EXPERIENCE ONE: ANALYSIS OF A DECADE OF IMMERSION SCHEDULING AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA WESTERN

The University of Montana Western has been using an immersion-learning model we call Experience One for more than a decade. Students and faculty focus on a single, four-credit class for 18 instructional days and learn through authentic practice in the discipline. The impetus for adopting this unique system was a desire among the faculty to see if our students would be more successful when immersed in authentic practice in the discipline. After more than a decade of running the experiment, the data show that the model works.

In 2016, an exhaustive study was conducted by the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education to evaluate the impact of Experience One on student success since its adoption in 2005. The data show that (1) campus enrollment increased by 44%, while the nearest Montana competitor grew by 19% (MSU-Bozeman), (2) full-time equivalency increased by 41%, the highest percentage in the Montana University System (MUS), (3) average credit load increased from 12.6 to 14.7 credits per semester, (4) course completion rate for first-time freshmen tops the MUS at 91%, (5) first-to-second-year retention grew from 65 to 74%, (6) two-year degree completion increased by 48%, and four-year degree completion increased by 37%, (7) total degrees awarded increased by 80%, (8) the employment rate for all graduates peaked at 80%, (9) the job placement rate of Environmental Sciences graduates holds steady at 92%, and (10) the university ranks at or near the top of most national college reviews, with faculty having received numerous awards for their creative use of Experience One.

Despite its success, Experience One faces some sustainability challenges. Hiring of faculty and administrators should target professionals who have a passion for experiential teaching and learning. A robust system designed to mentor new faculty should be in place and reinforced by tenure and promotion standards that reward the creative use of Experience One. In recent years, several universities have unsuccessfully tried to adopt Experience One or hybrid versions, so the widespread use of this educational model may be problematic.