Missouri Western State University will host the 10th annual Conference on Applied Learning in Higher Education on Thursday and Friday, April 16 and 17. Faculty and students from Missouri Western and other colleges and universities will demonstrate applied learning activities.

Applied learning is learning that occurs outside of the traditional classroom setting, such as study abroad programs, independent research experiences, internships or practica, service-learning, or co-curricular programming. This conference will provide a venue for scholars, practitioners, and students to gather and share their work.

To open the conference at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Theater Delta will present an interactive theater performance to promote dialogue on research ethics and academic integrity in the campus community. At 6:30 p.m., students who have graduated from various Missouri Western programs will have a panel presentation in which they will cite how applied learning has made a difference in their lives. Both presentations will take place in the Hoff Conference Rooms, Blum 218-219.

On Friday, faculty members will demonstrate applied learning activities during concurrent sessions at 9, 10, and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Among the sessions are a visit to Missouri Western’s nursing simulation lab and the launch of a weather balloon by a faculty member from Metropolitan Community College in Nebraska. The closing ceremony and awards presentation will take place at 2 p.m. in the Hoff Conference Rooms.

The Conference on Applied Learning in Higher Education was created in 2006 in recognition of Missouri Western’s change in status to a university with a statewide mission of applied learning. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu/appliedlearning/conference or call 816-271-4364 for more information about this year’s conference.

Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.