Twenty-fifth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

As faculty at the University of Pikeville, a small liberal arts university in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky, Dr. Brigitte Anderson and Mr. Andrew Reed primarily teach students descended from 19th-century Scotch-Irish settlers. Ethnic diversity is limited. The situation is similar regarding socio-economics. Students belong to the working middle class. Interested in this phenomenon, Anderson and Reed, consulted recent scholarship (2010-2017) and conducted their own primary research at five Appalachian colleges and universities. Their goal was to assert the lack of diversity at Appalachian colleges, and to identify educational strategies to compensate for this lack. They learned, the primary vehicle for students to immerse themselves in diversity is Experiential Learning in various forms.