Experiential Learning in Action

Below are examples of how the CLAS Center for Experiential Learning is supporting the students at GVSU. 

Music, Theater and Dance

CLAS Voyage in Action: Beginning Fall 2025, students from the GVSU Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance will partner with the St. Cecilia Music Center serving as music mentors with the St. Cecilia Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. Through this unique community-based partnership with the St. Cecilia School of Music Youth Programs, GVSU music students will apply their pedagogical training and musical expertise in a structured, professional environment mentoring advanced middle and high school youth orchestra students. GVSU mentors will work throughout the season leading sectionals, coaching students, and providing side-by-side rehearsal mentorship. This collaboration is coordinated by Dr. Joel Schut, GVSU Associate Professor and Director of the GVSU Symphony Orchestra, Cyndi Betts, St. Cecilia Music Society Education and Community Engagement Coordinator, and Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia Music Society Executive and Artistic Director.

Psychology

The Behavioral Neuroscience Program is very grateful to CCEL for supporting our new laboratory course. Funds from CCEL allowed us to hire an undergraduate TA, Arnica Shaeffer. Arnica is a fantastic resource! She supervised students in mouse health checks, recording mouse body weight, changing cages, and meeting other regulatory requirements. Arnica also supports students in understanding the process of collecting, analyzing, and presenting data.

CCEL Pilot Project funds were used to purchase tools for mouse brain dissection. Prior to this purchase, we only had tools from the Flandreau research laboratory, enough for 1 person to work at a time. Now at least 3 students can work simultaneously, making it possible to accomplish the dissections within a lab period.

Movement Science

In November 2025, 22 GVSU Health and Physical Education majors, accompanied by their faculty, participated in the SHAPE Michigan Conference, engaging in a professional learning experience that connected coursework with real-world practice. Throughout the conference, students attended and even co-presented in a wide range of relevant professional development sessions focused on best practices, emerging trends, and advocacy in health and physical education. In addition, GVSU students competed in, and won, the "highly coveted" SHAPE MI Student Competition, marking the triumphant return of the event after a long break dating back to pre-2020.

Beyond sessions and competition, students built meaningful connections with K–12 educators and leaders in the field, expanding their professional networks and deepening their understanding of career pathways in health and physical education. This experience exemplifies GVSU’s commitment to experiential learning and preparing future educators to lead with confidence, competence, and professionalism. Students who participated noted that this experience also planted the seed for future opportunities to attend conference, many noting that they plan to attend the 2026 SHAPE Michigan conference, while others are eager to attend the 2026 National Convention in Kansas City.  

It was often mentioned at whole-conference sessions that there was an awful lot of “Laker Blue” in the crowd, which was great to hear. Many people asked how we got so many students to attend! I cannot thank you enough for the support of CLAS Center for Experiential Learning. I think the best part of the experience was the overwhelming number of students who returned to campus and told their classmates that they should have attended. Our students were responsible, highly active, and professional. Several students who were only going to attend on Thursday ended up staying over and attending Friday too because it was better than they expected. 

Math

The end-of-semester math major research presentations, on Friday December 5th from 1 - 2:20 pm in the math Peer Collaboration Space (MAK A-2-610). At least 25 people attended, including many math majors and some statistics and computer science majors, as well as multiple math faculty. Eight students gave a total of four presentations on their research. Topics included modeling plasma in nuclear fusion reactors, based on a summer research project at Oak Ridge National Lab, as well as multiple presentations about the Bracket Method of Integration which was studied in Dr. Feryal Alayont's MTH 496 Research Capstone course.
CCEL funding helped us provide food for the event, including pizza, soft drinks, and snacks.

Geography

Dr. Heather Moody, faculty in Geology and Geography at GVSU, recently taught Urban Ecological Design where students partnered with local organizations on projects such as planting raingardens, cleaning drainage systems, and assessing tree benefits in Kent County parks. A major highlight was designing the Garfield Park Community Garden using SketchUp, a3D modeling program, to address food access challenges. Student presented these designs during finals week.

This hands-on learning experience, field-based activities and the SketchUp program, was supported by funding from the CLAS Center for Experiential Learning. Dr. Moody has also received an EPA Region 5 Great Lakes Thriving Communities Grant to collaborate with community organizations on environmental justice initiatives, further advancing her research and teaching impact.

Math

During the Fall 2025 semester, students in MTH 131-01 completed team-based research and game design projects as part of an experiential learning component of the course.
Research projects focused on comparative analyses of real-world data and included:
● Environmental costs of using generative AI for paper writing compared to non-AI approaches
● Sentiment analysis of user comments across two YouTube channels
● Inflation trends for independent restaurants compared to McDonald’s
● Social media use across four commonly used platforms
● Statistical analysis related to POTS disease
Game design projects focused on creating original games grounded in mathematical concepts. These included:
● The Geodot Game, where players drew geometric shapes under specific constraints to earn points
● The Black Knight Game, using deductive reasoning to identify a hidden role among players
● A factoring game focused on identifying factor pairs of integers
● A cryptography game in which players solved puzzles to recover missing digits
Students presented their work during the final exam period. Research teams shared posters and infographics, while game design teams brought physical versions of their games. Several teams incorporated short gameplay sessions so the audience could experience how the games worked.