Learning through doing
UNB’S experiential learning programs inspire students to solve society’s biggest challenges
Students at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) are benefiting from meaningful engagement through experiential learning — a concept delivering better education, building stronger resumés and helping to solve society’s most pressing challenges.
Experiential learning is as much about personal development as professional development, says Sarah King, director of experiential education at UNB. Placing experiential learning at the core of the student experience allows them to have an impact on the world and assist UNB in meeting its commitment to help the province solve the challenges it faces.
“It allows students to better understand the complexities of the world,” she says. “It provides an opportunity to see a future for themselves in a world that might look different from the one they anticipated when they first enrolled.”
King’s own experience as a student at UNB’S Renaissance College allowed her to learn about the Holocaust through study abroad programs in Germany and Poland, and experience the history of the Second World War on the battlefields of Belgium and France.
“It changed the trajectory of my life,” she says. “I realized that this is how I always wanted to learn and it inspired a commitment to help other students learn that way as well.”
Experiential learning unites members of every UNB faculty, businesses, government entities and community partners who establish meaningful learning experiences. Working with UNB faculty,
researchers and scholars, students engage in co-op education, internships, and consultations in community and workplace settings, and in solving real-world challenges in a classroom setting.
A recent engagement involved the New Brunswick Association for Community Living, a nonprofit organization that works on behalf of children and adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The organization had been considering the effectiveness of a fundraising program that involved collecting and selling donated items.
“Students from the faculty of management analyzed the program
and found that administering the program was more burdensome than the benefits,” says King. “That allowed the organization to prioritize other fund raising opportunities.”
In another partnership with Parks Canada, students in UNB’S Bioarchaeology Field School are undertaking hands-on excavation at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site — the only program of its kind in Canada. Students are rescuing the interred remains of members of the original Louisbourg community, threatened by coastal erosion.
The opportunity provides a needed service and a unique research opportunity that allows students to deal with the complexity of moral issues they’ll face in their chosen careers.
The experiential learning program also allowed students to aid local businesses when they needed it most. Last summer UNB launched Catalyst, a program designed to help support New Brunswick communities as they adapt to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Interdisciplinary teams of students from a range of UNB faculties
helped local businesses thrive,” says King. “They worked as consultants on projects ranging from using artificial intelligence to respond to online inquiries, to developing websites for business, helping a local café build a system to deliver products, and better ways
of providing services to people who are visually impaired. These experiences aren’t a luxury, they’re vital to helping our students become problem-solvers.”
Sam Poirier agrees. He’s chief executive officer and co-founder of Potential Motors, a company building software systems to
unlock the potential of electric off-road vehicles. A graduate of UNB’S Master of Engineering program, he was attracted by the
university’s reputation for engineering excellence and its focus on experiential learning.
Part of his education took him to Germany where he worked as a junior engineer at TK Elevator.
He also took advantage of UNB’S Master of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship (MTME) program.
“The TME program allowed me to complete my degree while developing a product I was obsessed with,” says Poirier. “It provided the skillset required to get a company off the ground as I worked on my year-long final engineering project. They provide guidance to transform an idea into a demonstration model that you can take to potential customers.”
With assistance from mentors, he and Potential co-founder Nick Dowling fine-tuned their idea to focus on developing the software required to efficiently control all the systems operating an electric vehicle. The company is currently working toward an exciting product announcement in 2022.
Outcomes such as this are just one reason that UNB is earning a growing reputation for offering more than just a degree.
“Our programs respond to the changing needs of the world,” says Paul J. Mazerolle, UNB president and vice-chancellor. “Our students take with them the skills and abilities they need to thrive in a world full of challenges and opportunities.”
For more information on the University of New Brunswick, visit www.unb.ca.
“Experiential learning is as much about personal development as professional development.”