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Have you ever asked yourself the question “What is experiential learning, characteristics and examples?
Well, today we will clear up any doubts you may have about this tool used to acquire knowledge of experiential education.
This type of information acquisition is closely linked to experiences and problem solving.
The situations overcome later become knowledge acquired and stored in the memory, which will be useful to solve other situations related to problems you have seen before.
We can define this experiential learning as the obtaining of knowledge by our own experiences; that is, when we solve a very important problem for us, we extract those decisions used in the resolution of that problem and they are carefully chosen and retained in the memory box.
Having all this information stored in our brain will allow us as learners later to solve problems of the same nature or problems that are totally different.
Normally students use this type of methodology to retain the information much better; however, when they are in a more advanced period, these opportunities for students as acquired experiences will be very useful to solve many unknowns that will be presented later on.
The fundamental basis of this learning activity is the individual’s experiences; if he/she does not have many experiences related to the subject in question, it will be very difficult for him/her to make a concrete decision.
People acquire many experiences in the same social environment, school and family, which are very important for our cognitive and intellectual development. If one of these is corrupted, we will have certain problems when it comes to expressing ourselves and solving everyday problems.
Experiential learning and development involves the participation of many factors, and one of them is the emotional and mental part; that is why if one of these is altered, there will be difficulty in the process of learning to solve and retain these experiences.
We are the only ones who can manage our situations, retain them in our memory and use them when necessary.
We found several examples that can help us to understand a little about principles of experiential learning opportunities, these are sports activities, work environment, school, high school, college, games, understanding a person.
Many people fond of sports, acquire this ability from a very young age practicing a specific sport, on the other hand, by offering every grain of sand to this, you will acquire a lot of experience in this activity.
An example would be soccer players or basketball players, this should focus a lot on their passes, know how to carry the ball on the court and look ahead when necessary, but as they play and practice these game modalities, they can be very skilled.
Work is the place where you see a lot of this type of experiential learning; since many workers need knowledge in the area to be paid very well.
When we start as a cashier in any store, it is normal that we do not adapt to the first day, but by having enough time working, you can gain enough experience in this area, and you can get used to the job.
The school is the place where we get many experiences that will serve us a lot for the stage of high school and college.
Children learn to read, socialize, solve mathematical problems and study; in the same way, they learn knowledge of other subjects that will be very useful for the other stages.
Games of any kind are in the experiential learning category; because, there are individuals dedicated to improving in order to pass the game and be the best at it.
During that process the person gains many techniques to complete a certain game.
Getting to know a person involves investing time, respect and interest in listening to them. Interacting with many people makes this process much easier, as this is a complex and delicate situation that requires a lot of attention.
Carl Rogers‘ experiential learning theory is closely related to the person’s interest in learning, being this a great stimulus to acquire a lot of knowledge that will allow the individual to solve certain problems that arise in daily life.
For Kolb‘s experiential learning components where the central point will be the direct experience that these individuals will acquire, which can present modifications. This is one of the most recognized and used principles.
It presents several projections, these are concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, active experiences.
Concrete experience: This dimension is linked to emotions, which are vital when expressing our ideas and how we process information.
Reflective observation: Here acts the act of thinking and observation, where the individual will try to visualize the environment and understand it by extracting images that are familiar or unfamiliar to our experiences.
Abstract conceptualization: For Kolb’s experiential learning there is a paradigm in which the individual creates a scheme to organize very well his or her actions, being these organized properly or taken from the learned experiences.
Active experiences: In this situation the individual acts, but for this he must use a correct language, be emotionally well and have a good understanding of what he is going to express.
Dewey’s experiential learning focuses in the present experiences, which will help the student or person to solve current problems, and as time goes by, he/she will acquire new experiences.
When obtaining these experiences, they should be valued and used, according to the problems that arise.
We acquire many experiences, which are useful for this type of situations, even more if we are interested in solving any problem.
The more interest there is in solving something, the more knowledge will be gained, and this knowledge will be used later to solve other problems or as lessons for other people.
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