TEL 431: Learning in Workplaces

L5 Activity: Planning for Experiential Learning

Name: Hannah Jennewein
Date: 4/19/2015
NOTE: Please italicize all your responses so that nothing is missed when your work
is assessed.
You have learned about the theory of situated learning, and have discussed some common
models for situated learning in your small group discussions.
This activity involves you learning something new, as it pertains to your future target job,
by applying situated learning principles.
SITUATED LEARNING EXPLAINED
Paste your final post to the small group discussion board activity here (400-500 words,
including in-text citations and references. See specifics in Blackboard.)
Situated learning is very unique in that is specially designed to increase motivation and
promote life-long learning for mostly adult learners. Situated learning is learning from
various situations where you are placed directly into the learning experience, so that the
context and experience provides the most learning opportunities. Learning occurs when
the learner is able to be a part of the situation by socializing, visualizing, and imitating
others that are participating in the same experience (Situated Learning, 2015). The
two models that best relate directly to my future field are service learning and internships
or shadowing. Service learning is a great opportunity to learn from an experience while
participating in a community survey piece as well. Service learning is actually how I
first got involved with the organization SPARKS at ASU that helped me to discover my
passions and future career choice because it was through a service learning class where I
had to participate in an internship. Both components of this class allowed me to fully
discover what the organization was trying to accomplish by being a part of the service
and events they host for students, mostly first generation, who are wanting to learn about
higher education and the path to get there.
ESTABLISH A SITUATED LEARNING GOAL
Determine an area related to your target future job, that you would like to explore. For
example, as an expert in teaching with technology, I would like to be more supportive
and resourceful to faculty in other colleges at ASU, in their professional development
efforts to improve their teaching. I am interested in addressing this goal because I have
had other instructors ask me to help them improve their teaching. In fact, just recently I
was approached by an Associate Professor in our Engineering school (biodesign) for
ways to use technology in her teaching. I think this goal will help me expand my ability
to support the use of technology in teaching and learning from my current PreK-12 focus
to a broader range, PreK-20.

What is your goal? Explain why you selected that goal. How will addressing this goal
help you?
In the future, I want to work in the early outreach and recruitment field to bring
awareness to youth K-12 of the possibility of college and higher education and the path
needed to get there. One learning goal that I have is to become comfortable and
knowledgeable about working with first generation students and their families. Most of
the time these students are coming from areas of poverty and have experienced a lack of
beneficial education. The students and families that I will be working with in the future
come from backgrounds mostly like these and it is necessary to be comfortable when
working with them in order to give them an experience that is helpful and beneficial to
them because most often they do not have a tradition of higher education in their
families.
Explain why you think it is appropriate for you to address this goal using a situated
learning model. (50-75 words)
It is appropriate to use the situated learning model in order to reach this goal because it
is something that can only be attained through putting myself in many different situations
where I will experience working with these students and families. By completing many
different events and workshops for these students and families, I will be able to reach my
goal through continuous working with these families to answer their questions and
support their journey into higher education. Learning how to be comfortable interacting
with these families is something that can only be achieved through putting myself in
different situations that allow me to practice and learn from those situations.
PLAN FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Create a multi-step plan that utilizes situated learning theory, and any combination of the
models that were brought up in your discussion board group (or other situated models
you find). It could be one task that is significant, or many steps leading to your
achievement of the goal. Include activities, people you will collaborate with, and tools
and resources that might be helpful (e.g., social networks, books, technology tools, etc).
Goal Summary: My goals are focused towards developing more in the working with the
first generation student population. They are large population that we work with on a
daily basis and my goals, if accomplished, will go towards helping me to better assist
them in finding knowledge and information on higher education and pursuing that in
their future.
Activities leading to
People I will collaborate
Tools and resources that
attainment of goal
with for this activity*
might be helpful.
Plan different events and
Colleagues that have
Using social networks to
workshops for first
planned these types of
connect with the
generation
events before, reaching out students/families, research
students/families
to others working at
(mostly online) to find other
colleges and universities
events that occurred similar
for support
to mine

Complete more research on

first generations
students/families

Immerse myself in different

situations at each event
with the first generations
students/families

Colleagues that provide me

with their experiences,
reaching out on any blogs
or websites for first
generations
students/families in order to
get first hand experiences
Mostly collaboration
occurring with those
students/families at each
event to increase my
learning and experiences

Mostly online and in-print

resources that provide more
information on first
generation students and
their transition
Research online various
conversation starters and
information for students
regarding the process of
attending higher education
for these students

*Think broadly about collaboration. Remember that through social networking,

collaboration can take place at a distance.
ENHANCE ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENTAL NETWORK
How can you be strategic about operationalizing this plan in a way that will effectively
enhance your Entrepreneurial Network? Refer to concepts in the Higgins and Kram
article from L4. (250-300 words with at least 2 in-text citations. Include References.)
I think the most strategic thing in this plan in order to effectively enhance my
entrepreneurial network would be working with my colleagues in order to receive various
pieces of information or advice in regards to the events and work that I am doing. My
colleagues will all be very knowledgeable about the subject that I am working with and
will be able to provide me with critical information that will only go to help me succeed
and reach my goal. Creating these connections with my colleagues will not only better
my relationships with these people in our working environment, but they will also become
a part of my network of people that I can use in the present and future as a resource for
whatever I may need in my professional life and goals. Also, reaching out to other
connections that I have made through social networks or any other online source will be
beneficial in mentoring me through this process by providing their own experiences and
lesson learned that would enhance my learning. This is where the strength of this type of
network can be found with its ability to connect otherwise unconnected clusters of
people when bringing together everyone one in my network in order to reach my goal
(Higgins & Kram, 2001). The article read in last weeks lesson regarding
entrepreneurial networks states that individuals can benefit from simultaneously having
strong ties and broad resources (Higgins & Kram, 2001), which is exactly going to be
my situation in order to create the best network for myself where I have strong ties to
everyone within my network and also a wide variety of resources that both my network
and myself have discovered. This plan, if completed accordingly, will not only help me to
reach my learning goal, but will also increase the benefits of my entrepreneurial network
by adding more people and resources that can be used later in other situations.

References
Higgins, M. C., Kram, K. E. (2001). Reconceptualizing mentoring at work: A
developmental network perspective. Academy of Management Review 26(2),
264-288. Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/259122