Experiential learning

Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) is the application of theory to real-world authentic experiences. these experiences can happen within the classroom, the workplace, or the community. ELT adapts well to a variety of learning environments including:

• cooperative learning 
• internships 
• practicum placements
• situated learning 
• apprenticeships  

ELT focuses on how learning by doing challenges and deepens learning. 

Learning by doing encourages active, student centered engagement. In turn, this requires the practice of reflection. ELT invites learners to apply, reflect, and then revise. This process helps them build on their existing knowledges and experiences.

Experiential learning is constructivist in nature. Learners must engage while immersed in an authentic ‘real-life’ situation. It requires them to be curious, to experiment, investigate, and problem solve. Students assumes responsibility by posing questions, providing creative solutions and testing them. They then reflect on the findings and their own cognitive process.

Metacognition, purposeful thinking about one’s own thinking strategies, is central to ELT. Metacognition fosters self-awareness. Students who adopt a metacognitive practice become aware of how they learn. This helps them choose strategies that meet their specific needs.

Not every hands-on experience is experiential learning. To be experiential learning, both the instructor and the student must focus on the learning process rather than on outcomes.  Experienial learning also differs from the aims of competency-based education. 

Competency based education uses pre-defined criteria for success and focuses on outcomes. Meeting the competency criteria is how students show they have learned.  

We can trace ELT back to the work of John Dewey (1938) but is better known today through the work of David Kolb (1984).

Kolb’s Experiential Learning cycle describes four stages:

• Concrete experience: doing, having an experience
• Reflective observation: reviewing, reflecting on the experience
• Abstract conceptualization: concluding or learning from the experiment
• Active experimentation: planning or trying out what you have learned

Effective learning results when the learner progresses through the cycle. The learner can also enter at any stage of the cycle and follow a logical sequence.

The key characteristic of ELT is its recursive cycle. Learners construct knowledge through doing, reviewing, concluding, and planning within real-world applications. These ELT elements should be present in experiential activities.

Doing and experiencing

Experiences should provide students with the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge. Students should have their assumptions challenged within real - world situations. Balance is necessary between experiential activities, the application of theory and the outcome. If completing a task becomes the focus of an experience, it is no longer an experiential learning opportunity.

Instructors must value all elements of ELT to create a safe space for students to work through their own process of self-discovery.

Reviewing and reflecting

Real- life situations encourage learners to think critically, make judgements and predict outcomes. This provides opportunities for higher order thinking. Reflection provides space for learners to analyze their assumptions. For the best outcomes, learners should reflect on their thinking during and after decision making. This helps learners gain insight into their own thinking and their interactions with the world. Your role is to engage the learner into dialogue to build and foster the practice of reflection.

Thinking and concluding

The aim of ELT is to combine direct experience with focused reflection. You play a critical role in shaping the learning experience by: 

• setting suitable real-world experiences
• posing problems
• asking deliberate questions that challenge students’ assumptions 
• nurturing learners to explore their own values

Planning and acting

Practice in real-life authentic situations engage the learner intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially. They encourage big picture perspective. Thus allowing the learner to make connections between the learning, what they are contributing/doing and the world. Experiential activities must create a safe way for students to move outside their comfort zone. Students will have to take responsibility in situations where the outcome is not guaranteed. Authentic experiences require risk-taking, problem solving and decision making. Students will succeed or fail. These experiences should illuminate the relationship between failure, problem solving and success.