Leveraging the Canvas Learning Management System to support experiential learning

Virginia Tech’s Bridge Experience Program allows undergraduate students to apply skills and knowledge gained in the classroom in a professional setting, such as undergraduate research, an internship, or volunteer work that is directly related to their post-college career goals.

As more departments across the university incorporate experiential learning into their academic programs — currently more than 50 percent of undergraduate degrees include required experiential learning — the need for a consistent, reliable resource to track student progress in these areas has become critical.

To meet this need, IT Learning Systems and Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) collaborated with members of our Academy for Experiential Learning to migrate the tracking system for Bridge Experiences into Canvas, the university’s learning management system, which is used by nearly all programs and departments for course material.

Leveraging Canvas allows program leaders and students to track progress throughout the experiential learning journey, using an already-familiar platform. Canvas-based dashboards allow program leadership to track and visualize participant data in a consistent manner, while providing efficiencies for departmental coordinators.