Enhancing the quality of community learning experiences

An Experiential Learning Questionnaire was designed using a critical incidents technique, open-ended questions and rating scales based on propositions derived from Social Learning Theory. Administered to 218 students in eight Experience-Based Career Education programs in five states, the questionnaire sought to determine the characteristics of both good and poor learning experiences in the community. The study found factors which discriminated between good and poor learning experiences and between young men and women.Research for this study was sponsored by the Education and Work Program of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) under a grant from the National Institute of Education (NIE). The ideas and opinions in this paper do not necessarily reflect the position of NWREL nor NIE and no official endorsement should be inferred.This article is based on a presentation at the 1978 SFEE/NCPSIP annual convention.Readers interested in receiving a copy of the instrument used in thist study may obtain it by writing to the authors at NWREL, Education and Work Program, 710 S. W. Second Avenue, Portland, OR 97204.