JOURNEY OF CHANGE TOWARDS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CULTURE: NARRATIVE CASE STUDY OF A PAKISTANI PRIVATE UNIVERSITY

Experiential learning is a phenomenon that is taking its significant position in the higher education milieu. It is defined as the process of education and learning that is established through experiencing the learning by self and by doing. Several researches have talked about how the benefit of project based experiential learning is beneficial in the adult learning and learners who are at the university level. The benefits of this genre of educational methodology centers the student based learning and incorporate industry based engagement for a constructive learning outcome. Higher education and latest teaching methodologies for universities is an emerging concept in Pakistan. Efforts are made by several private universities to ensure that learning by doing is inculcated in their curriculum and learning styles. Considering this, a similar process was initiated at the ABC university to transform the culture of the organization into an experiential learning organization. This study, highlighting the process of transformation, narrates the process of initiation of the project based experiential learning in the institutions. Further, it talks about the change process, determinations, challenges and mechanism that were experienced in bringing experiential learning in place. A single case on a business school was studied in detail and the data were collected using various modes like observations, in depth interviews of the key stakeholders and reflective analysis. The findings of the study highlight that experiential learning in private business schools has numerous benefits to the students learning, motivation, industry engagement and enhanced market credibility. The findings also revealed that implementing experiential learning can be a tedious process and requires commitment at several levels of organizations from a wide range of stakeholders. At the end, the study presents recommendations on how universities can move from conventional culture in an experiential learning organization.