Experiential Learning



Albert Einstein once said “Learning is experience.  Everything else is just information.”  Experiential learning is, as the name suggests, learning from your experiences. 

The role of the educator is changing and evolving when it comes to Experiential Learning.  Educators are finding themselves as facilitators of reflection and encourage learners to discuss and reflect on their experiences.  Educators are finding themselves as a catalyst and putting their students into role-playing situations where they have to solve a problem.  Educators are also finding themselves serving as a mentor and an assessor of prior experiential learning.

Haywood Community College has an Experiential Learning Department on campus.  The purpose of this department is to enhance student learning, promote civic responsibility, clarify and validate career goals, and encourage professional growth and development of job skills through practical work experience outside the classroom.  There are three programs available to the students:  Service Learning, Cooperative Education, and Internships.  You can view the website at:  http://www.haywood.edu/experiential_learning

These programs are set up to put students out in “real world” situations and give them experiences greater than the classroom can provide.  For example, in my office last spring, we had the opportunity to have an intern.  We had her sit with each person in our office and showed her each of our jobs.  She had the opportunity to participate and learn different aspects of each function within the business office.
 
How do you feel about experiential learning?  Did you participate in an Internship in your undergraduate work?  Did it provide experiences for you greater than the classroom could provide?

Transformational and Experiential Learning

     Transformational seems to be one of the current buzzwords we hear in many contexts, not just education.  Typically we take this to mean change -- and significant change.  I would guess many of us have read or heard that is the definition of learning -- a change -- either in knowledge or in skill.

     The three concepts of transformational learning posed are life experience, critical reflection, and development.  Let's look at experience primarily as that is also a current hot topic in education, particularly experiential learning.

     I found it interesting to note that experience can be past, present, and/or future.  The word experience has always had a "past" connotation to me.  So learning from prior or previous experience was an easily understood concept.  But learning may also take place within the context of our current or present experience.  This blog would be a good example.  I had no past experience in blogging, but I am definitely learning currently how to do so!   Future experience (almost seems like an oxymoron) can be a learning method as we prepare or critically examine something we are planning or anticipate occurring in our future.  Perhaps an example would be preparing for knee replacement surgery -- we haven't yet experienced it, but our fear or dread of the procedure may be allayed as we prepare and educate ourselves about the procedure and the rehabilitation we will experience (in the future).

     Let me end by asking this question -- can negative experience also be transformational?  What might be some past, current, and future examples?


    

hello!

During our snow days, I ran across this article on using digital badges in the classroom. ...and I started thinking..... target audience(s) for badges, pros/cons......   what do you think?   Would this be a valuable option for adult learners? undergrads? grads? Would you want to earn badges for content completion? APA guru? Chief blogger? Techno Dynamo?

http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2013/10/11/how-use-digital-badges-help-your-classroom-teaching-essay

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CG4QFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aging.ksu.edu%2FDesktopModules%2FViewDocument.aspx%3FDocumentID%3D1789&ei=n7j7Ut7nH-by0gHa7YHwBQ&usg=AFQjCNF7FmX6axQV__Y4xZyofYsey_e9KA&sig2=EsAw7aEvGGx_N9r1-bpMlw&bvm=bv.61190604,d.dmQ

Age Buzz...the difference between Adult and Child Learners

Apparently my comments on the difference between adult learners and children was lost in my novice attempt to blog. 

However, it is my belief that children need more concrete information and then can eventually learn how it exists in abstract form. Adults have the ability to learn abstractly, but it seems that it all boils down to why an adult is seeking knowledge. The article focuses mainly on Knowles' work but it is my belief that each individual has specific needs. Children need direction because they do not have life experience. Adults have life experiences and can identify what they need to know and they can seek out the means too find that knowledge. 

I believe that differentiating between adults and children is semantics. It is a way to help us to understand each population better to possibly create a way to serve them in the best way. For me, I prefer a Montessori approach in which each learner decides what they need to learn that day, the best way to learn the material according to their own learning style. I believe this would benefit a learner at any age. 

Chapter 4: Knowles's Andragogy

"Do adults learn differently than children do?" 

Traditionally, educators study pedagogy, the art or science of teaching children.  So much time and attention is focused on how we reach and teach our youth, and how then how efforts reflect on their ability to take a standardized assessment.

But...adult brains are different than child brains.  Adult social skills and motivations are different, and their ability to focus and control their inner urges may also be much more matured with age.  Malcolm Knowles proposed a new way of viewing adult learning, apart from how children learn, deemed andragogy.  Knowles was able to make assumptions on how and why adults learn, and these assumptions have been critiqued by different people through the years.

Listed below are some of the critiques of andragogy:

--andragogy assumes all adult learners look and learn the same (pg. 88)
--other ways of learning are ignored, thus voices are silenced (pg. 88)
--the relationship between self and society is ignored and andragogy does not take into account structural systems of privilege and oppression based on race, gender, and class (pg. 88)

I ask you...are the above critiques not also applicable to pedagogy?  Do our school systems and those who make educational decisions not assume all children will benefit from the same form of instruction, or that a child's home life should not be considered in determining their educational success?




Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide. 3^rd ed. CA: Jossey-Bass