Designing An Experiential Session
All learning is cyclical in nature. They begin with experiencing or gathering a new concept or 'new information'. The information gathering experience is either a multi-sensory experience or an abstract experience. The next part of learning is to process this information.
The processing of information could happen either through thinking about the new learning or by using it to do something.
This article describes how each learning experience can be made the best by making this learning cycle the basis of every teaching or training session.
Considering that no trainer, teacher or facilitator knows the preference of students for gathering and processing information, s/he will be in good shape if s/he caters to all preferences. On the face of it this looks a daunting prospect.
However learning preferences are a combination of two of the following four processes. According to Kolb and Fry, people gather information either through Concrete Experience or Abstract Conceptualization; people process information either through Reflective Observation or Active Experimentation.
Based on the above theory there are four Learning Styles or preferences. Learning style 1 is a combination of Concrete Experience and Reflective Observation. Learning style 2 is a combination of Abstract Conceptualization and Reflective Observation.
Learning style 3 is a combination of Abstract Conceptualization and Active Experimentation. Learning style 4 is a combination of Concrete Experience and Active Experimentation.
This means that teachers or trainers have to ensure that information is provided in two different ways and provide experiences which will help learners to process information in two different ways.
Designing sessions in this way will give learners access to information along the learning cycle.
Providing Information: A teacher or trainer has to present information which is what most of them do to provide the experience of Abstract Conceptualization.
To provide concrete experience the teacher/trainer will either have to use a role play, a story, a game, a song or any such kind of activity through which learners experience the concept through something other than words on a page.
Processing Information: Having provided information it is time to provide experiences to process this information. Reflective Observation can be done through quizzes, inventories, questionnaires etc. This is useful for people who process well with abstract concepts, printed matter etc.
For the ones who process well with doing something with the learnt material, experiences involving actions or experiments will have to be provided. This is Active Experimentation.
Trainers/teachers have to provide either contexts where they can use/apply the learnt material, or provide home assignments to experiment with the learnt material.
Any class/session can take care of these four aspects and thus complete the learning cycle. A great way to design sessions which are wholesome!