Integration of Learning

Abstract

This article presents a grounded theory of ''integration of learning'' among traditional aged college students, which is characterized by the demonstrated ability to link various skills and knowledge learned in a variety of contexts. The author analyzed 194 interviews with students at liberal arts colleges to investigate empirically the ways undergraduates bring knowledge and experiences together so that educators might be able to more intentionally promote the integration of learning. Three distinct types of integration of learning emerged during analysis: (a) connection, the discovery of a similarity between ideas that themselves remain distinctive; (b) application, the use of knowledge from one context in another; and (c) synthesis, the creation of new knowledge by combining insights.T he ability to make connections among disparate elements of information, meaningfully synthesize concepts, and make ideas mobile from one context to another has been heralded as a necessary skill for success in the knowledge economy of the 21st century (

Exploring Integrative Learning in Service-Based Alternative Breaks

“…Despite the importance of facilitating students' ability to engage in integrative learning and evidence that integration is associated with other desirable outcomes, little research has explored how students engage in integration and how particular educational contexts facilitate students' ability to do so (Barber, 2012(Barber, , 2014. This lack of research is particularly concerning, as there is evidence that educators are failing to fully capitalize on students in-classroom and outof-classroom experiences to promote integrative learning (Barber, 2012).…”

“…This includes the ability to connect the domain of ideas and philosophies to everyday experiences, from one field of study or discipline to another, from the past to the present, between campus and community life, from one part to the whole, from the abstract to the concrete, among multiple identity roles-and vice versa. (p. 593) Barber's (2012) theory focuses on the process of integration rather than on the content of the learning itself. Barber (2012) gave examples of the types of learning students were integrating, including ideas about Plato and experiences playing Sudoku or building a homecoming float.…”

“…(p. 593) Barber's (2012) theory focuses on the process of integration rather than on the content of the learning itself. Barber (2012) gave examples of the types of learning students were integrating, including ideas about Plato and experiences playing Sudoku or building a homecoming float.…”

“…This study drew primarily from Barber's (2012) theory of integrative learning. According to Barber (2012),…”

“…This lack of research is particularly concerning, as there is evidence that educators are failing to fully capitalize on students in-classroom and outof-classroom experiences to promote integrative learning (Barber, 2012). Barber (2014) and Wawrzynski and Baldwin (2014) argued that high-impact practices such as service-learning may be particularly well suited to promote the integration of learning.…”