What is Experiential Learning?
Our experiential learning approach provides a structured and guided platform for you to think critically about your experiences on your internship. It accelerates and deepens your learning by asking self-reflective questions around the contexts, actions, and outcomes of your placement.
- Experience: You apply your current abilities and learn through doing.
- Reflect: You reflect on your experiences to critically assess what you did well, what outcomes were achieved, and what you might do differently next time.
- Conceptualize: You use your reflections to proactively identify opportunities for improvement and growth.
- Apply: You apply these learnings to enhance future experiences!
Why is our Experiential Learning Curriculum important?
At Intern Abroad HQ, we believe that experiential learning will help you to build the broader sense of self-awareness, cultural intelligence, and comprehensive soft skills that employers look for.
Employers want to hear about what you have learnt on your internship and how you will apply your skills and experiences to handle diverse situations or solve problems in the future. The ability to articulate yourself in this manner is more impactful than just listing off a series of tasks or roles which you have done.
Our interns say that our focused reflective exercises really help them to articulate their values, goals, competencies, and strengths on their resumes and in job or college interviews.
How does the Experiential Learning Curriculum work?
“While in Guatemala for 6 weeks, Intern Abroad HQ allowed me to combine my placement with their experiential learning program. The guidance provided fresh structure and insight and the reflections on things like culture, communication, problem-solving and expectations really helped with my adjustment period and ability to think outside the box.”
What reflection topics are included?
Each weekly reflection topic is connected to universally recognized skills that are core to career-readiness, such as resilience, communication, and cultural intelligence.
Weekly themes include:
- Culture Shock & Settling In
- Am I Making a Difference? Managing Expectations
- Cultural Diversity
- Approaches to Problem Solving
- Communication & Information Literacy
- Perceptions of Time and Time Management
- Conflict Resolution
- Professional Identity
- Priming for Success
- Professional Resilience
- Ownership & Accountability
- Commercial Awareness
- Re-Entry Phase
Get more out of your internship by gaining additional personal and professional development
”I would recommend Intern Abroad HQ to anyone. They were so incredibly helpful throughout the whole process of applying, interning, and reflecting post-internship. With this experience, I was able to learn and grow an immense amount and build relationships with some of the most welcoming people in the world!”
