Using Reflective Commentary Practices To Aid Experiential Learning Among Students

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Keywords: Reflective Commentary, Experiential learning, Industry Experience

Abstract: There is a general debate that students who graduate from college fail to gather the needed experience and skills relevant to meet the demands of the workplace (Banks, et al., 2016; Eraut, 2004; Klafke, Arnold, & Picinin, 2023; Tucker, Tucker, & Lowe, 2014). Therefore, there is a need to re-invent teaching and learning practices to meet current-day expectations of stakeholders. Experiential learning provides one of the ways by which the gap between theory and practice can be bridged. Blending Experiential learning with Reflective Commentary (which will be discussed in detail in the subsequent paragraph) will help create a robust learning experience for students. This session proposed is called ‘Reflective Commentary’ an activity where students relate topics covered in class with actual ways that these concepts play out in real life. This reflective commentary activity aims to document the connections between theoretical concepts and practical industry experience. These teaching and learning activities run through the semester; at the end, students will be equipped with knowledge from the textbook and practical lessons from industry practitioners.

We have practiced this teaching and learning approach for about two years now. In this conference session, we hope to share the experiences and insights gained and invite feedback for further improvement. The rationale behind this approach to teaching is to improve the connection between theory and practice, encourage engagement/interest in learning, and most importantly, prevent students from directly lifting essays from Artificial Intelligence (AI) software. In our opinion, this approach is beneficial in writing-intensive courses. Furthermore, given the contrasting reality between what is taught in business schools and real-world practitioner experience, students will be able to reconcile and connect knowledge gained from textbooks with practical industry experience.