Exploring the Future of Listening
8.3 Exploring Future Experiential Activities
Each of the four chapters representing the SONG of life includes experiential learning activities to engage students in first-person contemplative-mindful learning.[1] I use the four verses of the SONG of life (self, others, nature, and Goddess-God-the Divine) as an organizational framework to describe possibilities for future experiential learning activities. These suggestions provide a broader and more in-depth understanding of listening to the SONG of life.
The following sections present many variations of experiential learning activities for each listening context in the SONG of life. Some instructors may need clarification about how to assess these activities. I recommend student journals if one needs some assessment associated with experiential learning activities. Students can journal about their intentions, plan, describe the actual activity, and reflect on what they learned.
Other alternative methods of student assessment for experiential activities are poetry, collages, paintings, posters, slide shows, comics, three-act scripts, original songs, music videos, interviews, and surveys of friends (or family, roommates, co-workers), and podcasts. Allowing students to demonstrate their learning in the form that best matches their learning style is ideal for their enjoyment, motivation, and learning experience. Currently, I use these types of alternative methods for assessing student learning, and I no longer use standardized testing (e.g., multiple-choice questions and timed short-answer or essay-type questions).[2]
- For definitions, justification, trends, and examples of contemplative practices in higher education, see Daniel P. Barbazat and Mirabai Bush, Contemplative Practices in Higher Education (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014). ↵
- For arguments against standardized testing, see Alfie Kohn, Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes, (Boston: Mariner Books, 1999), and Alfie Kohn, Schooling Beyond Measure and Other Unorthodox Essays About Education (New Hampshire: Heinemann, 2015). ↵