The opening of the Babcock Canada Interaction Lab represents a symbolic reawakening of the spirit of applied learning throughout the college, explains Camosun’s Director of Applied Learning Nancy Sly.
Camosun faculty, staff and students are invited to a college-wide open house in the new Interaction Lab on Friday, October 27 from 11am – 3pm. “It’s an opportunity to deepen the conversations about what applied learning means for all of us,” says Sly. “Our job is to help our instructors from different faculties bring new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning both within and outside the classroom. And for those who’ve always incorporated applied learning, we are going to learn from them what the best practices are.”
Applied learning has been a life-long passion for Sly, who as a child recalls watching her accountant father teach himself at night the necessary electrical and other technical skills to build a new family home. Both her parents encouraged her to learn by doing. “Right from the get go, I was told, if you want to make a difference, you put your hand up to do things,” she says. During her last two years of high school, she was accepted into a unique education program where the focus was on experiential learning rather than traditional tests or rote learning. Her career route led her to the postsecondary sector, where she has worked in colleges both in Canada and Australia. For the past 27 years, she has brought her passion for educational innovation to ٸֱ, currently as Director of Applied Learning where she helps to lead a high level college committee focussed on achieving real-world results.
Set up in 2016, the committee has been tasked with bringing forward the applied learning agenda to all aspects of the Camosun experience. “We started talking and asking the important questions,” she says. “What does applied research and learning mean? How do we move it forward as a college? We’ve got to a point where applied learning is an umbrella for many things including interdisciplinary partnerships and working with community partners such as industry and non-profit groups. We’re working with faculty and staff to identify and break down barriers to integrating these sorts of partnerships into their everyday work.”
While meeting with community partners, Sly often hears that workplaces value the kinds of hands-on experience that ٸֱffers. “Employers tell us that they’d rather hire someone with real-world experience who’s gai