Experience refers to the nature of the events someone or something has undergone. Experience is what is happening to us all the time – as we long we exist. Experience, used in the present tense, refers to the subjective nature of one’s current existence. Humans have a myriad of expressions, behaviors, language, emotions, etc. that characterize and convey our moment-to-moment experiences. Experience, used in the past tense, refers to the accumulated product (or residue) of past experiences e.g., after many hours of training and practice building furniture out of wood, we now consider him to be an experienced wood craftsman.

What is experiential learning?

Experiential learning has come to mean two different types of learning:

1. Learning by oneself
2. Experiential education

1. Experiential learning by oneself
Learning from experience by yourself might be called “nature’s way of learning”. It is “education that occurs as a direct participation in the events of life” (Houle, 1980, p. 221, quoted in Smith, 2003). It includes learning that comes about through reflection on everyday experiences. Experiential learning by yourself is also known as “informal education” and includes learning that is organised by learners themselves.

2. Experiential education
It is experiential learning through programs & activities structured by others. Principles of experiential learning are used to design of experiential education programs. Emphasis is placed on the nature of participants’ subjective experiences. An experiential educator’s role is to organize and facilitate direct experiences of phenomenon under the assumption that this will lead to genuine (meaningful and long-lasting) learning. This often also requires preparatory and reflective exercises.
Experiential education is often contrasted with didactic education, in which the teacher’s role is to “give” information/knowledge to student and to prescribe study/learning exercises which have “information/knowledge transmission” as the main goal.

Experiential Learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. Aristotle once said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” Kolb helped to popularize the idea of experiential learning drawing heavily on the work of John Dewey and Jean Piaget. His work on experiential learning has contributed greatly to expanding the philosophy of experiential education.

He states that in order to gain genuine knowledge from an experience, certain abilities are required:
1. the learner must be willing to be actively involved in the experience;
2. the learner must be able to reflect on the experience;
3. the learner must possess and use analytical skills to conceptualize the experience; and
4. the learner must possess decision making and problem solving skills in order to use the new ideas gained from the experience.

Experiential Learning according to Rogers
Rogers distinguished two types of learning: cognitive (meaningless) and experiential (significant). The former corresponds to academic knowledge such as learning vocabulary or multiplication tables and the latter refers to applied knowledge such as learning about engines in order to repair a car. The key to the distinction is that experiential learning addresses the needs and wants of the learner. Rogers lists these qualities of experiential learning: personal involvement, self-initiated, evaluated by learner, and pervasive effects on learner.
To Rogers, experiential learning is equivalent to personal change and growth. Rogers feels that all human beings have a natural propensity to learn; the role of the teacher is to facilitate such learning. This includes:

1. setting a positive climate for learning
2. clarifying the purposes of the learner(s)
3. organizing and making available learning resources
4. balancing intellectual and emotional components of learning
5. sharing feelings and thoughts with learners but not dominating

According to Rogers, learning is facilitated when:

• the student participates completely in the learning process and has control over its nature and direction,
• it is primarily based upon direct confrontation with practical, social, personal or research problems, and
• self-evaluation is the principal method of assessing progress or success. Rogers also emphasizes the importance of learning to learn and an openness to change.

Principles

1. the learner must be willing to be actively involved in the experience;
2. the learner must be able to reflect on the experience;
3. the learner must possess and use analytical skills to conceptualize the experience; and
4. the learner must possess decision making and problem solving skills in order to use the new ideas gained from the experience.

Scale of Experientiality

Gibbons and Hopkins (1980) suggested five major modes of experiential learning, with each mode have the features of the previous mode, plus a major increase in the supposed fullness of experience involved.

Psychosocial mode	10- Social growth										Becomes exemplary community member
	9 – Personal Growth									Pursues excellence and maturity
Development mode	8 – Mastery								Develops high standard of quality performance
	7 – Competence							Strives to become skilful in important activities
Productive mode	6 – Challenge						Sets difficult but desirable tasks to accomplish
	5 – Generative					Creates,  builds, organizes, theorizes, or otherwise produces
Analytic mode	4 – Analytical				Studies the setting and experience systematically
	3 – Exploratory			Plays, experiments, explores, and probes the setting
Receptive mode	2 – Spectator		Sees the real thing in normal setting
	1- Stimulated	Sees motives, TV, and slides

Gibbons and Hopkins (1980) scale of experientiality

This scale refers to the actual experience in the learning situation. Five criteria determine this amount, including the degree to which:

• experience was mediated, that is, the more “direct” the experience, the more experiential,
• client was involved in the planning and execution of the experience
• client was responsible for what occurred in the experience
• client was responsible for mastering the experience to fullest extent possible, and
• experience enabled clients to grow in directions that were helpful to them

Based on these five criteria, the authors identified five increasing modes of experientiality: receptive, analytic (examination), productive, developmental, and psychosocial. With two submodes for each mode, a total of ten submodes represented a continuum of experientiality from least to most experiential…Each of these mode and submode experiences has a cumulative effect, with the more experiential modes possessing the elements of less experiential modes beneath them (see Figure).

• Receptive mode. Experiences, or representations of them, are presented to learners, who remain a passive audience throughout.
  1. Simulated experience. Learners passively experience slides, pictures, videos, and other simulations of reality.
  2. Spectator experience. Learners experience the object of study with all senses, but as observers.
• Analytical mode. Learners conduct field studies in which they apply theoretical knowledge and skill in order to study some event, analyze some aspect of the environment, or solve some practical problem.
  1. Exploratory experience. Learners are exposed to interesting sites and encouraged to explore the possibilities of the materials at hand.
  2. Analytical experience. Learners study field sites systematically, often applying theory to solve problems in practical situations.
• Productive mode. Learners generate products, activities, and services, either assigned or of their own devising.
  1. Generative experience. Learners build, create, compose, organize, or otherwise generate products in appropriate settings.
  2. Challenge experience. Learners are challenged to pursue goals of productivity and accomplishment.
• Developmental mode. Learners pursue excellence in a particular field by designing and implementing long-term programs of study, activity, and practice.
  1. Competence experience. Learners focus on a particular field, practice the skills involved, become absorbed in the activity, and achieve recognized competence.
  2. Mastery experience. Learners go beyond competence, developing commitment to a set of high personal standards of excellence.
• Psychological Mode. Learners learn to understand themselves and their relationships with others. They accomplish the tasks presented by their stage of development toward maturity and make contributions to the lives of others.
  1. Personal growth experience. Learners gain understanding of themselves as unique individuals and learn to direct their own activities effectively and responsibly.
  2. Social growth experience. Learners become more socially competent with people of all ages and act in more socially responsible ways, using their accomplishments in service to the community.

Kolb’s learning theory (1974) sets out four distinct learning styles, which are based on a four-stage learning cycle
Kolb and Fry on learning styles (Tennant 1996)

Learning style	Learning characteristic	Description
Converger	Abstract conceptualization + active experimentation	strong in practical application of ideas can focus on hypo-deductive reasoning on specific problems unemotional has narrow interests
Diverger	Concrete experience + reflective observation	strong in imaginative ability good at generating ideas and seeing things from different perspectives interested in people broad cultural interests
Assimilator	Abstract conceptualization + reflective observation	strong ability to create theoretical models excels in inductive reasoning concerned with abstract concepts rather than people
Accommodator	Concrete experience + active experimentation	greatest strength is doing things more of a risk taker performs well when required to react to immediate circumstances solves problems intuitively

Kolb explains that different people naturally prefer a certain single different learning style. Various factors influence a person’s preferred style. For example, social environment, educational experiences, or the basic cognitive structure of the individual.

Whatever influences the choice of style, the learning style preference itself is actually the product of two pairs of variables, or two separate ‘choices’ that we make, which Kolb presented as lines of axis, each with ‘conflicting’ modes at either end:
A typical presentation of Kolb’s two continuums is that the east-west axis is called the Processing Continuum (how we approach a task), and the north-south axis is called the Perception Continuum (our emotional response, or how we think or feel about it).

Kolb believed that we cannot perform both variables on a single axis at the same time (e.g. think and feel). Our learning style is a product of these two choice decisions.
It’s often easier to see the construction of Kolb’s learning styles in terms of a two-by-two matrix. Each learning style represents a combination of two preferred styles. The diagram also highlights Kolb’s terminology for the four learning styles; diverging, assimilating, and converging, accommodating:

	Doing (Active Experimentation – AE)	Watching (Reflective Observation – RO)
Feeling (Concrete Experience – CE)	Accommodating (CE/AE)	Diverging (CE/RO)
Thinking (Abstract Conceptualization – AC)	Converging (AC/AE)	Assimilating (AC/RO)

Learning Styles Descriptions

Knowing a person’s (and your own) learning style enables learning to be orientated according to the preferred method. That said, everyone responds to and needs the stimulus of all types of learning styles to one extent or another – it’s a matter of using emphasis that fits best with the given situation and a person’s learning style preferences.
Here are brief descriptions of the four Kolb learning styles:

Diverging (feeling and watching – CE/RO)
These people are able to look at things from different perspectives. They are sensitive. They prefer to watch rather than do, tending to gather information and use imagination to solve problems. They are best at viewing concrete situations at several different viewpoints.
Kolb called this style ‘diverging’ because these people perform better in situations that require ideas-generation, for example, brainstorming. People with a diverging learning style have broad cultural interests and like to gather information.
They are interested in people, tend to be imaginative and emotional, and tend to be strong in the arts. People with the diverging style prefer to work in groups, to listen with an open mind and to receive personal feedback.

Assimilating (watching and thinking – AC/RO)
The Assimilating learning preference is for a concise, logical approach. Ideas and concepts are more important than people. These people require good clear explanation rather than practical opportunity. They excel at understanding wide-ranging information and organizing it in a clear logical format.
People with an assimilating learning style are less focused on people and more interested in ideas and abstract concepts. People with this style are more attracted to logically sound theories than approaches based on practical value.
This learning style is important for effectiveness in information and science careers. In formal learning situations, people with this style prefer readings, lectures, exploring analytical models, and having time to think things through.

Converging (doing and thinking – AC/AE)
People with a converging learning style can solve problems and will use their learning to find solutions to practical issues. They prefer technical tasks, and are less concerned with people and interpersonal aspects.
People with a converging learning style are best at finding practical uses for ideas and theories. They can solve problems and make decisions by finding solutions to questions and problems.
People with a converging learning style are more attracted to technical tasks and problems than social or interpersonal issues. A converging learning style enables specialist and technology abilities. People with a converging style like to experiment with new ideas, to simulate, and to work with practical applications.

Accommodating (doing and feeling – CE/AE)
The Accommodating learning style is ‘hands-on’, and relies on intuition rather than logic. These people use other people’s analysis, and prefer to take a practical, experiential approach. They are attracted to new challenges and experiences, and to carrying out plans.
They commonly act on ‘gut’ instinct rather than logical analysis. People with an accommodating learning style will tend to rely on others for information than carry out their own analysis. This learning style is prevalent within the general population.

Educational Implications

Both Kolb’s (1984) learning stages and cycle could be used by teachers to critically evaluate the learning provision typically available to students, and to develop more appropriate learning opportunities.
Educators should ensure that activities are designed and carried out in ways that offer each learner the chance to engage in the manner that suits them best. Also, individuals can be helped to learn more effectively by the identification of their lesser preferred learning styles and the strengthening of these through the application of the experiential learning cycle.
Ideally, activities and material should be developed in ways that draw on abilities from each stage of the experiential learning cycle and take the students through the whole process in sequence.

References

Assignment

1. Prepare a check list to measure the experiential learning styles among 4th year students who are under going experiential learning programme, measure and write a report.