Experiential Learning

Practical. Committed. Personal.

In accordance with the action orientation anchored in the university's mission statement, Leuphana places particular emphasis on students' ability to act in their academic, professional and civic development. In the design of teaching, therefore, special forms of learning are required that promote interaction between theory and scientific as well as social practice. However, experience orientation as a profile-forming focus of teaching at Leuphana means more than the collection of practical professional experience. Rather, by reflecting on their individual experiences and personal developments, students move into the center of their own learning and transfer process.

In order to provide insights into different fields of practice as well as corresponding options for reflection, Leuphana teachers design unconventional and creative forms of learning and teaching that include cooperation with practice partners, project and problem-based learning in seminars, social engagement, experiences abroad, research-based learning and different methods of self-determined learning. Since learning processes do not only take place in classical teaching events, but also in many aspects of campus life, experiential teaching provides a framework in which teaching can be thought together with Leuphana's extracurricular offerings - from student advising to career services and alumni networks. In alignment with the holistic goals of Leuphana as an institution of humanism as well as liberal education, experiential orientation ensures a transfer performance in teaching that also includes the personality development of students.  

With regard to its methods, experience-oriented teaching also complements the goals of the teaching profile at Leuphana as a whole: activating and student-centered methods of dialogue-oriented teaching, interdisciplinary thinking and the reference to the university's Third Mission in inter- and transdisciplinary teaching, as well as the central importance of personal identity in its various aspects of diversity-oriented teaching. New developments in digital teaching and learning also open up interesting potentials for experiential teaching and learning, such as virtual and/or augmented reality, mobility tools for international study experiences, and digital formats for processes of self-reflection.