{"id":336,"date":"2018-06-28T15:07:28","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T15:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missional.university\/studybeyond\/?page_id=336"},"modified":"2018-07-22T01:18:26","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T01:18:26","slug":"the-experiential-learning-process","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/missional.university\/experientiallearning\/the-experiential-learning-process\/","title":{"rendered":"The Experiential Learning Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Experiential Learning Process<\/h3>\n
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Experiential Learning (EL) is a \u201cprocess through which a learner constructs knowledge, skill, and value from direct experience\u201d.1 EL is conceptualized as a spiral and is made up of four stages, namely: Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization and Active Experimentation. Concrete experience pertains to the experience created so that learning can occur. Reflective observation is where an \u201copportunity is created\u201d so students can reflect upon the experience and make meaning of said experience. Abstract conceptualization is the stage when a student explores what can be learned from the experience. At this stage, a theory is introduced to facilitate the learning. The last stage of EL, active experimentation, takes place when the student is able to internalize the learning and takes that learning with him or her into the world as a new way of living.2<\/p>\n

Experiential learning has deep roots. Ancient Greek dramatist, Sophocles, acknowledged the benefit of hands-on learning in deepening human understanding: \u201cOne must learn by doing the thing: for though you think you know it you have no certainty until you try.\u201d3 Commenting on the value of experience as a tool for learning, author A.N. Whitehead penned, \"First-hand knowledge is the ultimate basis of the intellectual life\u2026.To a large extent, book-learning conveys second-hand information, and as such can never rise to the importance of immediate practice.\u201d 4<\/p>\n

The benefits of experiential learning to students are manifold. First, it allows students to gain an overall understanding of the real-world environment. For example, students who major in Chemistry may have chances to interact with the chemical environment. Learners who have a desire to become business people will have the opportunity to experience management in a business setting. Second, it provides opportunities for creativity. As students are exposed to real-world situations, they are presented with the opportunity to formulate possible solutions to an observed problem. Third, it facilitates ease in retaining knowledge. As students interact with real-life experiences, they will have a better chance to retain that information. As Aristotle once pointed out, \u201cthe things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.\u201d5\u00a0Fourth, since experiential learning focuses on the learning process for the individual, it effectively shifts the focus to the student as the responsible active and involved learner.<\/p>\n

Finally, experiential learning benefits the student in almost every aspect of everyday life in general. Indeed, experiential learning is a process that develops an individual\u2019s analytical, decision-making and problem-solving skills, all of which are necessary for leading productive and successful lives.<\/p>\n

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Reference List<\/h3>\n
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  1. Zehavit\u00a0Gross and Suzanne\u00a0D.\u00a0Rutland, \u201cExperiential learning in informal educational settings\u201d, International Review of Education<\/em>, Vol.63, Iss.1 (Feb.,2017):1-8,\u00a0Accessed July 19, 2018, https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s11159-017-9625-6<\/li>\n
  2. Kim Schmidt and John Victor Rautenbach, \u201cField Instruction: Is the Heart of Social Work Education still beating in the Eastern Cape? Social Work\/Maatskaplike Werk<\/em> Vol 52, No 4; Issue 8, accessed July 19, 2018, http:\/\/www.scielo.org.za\/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-80542016000400008<\/li>\n
  3. Science Quotes by Sophocles. Today in Science History. https:\/\/todayinsci.com\/S\/Sophocles\/Sophocles-Quotations.htm<\/li>\n
  4. A.N. Whitehead, The Aims of Education<\/em> ( New York: McMillan, 1929) 79.<\/li>\n
  5. Aristotle,\u00a0Nicomachean Ethics<\/em>, ed. Roger Crisp (2000), 23, in the Questia Digital Library, accessed July 11, 2018, http:\/\/www.questia.com\/read\/107180129\/nicomachean-ethics.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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    Experiential Learning Process at Missional University<\/h3>\n

    Experiential Learning is rooted in three foundational Biblical concepts: \u00a01) the Old Testament\u00a0concept that integrates \u201cobserving\u201d with following; 2) the New Testament concept of \u201cdisciple\u201d as a learner who follows the master teacher; and 3) the New Testament concept of \u201cwitness\u201d as the person who explains what he has seen and heard.<\/p>\n

    These form the three distinct learning processes of \u201cObserva,\u201d \u201cDiscipulus,\u201d and \u201cTestimonium.\u201d \u00a0We have chosen to represent these concepts with the Latin terms taken from the Latin translation of the Scripture as a way of signaling to students the meaning of each learning process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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    Experiential Learning (EL) is a \u201cprocess through which a learner constructs knowledge, skill, and value from direct experience\u201d.1 EL is conceptualized as a spiral and is made up of four stages, namely: Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization and Active… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/builder.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"url":"","client":"","location":"","start_date":"","end_date":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-336","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missional.university\/experientiallearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missional.university\/experientiallearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missional.university\/experientiallearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missional.university\/experientiallearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missional.university\/experientiallearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/missional.university\/experientiallearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missional.university\/experientiallearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}