Experiential learning provides an educational environment that takes place outside of a traditional classroom. It allows students to apply theoretical information in a practical setting, which deepens their understanding of the content they are trying to learn. Research has argued that experiential learning benefits students because the knowledge they gain in a classroom should ultimately be ultimately utilized in the community in which they will work (Kolb).  The main tenet of experiential learning is that students learn by doing, and then reflect on their experience. The reflection of the experience the students had is what ties learning to this occurrence and allows the students to engage in critical thinking about the concepts they are learning in a classroom. Also, experiential learning allows students to be more creative when they have problems or issues to solve within their experiential learning environment. Lastly, students appear to demonstrate more positive attitudes towards learning when they engage in experiential learning. They get to get out of the classroom and engage in real-life situations. 

An important merit to this type of learning is that experiential education allows students to apply the content knowledge that they learn inside a classroom to a real-world setting. When students go to school to learn, a lot of theoretical information is taught to them. However, they more rarely have the opportunity to see how that information is applied. In experiential learning, the students get to apply the knowledge they learned in a way that they will actually use it in the future. Experiential learning also enhances other types of skills, such as interpersonal skills and their critical thinking skills, which again is hard to teach inside a classroom. 

Some examples of experiential learning include internships, service-learning, academic community-service, lab experiments, and various field experiences. Learning about the development of the Chinese food industry can align with experiential learning. To teach students about this, I would engage them in various field experiences. This would begin by students learning about the Chinese food industry in their classroom, then visiting different places that help fuel this industry. One place the students could start is at local markets and factories where the ingredients for Chinese food are made and sold. This would teach them about where the food comes from. The students could then go visit a Chinese food restaurant to learn more about the preparation of how the food is prepared. The restaurant would also be able to teach them about what the most popular dishes are, and any specific serving customs that go along with eating Chinese food. 

More specifically, Kolb explained experiential learning as a cycle. The first part of the cycle is a concrete learning experience. This is when the student is actively engaging in the experiential learning construct. In this case, the concrete learning experience would be when the students are experiencing through their field experience in the Chinese Food Industry. The concrete learning experience leads to the second stage of the learning cycle, which is reflective observation. In their reflective observation, they will reflect on the experience they had in their field experience. Furthermore, to assess learning, this learning style would assign reflection writing to the students. The students would then write a reflection that connected what they learned about in class, to what they experienced in their field experience in Chinese Food industry. This will allow the students to engage in critical thinking, When the students reflect on the experience they had, they move into stage three of the experiential learning cycle, which is called abstract conceptualization. The fourth and final stage is called active experimentation. In this stage students will utilize and apply material that they learned in class into their experiential learning experience every time they are engaging in this type of learning. 

Reference

Kolb, David. Experiential learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1984. 

Blog#2 cooperative learning

Hi zhefu

It’s glad to read your post this week. Just as you say, ” cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy.” When learners learn knowledge, they need to think and ask themselves or others. So I think cooperation is a part of study. Your article give me different perspective on learning design.

Thank you