Practising Experiential Learning Conference

Learning development, service-learning and community engagement, internships and work attachment, and overseas immersion were four key themes explored at the recent Practising Experiential Learning Conference (PELC). Hosted on 1 April by the Centre for Experiential Learning (CEL), SUSS, this inaugural event attracted more than 200 on-site and virtual participants.

Some of its notable highlights included a panel discussion between Professor Yaacob Ibrahim, Dr Tan Eng Han, Dr Carl Grundy-Warr and Ms Chew Wee Ling on the topic “Hitting the Wall”. Students also shared first-hand experiences on their internship and entrepreneurial journeys through SUSS. Other hands-on activities like experiential learning framework discussions, and experiential group activities through Lego and JuraSEEK (Board game) were also conducted to further engage the participants.

Through these activities and talks, participants gained a deeper understanding of the experiential learning initiatives made by practitioners from the field and caught a glimpse of how COVID-19 shaped the ways through which learners are engaged in a meaningful manner.

Said an event participant, Zoe Peters (Director of Singapore Institute of Technology, Student Life), “I joined the conference today because I wanted to learn more about what other IHLs are doing in terms of experiential learning programmes that they have curated for students. I found this conference to be extremely helpful to learn and pick up from sharing amongst the community of educators.”