Experiential Learning and Evaluation

Youth development volunteers and professionls love to work "hands-on" and most do their best work once they master an experiential learning or inquiry model for engaging learners. The experiential approach also lends itself well to evaluation of process and outcomes. The give-and-take of hands-on approaches can be observed (checklists, rubrics, photos/videos), explained (interviews, focus groups, record books), and interpreted (de-briefing, demonstrations, proposals) to participants, leaders, citizens, or decision-makers. These descriptions can provide valuable data to participants, leaders, citizens, and decision-makers about the outcomes of youth programs and process for getting to--or going beyond--those outcomes.
This webinar provides a brief overview on experiential learning and models several practical approaches for gathering and using data generated by "hands-on" learning experiences. Community-based examples and time for discussion will be provided.