Prioritizing Student Safety in Experiential Learning

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside (UW-Parkside) is a public university in Wisconsin offering undergraduate, graduate, and associate degree programs. Alongside their studies, Parkside offers students different ways to put their learning into action through hundreds of experiential learning opportunities every year, including internships, community-based learning, and other field experiences and practicums.

Students have the right to report harassment and discrimination during these experiential learning opportunities, ensuring they feel safe and protected, knowing the university supports them. However, many students are inexperienced regarding what is and what isn’t appropriate behavior in the workplace and may be left vulnerable without adequate preparation and training. Though Parkside has thorough sexual harassment and microaggression training for its employees, no training existed for those students engaged in experiences in the wider community.

Upon contacting other institutions nationwide on similar instances, Parkside discovered that while some had existing resources, usually these were not interactive or engaging; typically, the information was buried in a syllabus, which failed to meet experiential learning needs. Recognizing this gap, Parkside decided to create a training program that was not only informative but also interactive and engaging. The challenge was to move beyond the traditional black-and-white text courses and to create a dynamic learning experience that would resonate with students. 

Primary Goal: To develop an accessible, engaging, and interactive course to educate young students doing internships and community-based learning courses about their work rights, focusing on sexual harassment, workplace issues, and discrimination. 

They hope their students will enter their experiences equipped with the knowledge and tools to advocate for not only their own safety but also the safety and well-being of others. Students will also gain insight into interacting with others in professional settings.

The nature of internships and community-based learning courses requires an interactive approach to resonate with students. Therefore, creating training content that was both engaging and accessible was essential. The training needed to include interactive elements to ensure students were not only learning but also applying the knowledge in simulated environments.

In partnership with Dynamic Training Resources (DTR), an eLearning development company also located in Kenosha, WI, the Alan E. Guskin Center for Community & Business Engagement at Parkside developed an engaging, entirely virtual training that addresses these challenges and improves equity for students engaged in these experiential learning courses. DTR’s instructional designers evaluated the content provided by Parkside and decided to use ELB Learning’s authoring tool, Lectora, as the best course development software for the project, along with Vyond for the animated videos. Together, they developed the course "Safety and Empowerment for Experiential Learning: Professional Behavior and Appropriate Boundaries."

The training was designed to be experienced online and asynchronous, catering to the diverse schedules of students involved in internships and community-based learning courses.

The training included various interactive elements such as;

• Scenarios with branching choice options allowing students to see different outcomes
• Knowledge checks and quizzes to reinforce learning
• Resources and reporting options to guide students on the next steps if they encounter harassment or discrimination in their workplace

Most importantly, the course was specifically designed to be accessible and inclusive to all students. It included Lectora’s built-in accessibility features and provided comprehensive resources linked to on-campus support. Additionally, integrating ELB Learning’s Asset Library ensured a variety of visually appealing elements, making each page unique and engaging.

The training module is currently in 34 unique courses at Parkside, including community-based learning, internship, and fieldwork across a variety of programs and disciplines. The training also has a 100% passing rate at Parkside, as it is a mandatory component for these courses.

Before its full rollout at UW-Parkside, they conducted a student focus group to gather feedback. Some of the key metrics included: 

• 97% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that they stayed engaged throughout the training and it kept their focus.
• 93% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that if they would complete this training at the beginning of a community-based learning or internship course, they would feel more prepared for the experience.
• 100% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that the topics covered in this training are important for all students to learn about before starting an experiential learning opportunity.

Here are some student’s comments after having completed the course:

• “They were constantly engaging me with the material. There wasn’t any large chunks of text or information to get lost in.”
• “The interactive elements helped me apply the information I learned and focus on the content itself. I found them to be very helpful.”
• “The most beneficial message of the training is the message that students can speak up and advocate for themselves in professional settings.”
• “This really helped me to understand harassment and discrimination more and the scenarios gave me real-life examples.”
• “The training shows that your school and professor are on your side and that it is okay to report harassment.”

The course was intentionally designed to be adaptable, allowing for easy customization of design elements and resource links to fit the specific needs of different institutions. Following its success with Parkside students, the institution rolled out the course to five other UW institutions. In the future, UW-Parkside aims to expand its training course to other universities and institutions so that more college students across the nation gain access to essential education about their workplace rights and expectations.