Experiential learning outside the classroom

Answering this question is not so easy, because going from the classroom to the museum or memorial, to the district court, to the town hall or to the market hall is far from being the same as learning in these places. Compared to teaching in the "protected space of school," going out of the classroom presents teachers with some challenges. After all, learning German in the market hall or even in the Bergpark can only work if the lessons on site are prepared and followed up in learning arrangements and the students are given tasks that enable them to explore the respective situation independently, with an emphasis on action and communication.

The project seminar "Experiential Learning Outside the Classroom: From Speechless Astonishment to Animated Conversation" of the Department of German as a Foreign and Second Language (DaFZ) at the University of Kassel, which was awarded the Teaching Innovation Prize 2013, aims to prepare future teachers of German for planning and conducting lessons outside the classroom.