In 2023, education is not as easy as 1-2-3. Many schools are still recovering from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent surveys show the pandemic isn’t the only issue. Eighty percent of teachers say they are concerned about their students’ engagement levels, citing students’ lack of intrinsic motivation and their struggles to understand the relevance of their coursework.

Today’s students crave hands-on learning experiences, including projects and activities that help them build marketable skill sets. A staggering 81% of students say they want their schools to incorporate more opportunities for hands-on learning in their curricula, while three-quarters of teachers say that connecting learning to real-world skills will bolster engagement and increase students’ desire to learn.

Additionally, experiential learning helps to cement skills for a lifetime. Stuart Draper, founder and CEO of the edtech company Stukent, often describes the importance of experiential learning by describing how children learn to ride a bike: 

Someone can tell you how to ride a bike — they can describe the process to you, show you a video, or even give you an in-person demonstration of how it’s done. But you have to climb on that bike to learn to ride. You need to put your feet on the pedals, generate momentum and find your balance.

In short, one of the best ways to learn is to do.

Ways to engage students with experiential learning

Hands-on experience makes a skill intuitive and helps students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Adding real-world applications to the classroom can be as easy as the English teacher who leads a discussion on the ethical considerations of ChatGPT, or the economics teacher who speaks to the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Or, it can be as difficult as organizing student art fairs, student-led marketing campaigns, or high school entrepreneurship competitions. 

Educators use multiple methodologies to introduce experiential learning into the classroom. Each method has unique advantages and challenges, which means its usefulness depends on the educator, students and subject in question. Popular methods include the following:

1. Internships and work-based learning: Few experiential learning opportunities offer as many benefits to students as internships do; internships allow students to practice new skills, build networks, meet mentors and more. However, helping students secure applicable work-based learning opportunities takes a considerable amount of time and effort on the educator’s part.
2. Project-based learning: Asking students to work on real-world, open-ended projects is an excellent way to encourage critical thinking and teamwork. The drawback? Developing effective real-world projects requires time, creativity and resources that may or may not be readily available. Teachers also need to assess each student individually, which poses a challenge with larger class sizes.
3. Role-play: Engaging students in role-playing scenarios or simulations allows them to practice decision-making, empathy and problem-solving. The challenge lies in creating immersive, realistic scenarios that are relevant to the subject matter, as well as ensuring that all students actively participate and learn from the experience.
4. Field trips and site visits: Visiting real-world environments allows students to see the relevance of their coursework in the world around them. However, organizing field trips can be logistically challenging, costly and time-consuming. Additionally, it may be difficult to ensure that all students remain engaged and focused during the trip.
5. Peer teaching and cooperative learning: Promoting collaboration and shared responsibility for learning can lead to a deeper understanding of the material. The challenge is to manage group dynamics and to ensure that each student contributes in a meaningful way. 

Many teachers want to introduce more experiential learning in their curricula, but finding the time to build real-world projects into a curriculum can be daunting. Between teaching classes, preparing lessons, grading and managing the budget, adding effective experiential learning opportunities into a curriculum may not be feasible. 

Additionally, many students may not have the time or energy to commit themselves to work-based learning experiences outside of class. Between their coursework and extracurricular activities — sports, social clubs and part-time jobs — many students may already feel overwhelmed.

The challenge is to create meaningful, hands-on experiences for students that are easy to implement in any curriculum.

Stukent Simternships™: Easy for educators, engaging for students

Stukent provides a great hands-on experience for students that won’t add tasks to educators’ to-do lists — the Simternship™, or simulated internship. 

Stukent Simternships ask students to step into the professional roles they’ll assume after graduation. Over a semester-long simulation, students become marketing managers, public speakers, entrepreneurs and so much more. Stukent currently offers more than 10 Simternship experiences for high school students, with more being added each year.

Stukent Simternships have helped over 100,000 high school students engage with their coursework and develop the skills they need to succeed in their future careers. “Most business and marketing simulations prepare learners for the C-suites,” says Garrett Brock, Vice President of Marketing at Stukent. “Stukent’s Simternships prepare students for their first job after graduation, which means they’ll have the experience they need to hit the ground running on day one.”

In a Simternship, your students gain valuable insights into the day-to-day decisions, tools and expectations of a position or role. Simternships mimic real-world workspaces, which means students will need to communicate with superiors, coworkers and customers while managing their assigned tasks. Round by round, the Simternship will present your students with new challenges to overcome, helping them to refine their skills each week.

To make educators’ lives easier, Stukent Simternships also feature auto-grading, individualized student feedback and LMS integration, which makes them easy to implement in any curriculum or classroom modality.

Experiential learning plays a critical role in high school education, allowing students to face real-life challenges, step outside their comfort zones, and draw conclusions between their experiences and the subject matter. This learner-driven approach not only helps students retain information, but also fosters a love of learning that students will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

To learn more about Stukent Simternships, please see Simternships™: Redefining Business Education or visit stukent.com.