Conducting and Evaluating Professional Development Workshops using Experiential Learning

摘要

Faculty members are often called upon to design and deliver professional development workshops to a variety of clientele. This clientele could include county extension agents, agriscience teachers, producers, business owners, or local government officials. This article presents an experiential learning format in which faculty can accomplish the task of information dissemination in a manner that is both effective as well as enjoyable to workshop participants. Background information is presented for experiential learning and andragogy, which indicates that experiential learning is a teaching method that addresses the educational needs of adults. In addition, an example is provided for readers to use as a guide in developing their own professional development workshops. A brief discussion on evaluating professional development workshops is also included.