[133] Hands-on Learning at MTSU Reaps Rewards, Success, Hands Down

For Release: Oct. 19, 2011
Contact: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919

Hands-on learning at MTSU reaps rewards, success, hands down
Experiential Learning is heading into its sixth year at MTSU, and the program is now flourishing as a model of hands-on learning through practical application and public service.
It began in 2003 as a mandate by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to develop a Quality Enhancement Plan that would improve and enhance student learning at MTSU. After an initial planning meeting, committee members broke into small groups and bounced around QEP ideas.
“Every group came back with an idea that had something to do with service-learning,” said Dr. Jill Austin, who chaired the larger body and has led the EXL initiative from the start. “So experiential learning became our focus. We had marketing students develop logo ideas, and people voted. We came up with ‘EXL—Make It Happen!’
“We developed the QEP,” Austin continued. “We could not have imagined how many forms we would need to make this process work. We submitted the QEP in March of 2006. We implemented the program that fall. At the end of the last academic year, we had completed five years of the program.”
Every college is involved in EXL now, Austin said. More than 100 EXL courses have been approved.
“We started out with 122 EXL sections, and we’ve added to that every year,” she said. “Last year we had 314 sections. We have 168 participating faculty now. We started with 54 faculty. The first academic year of EXL classes we enrolled 1700 students. Last academic year we had nearly 5200 students.”
Students can become EXL Scholars and have the EXL designation printed on their transcript if they take 16 to 18 EXL credit hours and complete a 4000-level course that requires them to do an e-portfolio of their EXL activities,” Austin explained.
“The second year of EXL we had 15 EXL Scholars,” she noted. “Last year, we had 148.”
The economic impact of the EXL program is impressive. There have been more than 3,000 EXL projects that extended to the greater community comprising approximately 194,000 hours of public-service work, Austin said.
“We started calculating a dollar value to that. Based on $8 an hour for every hour students spent, the impact on middle Tennessee of EXL was just over one million dollars in 2007-2008. By 2010-2011, it was one and a half million dollars. EXL is making a huge impact on the community while the students are earning class credit,” she said.
“I teach organizational communication, and in our introductory course we require 10 hours of volunteer work,” said Dr. Sharon Smith, speech and theatre professor. “Some of our students have worked with Room in the Inn, Domestic Violence, Make a Wish Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Mercy Homes and the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation.”
Smith said one of her students who never thought about nonprofit work now wants to work “somewhere where she can make a difference.” Another student discovered that she had a passion for philanthropy and one day wants to operate her own nonprofit organization.
Professor Janice Harrison, School of Nursing, said that having the EXL designation on the students’ transcript gives them more validation.
“A lot of students start preparing and talking about their future jobs while they are still in their classes,” Harrison said. “It helps when they come to school with that attitude.”
Fay Parham, director of MTSU’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness, said the survey graduating seniors take every year asks them to name three things that need to be improved at MTSU.
“For the past two or three years, students have been saying to have more EXL classes—or please add an EXL component to what we have to take. I thought that was impressive. EXL is probably among the top five quality programs in the SACS quality-enhancement plans. And I’ve seen a lot of them,” Parham said.
MTSU Senior Lindsey Rose is double-majoring in organizational communication and global studies and says EXL creates a good balance of education and experience, especially when applying for a job in a tough economy.
“It landed me a position at the Nashville Zoo, which has given me great insight into the nonprofit sector,” Rose said. “With my fellow ORCO majors, there is a certain confidence in finding a job that I don’t see as often in other majors. I have no doubt that the EXL-focused classes have a hand in this.”
“This program has enriched both my resume as well as my time spent in classes by helping me receive real-world experience in communication analysis, event planning and volunteer coordination rather than the sole knowledge one gains from texts and lectures,” commented Senior Leah Mattix.
Other EXL students are involved in producing documentaries and oral histories and applying hands-on learning in areas such as civic engagement and international studies.
“The EXL designation looks good on your resume,” stated Dr. Lorne McWatters, history professor, whose students have produced films on the history of the university, the community and their own families. “I think employers like to see that. It shows involvement.”
For more information about EXL at MTSU, contact Dr. Jill Austin at 615-898-2736 or jaustin@mtsu.edu.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has recognized MTSU for its outstanding curricular engagement, community outreach and partnerships. As MTSU celebrates its 100th anniversary, Pride, Tradition and Excellence are the cornerstones of "Tennessee’s Best"!
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