ON DEMAND: Engaging Experiential Exercises

Abstract

Creating or adapting experiential, face-to-face, hands-on exercises for an online learning format is not always straightforward or easy. As part of an undergraduate new product development course re-design for online learning, six new engaging, experiential exercises were developed and utilized in spring 2021. The exercises address different modules and learning goals in the course, and they also allow students to practice different skills in an LMS (Blackboard) environment - such as using discussion board forums, uploading videos and photos, sharing links, and providing peer-to-peer feedback.  The exercises are called – paper airplane, opposites attract, job to be done, squiggle birds, and taglines challenge. Some of the exercises are individual exercises, and some are peer/team-based. The exercises were created to work under pandemic conditions, and allow students to use items readily found in their home environments. For example, the paper airplane exercise that addresses the learning goal of practicing rapid prototyping and learning to use an online whiteboard, asks students to use one sheet of paper to create a paper airplane, record and submit a video of a flight, and to answer and reflect on the learning process. These exercises may also be modified for use across different courses and subject matter and work in hybrid and in-person learning environments. The poster will showcase each of the six exercises, and provide suggestions on how they can be adapted across disciplines and learning formats. Participants should be inspired to think creatively on how to incorporate fun, active learning exercises into their own courses.