning (e.g. industry projects, case studies, etc.)
- Entrepreneurship, incubators, or start-ups
- Creative works (art-based learning)
- Laboratories and studios
Experiences
- Group projects
- Case studies
- Conducting research
- Collaborating with community
- Collaborating with industry
- Collaborating with other students
- Exchange programs
- Leadership
- Work experience
- Fine or creative artwork
- Developing a business
- Business clinics
- Applying knowledge to address a real-world issue (capstone project)
- UM Innovative Design for Engineering Applications (UMIDEA)
- Fieldtrips
- Professional presentations
- Social action participation
- Hackathons
- Incubators
- Moot courts
Competencies
- Attentive listening
- Verbal communication
- Written communication
- Presenting and facilitating
- Multilingualism
- Teamwork
- Empathy
- Managing conflict
- Innovation
- Managing projects and work plans
- Anti-oppression
- Ethical action
- Inclusion and access
- Community engagement
- Global citizenship
- Developing Indigenous cultural literacy
- Addressing colonial impacts
- Respecting Indigenous ceremony and cultural protocols
- Living relationality
- Preserving and reclaiming Indigenous languages
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
- Problem solving
- Decision making
- Metacognition
- Technological agility
- Digital information fluency
- Data literacy
- Digital presence management
- Digital content creation and design
- Curiosity
- Resilience
- Lifelong learning
- Well-being
- Career development
- Self-awareness
- Self-regulation
- Initiative
- Adaptability
- Time management and prioritization
- Articulating vision and strategy
- Cultivating safety, trust, and collaboration
- coaching, mentoring, and advising
- Intentional advocacy
- Mobilizing people and resources
Roles
- Co-creator
- Consultant
- Collaborator
- Helper
- Leader
- Mentor
- Research assistant
- Author
- Researcher
- Creator
- Storyteller
- Designer
- Employee
- Clinician
- Presenter
- Teaching assistant
- Tutor
- Advisor
Does your description speak to students?
Think of a student you know well (someone in your family, for example) and write your description in a way they would understand.
Here are some things to consider!
- Provide the typology of experiences the students will engage in (lecture, simulation, land-based learning, etc.).
- Describe how students will gain experience (group projects, case studies, conducting research, etc.).
- List the type of competencies students will practice (verbal communication, data literacy, managing conflict, etc.).
- State the the students will gain experience in (co-creator, consultant, researcher, etc.).
- The description is written in plain, simple and accessible language.
- Description is simple and easy to understand for someone who has not taken the course.
- A brief definition has been provided for any terms taught within the course so that the terminology is clear to all students.
- No acronyms were used.
- The following was not included within the description: course location, prerequisites, which courses it cannot be held with, professor or instructors name, amount of credit hours obtained upon completion, and how long the course runs for.
Example descriptions
Here are some examples of good descriptions that contain helpful information written in student friendly language, as well as descriptions that could be improved.
Contact Us
The Office of Experiential Learning
Room 215, 65 Dafoe Road (The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning)
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6 Canada