Institutional Supports for Student Experiential Learning in Hybrid/Remote Learning Contexts

Student organization involvement provides students many benefits, including mentorship and support networks, opportunities for career exploration and professional development, sense of belonging and community (Banda & Flowers III, 2017; Kovalchuk et al., 2017; Mayhew et al., 2016; Vetter et al., 2019). As universities have been adapting learning experiences to remote and hybrid formats amidst the global pandemic, student organization leaders and support staff have also needed to adjust their programming and events to new formats that accommodate social distancing guidelines, in-person event capacity limits, and remote participants. This study seeks to help inform ongoing efforts to provide engineering students continued hybrid and remote experiential learning opportunities. This study will capture how student affairs professionals at Purdue have been adjusting their current programming and engagement efforts to maintain key elements of experiential learning in a hybrid and remote learning context. This study investigates the following research questions: RQ1: How are student organizations and university student services adapting to support student extracurricular involvement? RQ2: What key aspects of student involvement do student affairs professionals seek to maintain for engineering students in their virtual and hybrid participation? Through thematic analysis of interviews with 15 student affairs professionals (including student organization support staff, student organization advisors, professional practice staff, and res hall advisors and staff), this study provides further insight into the challenges and creative opportunities presented in adapting experiential learning to hybrid and remote learning contexts. This study further identifies key elements of experiential learning that student affairs professionals seek to maintain for students in this hybrid format. This study builds on previous work examining engineering students’ experiences in student organizations and mechanisms by which they benefit from these experiences. Previous findings have highlighted students’ motivations and expectations in joining student organizations. Peer interaction and career exploration opportunities are key components of this involvement (Dugan, 2013; Vetter et al., 2019; Brown, 2004; Smith & Gayles, 2017). This study builds on these findings to explore how universities can best support students in continuing to engage in these influential experiences. Students’ experiences in out-of-class activities encompass a significant part of their time as undergraduates (National Survey of Student Engagement, 2018), and it is important for educators to understand how students engage in these experiences in current learning contexts. Findings from this study could inform current practitioners and student organizations as they adapt their practices to hybrid and remote learning contexts.