From Mustard Seeds to an Experiential (R)Evolution

Abstract

Ten years ago, ‘Mustard Seeds’ won Best Paper Experiential Learning at ABSEL (Reed, 2010). Experiential learning, like ABSEL and most everything, has continued to evolve in the past decade. For example, accreditation entities, such as American Association of Colleges & Schools of Business (AACSB), officially recognizing experiential learning as a pedagogy that adds value to business education. Business education has continued to change too; online education has become widely accepted in colleges and universities throughout the world. Higher education continues to reinvent programs, curriculum, and student services focusing on the changing needs of society and students who enter both these institutions and a quickly changing economic environment.  This paper explores how experiential learning has changed since Mustard Seed as a “means for creative problem solving, ethical decision-making, stakeholder alliance, [and] leader development through experiential learning in management education” (Reed, 2010).  The paper offers directions for future research on the [r]evolution of experiential learning and new key stakeholders like CapSource that are at the helm of that change.