Faculty Perspectives on First-Year Experiential Education in Large Humanities and Social Sciences Courses: Motivations, Methods, Barriers, and Facilitators

Abstract

Background: Experiential education (EE) is a pedagogical approach based on the premise that certain knowledge can be acquired more effectively through experience rather than lecture-based classroom content. Despite the well-documented benefits of EE across all levels of higher education, existing literature often focuses on small upper-year postsecondary courses. Purpose: To identify and analyze key instructor motivations, methods, barriers, and facilitators for incorporating EE in first-year courses (FYEE). Method: We conducted 13 qualitative interviews with instructors who incorporate FYEE in humanities and social sciences courses at a large, Canadian research university. Findings: Instructors were motivated to incorporate FYEE to support students’ transition from secondary to postsecondary, introduce students to the discipline, and help students prepare for more extensive EE upper-year opportunities. To do so, instructors tailored FYEE as bite-sized teaching or scaffolded versions of community engagement. Instructors also identified institutional barriers and facilitators to implementing FYEE. Implications: This research addresses an empirical gap in EE scholarship and makes recommendations to support FYEE at the administrative and teaching levels.