Group Projects

Characteristics of Group Projects

Experiential learning can occur in various forms, for example as part of lecture courses, as culminating research or creative activity, research project or as group service learning activity for the campus and/or wider community that employs knowledge and skills acquired through coursework.

Benefits of group projects, in addition to meeting the core criteria for experiential learning, offer,

1. Collaboration and team skills- Experiential learning occurs, when carefully chosen experiences are supported by reflection, critical analysis, and synopsis with group projects that combined discipline from two or more different departments at EOU, opportunities are nurtured for students and instructors to explore and examine their own values with different situations that use their own field with the help of another field.
2. Communication- Communication is equivalent to thinking back on what they learned in relating to earlier experiences that can be applied in the future.
3. Leadership- enabling advanced students to lead a student team that works towards an overall project goal
4. Responsibility and Accountability- team members are responsible for outcomes with which they have been a task
5. Reflection- Students will share the results, reactions, and observations with their group partners. Students will also get other group partners to talk about their own experiences, share their reactions and observations and discuss feelings generated by the experience. Sharing equates to reflecting on what they discovered and relating it to past experiences which can be used for future use.

Service Learning/Community Based Work

While service learning is considered experiential learning, projects are usually not designed to create new knowledge. Instead, service learning is the application of knowledge gained prior to or during college education in service to members of the university community and/or the at large. Service learning in a student’s disciplinary area can teach particle applications, but service learning may also offer an opportunity to practice EOU’s general education core outcomes or to lead by example in living EOU’s values.  Service learning opportunities are more frequently arranged out the curriculum and may be driven by community needs and offered by community members, although service learning while part of a EOU course is also possible and organized and led by a faculty member.

Benefits: In service learning projects, students will

1. Provide a service to others, while practicing classroom knowledge and living EOU’s values and general education learning outcomes, thereby supporting EOU’s community impact.
2. Learn about needs in the community and to use one’s knowledge to make a tangible difference in meeting these needs.
3. Provides meaningful engagement with the community.
4. Service learning attests to community engagement and will be a stand-out feature in a resume of job application.