Experiential Learning
Faculty constructed environments (like labs or fields trips) where students learn by working with real world scenarios.
About
As the old adage says: “Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me, and I'll understand” is a strong belief born out by the use of this activity by many Bucknell faculty. They think that students need to directly experience many of their subjects in order to fully understand them, and help them cross the bridge between theory and practice. They compare their regular classrooms with their labs and field trips, and see a distinct improvement in engagement and enjoyment in the latter, and so feel that it is worth all the extra prep time, logistical snarls, and complicated group dynamics. It is a mark of their commitment that they average two hours each time they use it, which often requires adding a fourth or fifth hour to the class to accommodate it, and driving away students who cannot fit that in their schedule.
The original study's data and analysis for "Experiential Learning" can be found on this link.
What Faculty Have To Say
Strengths (13)
- Active hands-on student experience makes the knowledge sink in
- Connects theory to practice
- Practices open-ended problem solving
- Frames the relevance of subject
- Allows in-depth exploration of a topic
- Teaches new skills
- Enjoyable change of pace/place
- Exposure to the natural world drives curiosity
- Helps the classroom “bond"
- Makes for interactive peer learning
- Tests hypotheses and clears up misconceptions
- Creates opportunities for one-on-one faculty/student interaction
- Allows checking on student's individual progress to identify knowledge gaps
Weaknesses (11)
- Time consuming and challenging to build, run and grade
- Engagement and outcomes variable
- Large classes are hard to work with
- Travel and weather cramp visit time
- Unprepared students can drag it down
- Weaker students ride the coat-tails of stronger ones
- Students get caught up in the directions, but miss the learning
- Site visits can distract from the planned learning
- Extra class time prevents some students from taking the class
- Non-majors resent all the extra time
- Real data is often messy and beyond students’ ability to work with
Pedagogy Usage
Bucknell faculty was asked their best estimate for how often in the semester they used Experiential Learning and the average class time it took.
Average Duration: 86 min (mode=120)
Remote Suggestions
Having student see or experience a subject first hand is still a highly valuble pedagogy. Remote teaching opens up the possiblity of having either the student or the instructor go into the field with a vido-camera and notebook, and collect first hand data. The instructor can visit sites as well, and narrate their own video, much like is done on Youtube. Solo visits to museums and natural sites can then be made even easier than taking a busload of students.
Resources for Additional Learning
Articles & Books
- Experience and Learning. An Introduction to Experiential Learning. Chickering, Arthur W.
- Experiential Learning: Experience as The Source of Learning and Development. Kolb, D. A. (1984).
- Reasserting the philosophy of experiential education as a vehicle for change in the 21st century. Christian M. Itin.
Websites
- The University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Teaching and Learning Center
- George Mason University School of Integrative Studies