Welcome to the Experiential Learning Hub for students at the University of Toronto. Here, you’ll find everything you need to apply your knowledge and learn from your experiences.
But first of all, what is Experiential Learning?
Experiential learning means learning from experience or learning by doing. Experiential learning allows you to learn new skills, understand workplace practices, acquire new knowledge, and explore how your academic experiences can help you contribute to the broader community and society. Through reflecting on these experiences, you will be able to perceive changes in your thinking or attitudes, articulate what you have learned, and position yourself for future opportunities.
“We have so much to contribute, so much more we can accomplish together, to help reimagine the world – as a world of equality and justice, health and prosperity, wisdom and wonder.”
President, Meric Gertler
Experiential Learning: Your Education in Action
Community engagement: Experiential learning offers you opportunities to interact with a range of stakeholders beyond the University, to learn through experience, and understand how classroom ideas take shape in practical settings.
Disciplinary outcomes: Experiential learning supports the knowledge and competencies that you develop through your studies at the University of Toronto.
Competency development: Experiential learning supports you in developing general competencies through the integration of disciplinary outcomes with community engagement. Reflective activities help make this learning explicit.
Experiential Learning Examples
Alternative Reading Week
Alternative Reading Week (ARW) is a three-day initiative during winter reading week, for students to volunteer in teams to support the needs of different organizations. By participating in ARW, students gain the opportunity to problem solve, work with peers from different disciplines and provide innovative solutions for community organizations’ identified challenges.
The Anthropology and Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (North America), ANT241
The Anthropology and Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (North America), ANT241H is a community driven course by an Indigenous Action group (IAG) made up of members of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) with other Indigenous scholars, administrators and faculty. The overall goal of the course is to establish an Indigenous and settler alliance of solidarity that supports the MCFN goals of truth (through public knowledge and recognition of their history), and reconciliation (through support and equitable sustenance of Indigenous pedagogy, knowledge systems, and research methodologies in educational institutions).
Urban Communities and Neighbourhoods Case Study: East Scarborough, CITC01
The course is designed as an introduction to the theory and practice of participatory action research with an emphasis on youth participation and questions of neighbourhood wellbeing, social and spatial justice, and community development. The geographical focus is the East Scarborough community, in close proximity to the U of T Scarborough campus. The course is offered in partnership and collaboration with a local non-profit organization such as the East Scarborough Storefront or the Malvern Family Resource Centre.
Learning in Community Service, CITC02
Learning in Community Service, CITC02 is a third-year community service learning undergraduate course in the City Studies program, Department of Human Geography, at the University of Toronto Scarborough. The course is taught at the East Scarborough Storefront, a community hub that is located in the Kingston-Galloway/Orton Park (KGO) neighbourhood in eastern Scarborough. Residents in the neighbourhood face challenges related to poverty, insufficient community and transit infrastructure, and higher than average unemployment levels. KGO is also a thriving and diverse neighbourhood with vital social service and community-based programs for residents. The course is formed by the creation and maintenance of meaningful...
Music and Urban Engagement, EMU425
The Music and Urban Engagement course (EMU425) is a reflective practicum experience in a unique urban setting. Students are mentored by professional community music teachers and assist in preparing and leading music making sessions with youth residing in detention centres. Students develop collaborative improvisation skills and music teaching skills. Through engagement in a unique urban setting, students have the opportunity to investigate what role music plays for youth in the justice system and how music is an important tool for social justice.
Environmental Research, ENV421
Students in ENV421, Environmental Research spend a full academic year learning qualitative research skills and carrying out a research project from start to finish. Students work as environmental consultants and are ‘hired’ by real local environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) – the ‘clients’. The ENGOs have pressing research questions but do not necessarily have the capacity to address them. Students work in small research groups using qualitative methodologies to provide high-quality advice to the ENGOs. Asking the right questions, conducting a thorough literature review, having an appropriate methodology, collecting raw data, analysing data, drawing conclusions, writing a report and presenting findings,...
Health in Community
Health in Community is longitudinal curriculum for all medical students. Faculty members (physicians/allied health professionals) are paired with community agencies to deliver a challenging and immersive curriculum. Through in-class sessions, reflective assignments and community-based experiences, students participate, observe, contribute and explore advocacy as they investigate three key questions: what is community? Where is community? and Why are some people healthier than others?
Work Study Program, Heritage Language Variation & Change in Toronto Project
Understanding patterns of linguistic variation in multicultural and multilingual communities is the driving force of the Heritage Language Variation and Change in Toronto (HLVC) Project. Work study students design and conduct research projects that aid in developing and testing principles regarding which aspects of heritage languages (mother tongues that do not have official language status) change in language-contact situations and which types of speakers effect these changes. This simultaneously advances understanding in the field of linguistics and trains students in modern research techniques. Recent work tasks include collect recording speech by interviewing heritage speakers, transcribing the speech and coding patterns...
Community Youth Mentorship Initiatives, Indigenous Spirit Journey
Community Youth Mentorship Initiatives, engage students as volunteer mentors for youth on-campus and in the community through partnerships with local organizations and school boards. An example of a Youth Mentorship program is the Indigenous Spirit Journey. Over a 16- week program, student volunteers assist youth in experiential land-based activities aimed at: developing strong community leadership skills, fostering an understanding for inter-cultural inclusion, and a deeper understanding of individuals roles in their communities. The curriculum was founded on Indigenous philosophical cultural teachings, and is taught by Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers at Riverwood Conservancy.
Bachelor of Kinesiology In-Field Learning
In the Bachelor of Kinesiology (BKin) program, professional placements, termed in-field learning, occur as a part of upper-year KPE academic courses. For these unpaid placements in the BKin program, students are matched with a qualified professional and observe and assist as appropriate in tasks with a kinesiology/physical education focus. Placements are offered in a variety of areas including education, health care, health promotion, research and innovation, and sport, fitness, and recreation. BKin placements are approximately 100 hours in length and run from September to March while students are concurrently in other academic courses. The expectation is that the in-field learning...
Jackman Scholars-in-Residence
Jackman Scholars-in-Residence (SiR) is an annual 4-week undergraduate residency in humanities and social science research. SiR seeks to foster students’ research abilities, create a multidisciplinary community of students and faculty, and pioneer a collaborative, team-based model of experiential learning in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. Students live in St. George College residences, or at U of T Mississauga or U of T Scarborough (depending upon project location) while working for 20-hours / week on faculty research projects. Scholars also attend multidisciplinary workshops on research methodologies and protocol, roundtable discussions with leading U of T faculty, and team-building excursions across...
Master of Science in Sustainability Management Program Co-op Program
The Master of Science in Sustainability Management (MScSM) Program is an interdisciplinary Program focusing on the intersection of science, business and community.Real-world learning and experiences are key components of our program design. Students complete a full 4-month co-op term in their chosen field of interest midway through their degrees, enabling them to put their coursework to use. This work term also enables them to explore sustainability in a given sector or space before returning to studies and choosing electives to fill in their knowledge gaps.
Field Archaeology, NMC 261
Field Archaeology, NMC261 is a general practicum course for archaeological field methods with a focus on Near Eastern Archaeology. Partnered with Woodsworth College’s Summer Abroad Program, the course consists of a six-week archaeological field school which takes place in the Republic of Georgia. Students contribute to the active and ongoing research program of the Gadachrili Gora Regional Archaeological Project expedition (G.R.A.P.E.). G.R.A.P.E. is part of an international collaborative project investigating the origins of agriculture in the peripheral regions of the Fertile Crescent, specifically the south Caucasus.
Professional Experience Year (PEY) Co-op
The PEY Co-op program is run out of the Engineering Career Centre (ECC) at the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (FASE). In 2019 the Faculty celebrated 40 years of PEY Co-op. Currently, third-year undergraduate students register to participate in a recruitment cycle to compete for 12 – 16 months co-op work terms. The largest program of its kind in Canada, in 2018-19, 1213 students secured PEY Co-op work terms with 370 unique organizations. 103 of these work terms took place outside of Canada.
Social Innovation Projects (SIPs)
Social Innovation Projects (SIPs), pair a team of student volunteers with a community organization over a 16-week period to utilize design thinking as a strategy to explore challenges the organizations face and to create achievable solutions. SIPs encourage students, staff, faculty and the community to use a growth mindset throughout the program to overcome obstacles and reach success. Each group is assigned a faculty expert to provide guidance and resources throughout the project.
Start-up Experience Program
The Start-up Experience Program matches a diverse range of undergraduate students to work with seed and early stage start-up companies supported by ICUBE UTM. ICUBE UTM mentors and supports students throughout a 5- to 10-week term, helping them develop transferable employment skills through a series of workshops, seminars, and micro work-term placements. The program consists of various sessions of training and development, followed by a work placement with a start-up company. The placement is a paid micro-placement that is expected to last for 5 to 10 weeks, working 10 to 20 hours per week, for a maximum of 100 hours...
Arts & Science Co-op
Currently representing 35 academic programs at UTSC, the Arts & Science Co-op program houses over 40 years of expertise in co-operative education. We facilitate academically aligned paid co-op work terms and empower our students through extensive preparation: each Arts & Science Co-op student receives 55+ hours of job search training through co-op preparation courses prior to their first work term. Our dedicated business development team works with industry partners to seek and secure high-quality, relevant co-op experiences for 4, 8, or 12-month work terms, and providing students with the opportunity to successfully contribute to the workplace.
Women and Gender Studies Practicum, WGS435
Experiential learning as feminist praxis has long been a fundamental part of Women and Gender Studies programs. Initiated in 2004, WGS435Y, the UTM Women and Gender Studies Practicum, is a year-long community engaged learning course that provides the opportunity for advanced WGS students to combine theory and practice through participating in a part-time unpaid placement with a community agency, government body, educational, or social change organization.
Imani Academic Mentorship Program
The Imani Academic Mentorship Program aims to meet the needs of the community with a goal of increasing representation of black students in post-secondary environments, including universities. Our core programming includes a number of key elements: weekly site days, monthly high school visits to U of T Scarborough, immersive ‘Day in the Life of a University Student’ experience, and culturally relevant trips focusing on experiential and transformative learning.
New Venture Program
The New Venture Program blends academics with mentorship and relevant experience. It is a rigorous co-curricular program that involves the completion of several modules, culminating in a series of ‘defenses’ of a student venture’s business plan. Students will develop a strong background in business planning and management so that they can create sophisticated conceptual analyses of business problems and opportunities. Students receive the resources required to assist in the creation and defense of a business plan and prepare for the launch of a new venture.
Job Shadowing Program
The Job Shadowing Program expands students’ career thinking, supports their career exploration skills, and helps them consider what they could do with their degree. Both students and recent alumni (up to 2 years after graduation) are provided the opportunity to ‘shadow’ a professional for a minimum of a half-day, up to five days at the volunteer’s place of work. Students practice networking to hear unique career stories and learn about career non-linearity. They also tour the site to observe workplace culture and assess their interest. Finally, students participate in hands-on learning to understand their own transferable skills. This program is...
Service Delivery Improvement (SDI) Project
Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough partnered with the Toronto East Quadrant Local Immigration Partnership (TEQLIP), a group that represents 40 newcomer settlement service providers in the Scarborough area. The agencies had difficulty tracking services due to a variety of data formats and were challenged in obtaining an overall sense of newcomer activity in East Toronto. Under the banner of Work Integrated Learning (WIL), UTSC Management leveraged faculty expertise, courses, and co-op student positions to design and deliver a data warehouse platform that has successfully collected, aggregated, and anonymized over 90,000 records of refugees and newcomers in the GTA....
Internship in the Arts and Visual Studies: VST410H5
The Internship in the Arts and Visual Studies (VST410H5), offered by the Department of Visual Studies (DVS) at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), provides an excellent opportunity for students to gain practical work experience at an institution or business related to the arts and to visual studies. This course is especially tailored for mature and self-disciplined students in their final year of study, who are ready to apply knowledge acquired in previous courses and are planning a career in the arts and the cultural sector. Students registered in any DVS program are eligible to apply. Students work closely with...
iPRAKTIKUM
iPRAKTIKUM is an experiential learning and internationalization initiative that helps students find impactful internships designed to promote global fluency and cultural competence and to deepen skills acquired in the classroom in work contexts. Placements are available at local schools and businesses in Toronto and Germany through futurGenerator, a program focused on sustainability and social innovation with hubs in Freiburg, one of Europe’s greenest cities, and Berlin, Germany’s start-up capital. iPRAKTIKUM is open to all students at the University of Toronto.
Understanding the Role of Pharmacology & Toxicology in Society
Pharmacology and Toxicology in Society (PCL389) expands student knowledge regarding the science-behind and societal views of drugs with a focus on street and recreational drug use and substance abuse disorders. Classes focus on the science associated with drug use and class discussions integrate health/drug policy, socio-cultural and media views. Students spend 20 hours with a harm reduction community-health partner working on community-driven projects with front-line workers and clientele.