Concordia’s Experiential Learning Grants Bring Innovative Ideas to Life

Students, staff, and faculty turn their ideas into a hands-on reality with up to $2,000 per project.

Concordia University’s Experiential Learning (EL) Grant program is sparking innovation on and off campus. With up to $2,000 per project available, the funding initiative is going a long way to help students, staff, and faculty turn their ideas into a hands-on reality.

Recent EL grant–funded projects range from creating maker kits for children in hospitals to promoting campus biodiversity and exploring religious traditions. They demonstrate the transformative power of experiential learning for both instructors and students.

Urban campus biodiversity project takes flight

One project funded by the grant is the biodiversity initiative at the Sir George Williams Campus Grey Nuns site, spearheaded by Jackie Martin from Concordia’s Office of Sustainability. With the support of the grant, Martin and a team of student sustainability ambassadors developed a plan to install a bird feeder to engage the university community in birdwatching.

"The best part has been seeing students’ ideas and work come to life," Martin says. "They wanted to support wildlife and raise awareness about biodiversity on campus, and the FeederWatch program allows them to achieve both goals."

The project includes weekly bird surveys that contribute to Birds Canada’s national research efforts, while they will begin broadcasting a live stream of the bird feeder in November.

Martin encourages anyone with an innovative idea to take advantage of the EL grant: "This project wouldn’t have been possible without that support."

Maker kits for hospitalized children

Geneviève Lamarche’s maker kit initiative is another inspiring example of what the EL grant can achieve. Lamarche is an education student who works part-time at the Saint-Henri Public Library’s Fab Lab. She used her grant to create prototype maker kits for children in hospitals, allowing them an educational and creative outlet during long hospital stays.

Her project exemplifies how experiential learning doesn’t just benefit the creator, but also those involved in the process. "It’s been amazing to get other students involved,” says Lamarche. “Homeschooling teens helped me design the kits — kids creating for other kids. One of the students who designed them had even spent four months in the hospital.”

Creative zine explores religion and culture

In a graduate course taught by Sowparnika Balaswaminathan in the Department of Religions and Cultures, the EL grant funded an innovative class project: creating a zine on the visual politics of religious traditions. Students used the grant to explore diverse forms of research and expression.

"The EL grant allowed the course assignment to go beyond the boundaries of the class in terms of time, space, and intent,” Balaswaminathan explains. “Students could challenge themselves to move past academic knowledge production to create art, autoethnographic writing and poetry, among other genres.”

The project was so successful that one student, Helen Apesos, continued working on the zine after the course ended to ensure its publication and distribution.

Apply for the EL grant

These projects are just a glimpse of the possibilities that the EL grant program offers.

Whether you're a student with a bold idea, staff looking to enhance your programs, or faculty wishing to offer hands-on learning, the EL grant can help take your teaching and learning outside of the classroom and into the real world.