Workshop: Experiential learning for future ready teaching

Abstract

Amongst the many proven truths emerging during 2020 is the certain uncertainty about the future. Before Covid-19, the rise of automation across all industries and disciplines saw an increased demand for skill sets in graduates that enabled emerging employees to traverse the unknown, preparing them to be competitive in a job market with an unseen landscape. The global pandemic has accelerated the interest in these skills, and educators need to ensure that attention remains on the development of these skills. This skill curriculum need not compete with discipline-specific skills education, but rather sit alongside it to compliment the development of soft skill competencies using teaching methodologies that can be adapted and curated according to even the most specific industry needs.
For a future world (where 85% of jobs in 2030 do not yet exist), the need for cognitive flexibility, critical thinking, creativity, innovation and complex problem solving is expected to increase. Experiential learning systems allow the exploration of these skills, and the hands-on, minds- on nature of this type of learning ensures that students are ready for real-world application sooner. This workshop invites participants to engage in some of these teaching methodologies, and explores not only the activities, but the follow-up reflection work which embeds student learning into long term acquisition of knowledge.