About the Experiential Education Academy (EEA) 

At SEE, two key components of our mission are to advance experiential education internationally and create opportunities for professional learning. To fulfill both aspects of our mission, we established the Experiential Education Academy (EEA). It serves as a pivotal initiative dedicated to achieving both goals.

The EEA is a nationally recognized certificate program designed for experiential educators seeking foundational knowledge in theory and practice. Our program offers a comprehensive approach to understanding and implementing experiential education methodologies.

Since its inception, over 800 faculty, staff, teachers, administrators, and community partners in the education and non-profit sectors have earned an EEA certificate. 

EEA Certificate Overview

Earning the EEA certificate ensures a foundational educational experience designed to support pedagogically relevant learning design and ethical program implementation. The certification is earned upon the completion of five core workshops and one elective, fostering a deep understanding of experiential learning theories and methodologies.

The certificate includes:

• Five workshops covering foundational aspects of experiential education.
• Choice of one elective session tailored to individual educational interests or specialization.

Benefits of EEA Certification:

• Recognition as an experiential education professional.
• Grounded theoretical frameworks and evidence-based practices.
• Strengthening learning experiences and programmatic structures.
• Application of concepts to your individual circumstances.
• Access to a network of educators and administrators for collaboration and best practice exchange.

Steps to Earn an EEA Certificate

1. Complete the required sessions (in recommended order):
• Fundamentals of Experiential Education
• Principles of Ethical and Best Practices
• Reflection
• Assessment
  
  
2. Select and complete one of the following sessions based on your needs:
• Legal Issues (recommended for anyone working with off-site partners)
• Teaching and Learning Experientially (recommended for teaching faculty)
  
  
3. Select and complete one elective session:
• Community-based Learning
• Developing a Quality Internship Program
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Experiential Education
• Legal Issues (if not used to fulfill the requirement above)
• Online Learning and Experiential Education
• Strategic Planning for Experiential Program Design
• Strengthening EE at Your Institution
• Teaching and Learning Experientially (if not used to fulfill the requirement above)

For detailed descriptions of each workshop, please click here.

 Why Choose EEA?

• Distinguished faculty comprising experienced educators and scholars in the field of experiential education. 
• Collaborative learning environment fostering active engagement and networking opportunities.
• Tailored sessions aimed at addressing specific educational environments and needs.

Testimonials:

Here is some of the feedback from recent EEA workshops:

• Through the workshop and assigned reading, I can see full cycle learning is the way to teach. / It really helped to deepen my understanding of the theories and the history behind experiential learning. / It was informative and helped me to build on my knowledge to consider new aspects of experiential learning that I can apply. I appreciated the way that we went through pedagogical components in an accessible, step-by-step way. (Fundamentals, 2024)
• I found the scenarios and the opportunities for group discussion to be a really effective way of deepening my understanding of the SEE Principals of Ethical and Best Practice, and of how they can be applied to experiential learning programs. / This workshop really allowed you to apply the content to real world scenarios. That was extremely helpful. / During the workshop, we were able to reflect on and actually put these into practice. We were not just left with after the workshop ended trying to figure out how to implement. / The group discussions provided a forum and a great space for discussing how to develop strategies that incorporate the SEE Principles of Ethical and Best Practices in the development of student experiential learning at our respective institutions. I have some new ideas already. (Principles of Ethical and Best Practices, 2024)
• Gave a great overall view of all that goes into reflection. There were a lot of great ideas exchanged amongst the participants. The facilitator was great at keeping us on time, keeping us engaged, and presented the material well. / Theories and resources were provided for varying levels of roles. These are strategies I can easily utilize in my role. / I will definitely use this process when building reflection into my classes and curriculum. I will still consult my notes and resources shared with us, but I now have awareness and some basic knowledge of the reflective process and its benefits to learning. /  I have always been an educator who uses formal and informal opportunities to reflect and assess my teaching and student learning, but the tools from this workshop provide me a more strategic context within which to do so. (Reflection, 2023)
• The resources that were put together by (the facilitator) really are amazing. I feel like some workshops, while great, go through the why and what and not the how, leaving you lost as to how to put into practice what you learned. This was 100% not that and I am grateful for the tools that were generously shared. / I only just completed the workshop, but I know for certain that I will incorporate what I have learned as I look at revamping our program assessments. I now have the language and structure to do so that I was missing before. (Assessment, Feb 2024)
• I knew a lot of this from experience, but (the facilitator) did a wonderful job of providing a framework and context for laws behind the policies and principles being applied at my institution. (Legal Issues, Feb 2024)
• This workshop provided a tremendous learning experience. / Having been to dozens and dozens of workshops, this was one of the best PDs I have ever experienced. You kept us engaged the whole time, which is not easy considering it is three plus hours on a Friday afternoon. Your presentation style and the inclusive design of this workshop was inspiring, and your diverse DEI in EE examples were refreshing! (DEI in EE, Mar 2024)