Opportunities Database

Opportunities Database: Guidance & Definitions

Immersion Vanderbilt (IV) calls for each undergraduate student to participate in an intensive learning experience that takes place in and beyond the classroom and culminates in the completion of a final project. Experiential learning is built upon the idea that students have the capacity to impact their community and develop functional skills alongside their academic curriculum. In other words, experiential learning bridges the gap between classroom knowledge and the realities of that knowledge, allowing students to take on an active role in their educational experience. Experiential learning provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to pursue their passions and cultivate intellectual interests. Immersion Vanderbilt specifically aims to offer an educational component that fosters critical thought, diverse perspectives and equity, ethical reasoning, integrative learning, and intellectual engagement. Students may engage with multiple experiential learning opportunities, which may help to influence what is created for their culminating project.

What constitutes an opportunity as an immersive experience?

Definition

The immersive experience is the first component of an undergraduate student’s journey through Immersion Vanderbilt. Through experiential learning, the student will learn to make meaning by direct engagement in a “real world” context and then by critical reflection on their learning. Immersive experiences can include a plethora of different opportunities. These fall within one or more of the experiential categories below:

Duration & Type of Opportunity

There is not a set requirement for the number of hours or workload that an experience should encompass, as each experience will vary depending on the student, the provider, and the needs and expectations of both. Generally, experiences should occur over a duration of time that roughly equates to at least one academic term (e.g., fall, summer, spring).

One of the hallmarks of experiential learning is self-reflection, which requires an extended duration of time to properly facilitate. While short, intensive programs may offer exceptional skill building, they cannot stand alone as an immersive experience. Additionally, immersive experiences should provide the student with an active learning environment. This means that opportunities primarily composed of shadowing or other observatory practices are not considered qualifying immersive experiences.

Students are actively engaged in concrete, hands-on experiences that they find meaningful and relevant. Examples include:

Learning or enhancing a new skill, such as a computer programming or foreign language
Creating public presentations or social media/marketing content
Drafting a comprehensive report and action plan based on organization or company data
Contributing to the development of a new engineering prototype
Engaging in community service by project planning and executing regular outreach initiatives

Mentorship & Student Self-Reflection

All experiential learning opportunities may be mentored by a staff or faculty person employed by the university. Research must be facilitated and guided by a VU faculty member.

Learning activities are student-directed; the experience mentor acts as a facilitator to student learning. Students develop questions, devise experiments, and revise their opinions based on their findings.
Students are required to take initiative, make decisions, and are held responsible for the outcome of their choices.
There are opportunities for student reflection on the content and learning process to foster meaning-making and integration. Reflection can take many forms from weekly minute-writing sessions to group or paired discussions, journaling, portfolios, etc.
Student self-evaluation of their professional, personal, and/or academic growth is promoted and valued.

What defines a successful final project for Immersion Vanderbilt?

Definition

Culminating projects are developed under the guidance of a Vanderbilt faculty member. The culminating project is a reflection of the learning accomplished throughout the immersive experience(s). This serves to showcase what students have learned and how they have grown throughout the different phases of their development in the requirement.

Examples of Final Projects

Projects can take any tangible medium! Anything may be uploaded to the Immersion Portal upon completion of the final project, including photos of any physical outcomes that do not take digital form. Students are encouraged to be the architects of their final projects by bringing both their goals and ideas for outcomes to their faculty advisers for approval and guidance. Examples of projects include:

Research papers and/or poster presentations
Websites
Documentaries
Podcasts
Murals (and other forms of artistic expression)
Policy briefs
Performances (i.e. senior recitals, plays, and more)

Students may submit their completed Immersion Vanderbilt project at any time; with the final deadline to submit being their last semester enrolled before graduation. Once submitted, the faculty adviser will review the project. At this time, the faculty adviser will either approve of the work submitted, or return the content to the student for final edits. Students are encouraged to share any final drafts with their faculty adviser before uploading final content to the Immersion Portal. To allow ample opportunity for review and additional correspondence, students should submit their projects 4 – 6 weeks before graduation (if they opt to wait to submit final works during this time). After final review, the student’s title for their Immersion Vanderbilt project will appear on their final transcript.

Click here to submit an Opportunity