ALIS 350 – The structure, the content, the experiential exercises and the experience of the faculty have been written about as a model case in the book Palgrave Handbook of Experiential Learning in International Business.Compiled for educators and administrators, and edited by V. Taras and M. Gonzelez–Perez, this handbook contains theory as well as applications and projects which have adopted the principle of experiential learning.
The purpose of the chapter is to introduce an undergraduate course, ALIS 350- Academic and Life Skills: Transition to Professional Life, which has been designed to assist students in improving their academic and life skills. Authors explain how they have combined various teaching methods in a model based on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle (1984), and implemented them in the context of a semester-long project.
The chapter includes information about higher education in Türkiye, transition to college, and also offers a literature review regarding experiential learning theory followed by a detailed explanation of the course. Authors focused on the professional competencies that a university graduate is expected to have. These competencies are project management, time management, communication and conflict resolution, team dynamics, emotional intelligence, managing diversity, creativity and problem solving, personal well-being and work-life balance. All of these competencies are taught with respect to experiential learning approach. The chapter concludes with the challenges of implementing this experiential course and further implications.