Teaching challenges

Volume and logistics make it difficult to provide timely formative feedback in large cohorts. Active and experiential learning can create classroom conditions in which students experience feedback as an ongoing process, gained through interactions with peers, dialogue with instructors, and explaining and defending their ideas. Formative feedback is that which facilitates students’ reflection on their performance towards identifying and developing strategies for future improvement (Flahive, 2024).  Formative feedback activities need to be designed effectively to ensure workloads are lightened, rather than increased, for tutors in large cohort environments (Reibe et al., 2016). Teacher feedback literacy (Xu & Carless, 2017) describes tutors’ awareness and skills in supporting students to understand the feedback they receive and to generate useful feedback for others, allowing students in large classrooms to actively participate in iterative feedback processes from a variety of sources.

Example: Learning media writing through simulated play

Theory in social sciences can seem impenetrable to students, who struggle to relate to abstract concepts and to see them as useful explainers of their everyday realities (Eglitis, 2010). Using experiential designs to prompt students to connect theory to real-world case studies or contexts is a great way of engaging students, enhancing their theoretical understanding and making abstract concepts real and relatable. Experiential learning activities apply theoretical concepts in a variety of ways, all of which aim to allow students to inhabit and engage deeply with these ideas and give them immediacy and relevance (Pelak & Duncan, 2017). Activities include using playwriting to step into the role of an individual experiencing a sociological issue and present the world from that person’s viewpoint (Alexander & Sullivan, 1996); and using non-assessed writing activities to reflect on and make sense of initial reactions to new and challenging concepts (Bloch & Neaderhiser, 2022).

Example: Learning social theory through everyday conversations

Embedding genAI tools in experiential designs can help students develop AI literacy and learn how to engage with genAI in critical and ethical ways. AI literacy is described as skills which enable students to critically evaluate AI technologies, communicate and collaborate effectively with AI; and successfully use AI as a tool in a range of settings (Hackl et al., 2026).  The importance of AI literacy is underscored by its wide recognition as a key competency for the 21^st century (Hackl et al., 2026). Embedding GenAI tools, including chatbots, into experiential learning designs allows students to take ownership of learning, through immediate targeted feedback, scaffolding, and opportunities for reflection (Yang, 2026). Effective AI literacy requires students to exercise autonomy and, thus, contributes to the development of self-regulated learning (Navas Bonilla et al., 2025).

Example: Building a chatbot to learn with and about learning with AI

Effective learning requires student engagement inside and outside of classroom. Thoughtful experiential classroom designs that require students to prepare for class and keep them accountable to their peers can help extend student engagement beyond contact hours. Group work activities are most effective when they promote individual accountability to the group (Scager et al., 2016) such as requiring students to complete before-class activities in order to participate successfully with their group members in class; and involving tasks which are dense, complex and require commitment over time (Scager et al., 2016).  This, in turn, creates opportunities to enhance the development of students’ analytical and critical capacities.

Examples: Objects as lasting experiences, Learning social theory through everyday conversations

Creating authentic experiences in traditional classrooms is the ultimate challenge of classroom-based experiential learning. This challenge is compounded when authenticity is connected to a specific place or environment. This is particularly pertinent to language learning, where connecting students to the cultural and social environment of the target language can significantly enhance language acquisition and depth of cultural and linguistic understanding (Murshidi, 2021). Digitally enhanced immersion activities into the authentic environments of the target language help eradicate linguistic and cultural barriers, promote connections across space and time, and enhance knowledge, learning behaviours, and motivation for students (Murshidi, 2021).  Activities which allow students to step into the roles of other, for example by participating in political simulations, have been shown to increase engagement by deepening understanding, interest, and empathy, and to enhance critical and analytical skills particularly when there are opportunities for debriefing and reflection (DaVinha, 2021).

Examples: Stepping into francophone cities created an authentic learning experience of culture and built environments without direct access to the physical places students were learning about.

Examples: Diving into Global Politics provides a helpful guide to delivering meaningful simulations in real classroom conditions.

Creating authentic tasks for students helps develop their higher-order skills of application, evaluation, analysis, and judgement. In contrast to lower-order learning such as remembering and understanding, higher-order skills refer to more critical learning involving analytical thinking, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking (Edwards et al., 2020).  Higher-order thinking also involves the capacity to sythensise knowledge and apply it effectively in new contexts (Hammond & Albert, 2020), which characterise authentic tasks. Deep, experiential learning, particularly as part of collaborative groupwork, is associated with the development of higher-order skills that are highly valued by employers, including “thinking critically, working as a team, problem-solving, communicating effectively, personal development, and applying knowledge” (Hammond & Albert, 2020, p. 445).

Example: Follow the Guide! Virtual exhibitions

Alexander, S. M., & Sullivan, K. (1996). Teaching “in tandem”: Combining sociology with theater to create an interdisciplinary classroom. Teaching Sociology, 24(4), 372–377.

Bloch, K., & Neaderhiser, S. (2022). Aliens and strangers: Exploring the “other” in a team-taught science fiction course. Teaching Sociology 50(4) 349 – 359.

Da Vinha, L. (2021). Using hybrid simulations to enhance student learning of international relations theories. Issues in Educational Research, 31(3), 739-759.

Edwards, M., Kerevel, Y., & Hultquist, P. (2020, January). Do simulations improve higher-order learning outcomes? Evaluating student learning through a simulated regional trade agreement negotiation [Working Paper]. APSA Preprints American Political Science Association.

Eglitis, D. S. (2010). Performing Theory: Dramatic Learning in the Theory Classroom. Teaching Sociology, 38(4), 340-349.

Flahive, E. (2024). Assessment in higher education: Purpose, practice, and feedback. In W. Zoghbor, E. Flahive, & S. Al Alami (Eds.), Proceedings of the Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching Conference 2024 (pp. 195-209). Zayed University Press.

Hackl, V., Muller, A. E., & Sailer, M. The AI literacy heptagon: A structured approach to AI literacy in higher education. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 10.

Hammond, A., & Albert, C. D. (2020). Learning by experiencing: Improving student learning through a Model United Nations simulation. Journal of Political Science Education, 16(4), 441–458.

Murshidi, G., (2021). Videotaped teaching and learning methodology: An experiential learning and action research approach. Journal of International Education in Business, 14(1), 144-158.

Navas Bonilla, C., Vinan Carrasco, L., Gaibor Pupiales, J., & Murillo Noriega, D., (2025). The future of education: A systematic literature review of self-directed learning with AI. Future Internet, 17, 1-22.

Pelak, C. F., & Duncan, S. (2017). Using a social science fictional play to teach about global capitalism and macro-structural systems in Introduction to Sociology. Teaching Sociology, 45(4), 334-346.

Riebe, L., Girardi, A., & Whitsed, C. (2016). A systematic literature review of teamwork pedagogy in higher education. Small Group Research, 47(6), 619-664.

Scager, K., Boonstra, J., Peeters, T., Vulperhorst, J.,  & Wiegant, F. (2016). Collaborative learning in higher education: Evoking positive interdependence. CBE Life Sciences Education, 15(4).

Xu, Y., &  Carless, D. (2017) ‘Only true friends could be cruelly honest’: Cognitive scaffolding and social-affective support in teacher feedback Literacy. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(7), 1082-1094.

Yang, L. (2026). Empowering the autonomous learner: How AI-assisted language learning environments shape self-regulation, autonomy, and self-directed behaviors. Language Teaching Research, 1-23.