Experience-Based Learning

Guiding Framework

Students in an experience-based learning environment are provided with a guiding framework in which they are introduced to the purpose of the learning experience and to the desired outcomes their attention should be focused on throughout the experience. For example, consider the experience of learning how to evaluate websites. If the purpose of the learning experience is for students to learn how to create aesthetically appealing websites, students will be directed to focus their attention on identifying and critiquing visual elements when tasked with evaluating websites. However, if the purpose of the learning experience is for students to learn how to identify credible research sources, the evaluation of websites will instead have a focus on identifying and critiquing the credibility of the content and the content producer.

As part of the provided guiding framework, students will also go through a process of discovery, or an assessment of prior learning, to determine what they already know about the topic. This preassessment takes many forms, such as surveys, demonstrations, or discussions. The students’ prior knowledge of the topic is then connected with the upcoming experience; that is, students are shown what will change, perhaps through a demonstration. Then, final assessment criteria, or how students’ performances are to be evaluated, are communicated. Finally, students receive guidance on what is expected from them in terms of interactions and behavior within the learning experience.

Opportunities for Experience

After the framework is presented, the second element provided in an experience-based learning environment is the opportunity for students to either directly or artificially experience a situation that is tied to the real world. Whether a direct experience, such as an apprenticeship, or an artificial experience, such as a computer simulation, experience-based learning is reflective of real-world situations. The more closely the learning experience is connected to real-world experiences, the stronger the transfer of learning from the classroom environment to the real environment.

Experience-based learning often provides students with a problem-based or service learning experience that is grounded in the students’ real [Page 422]world—for example, management training or learning to work with people who are disadvantaged. Constructive feedback from the instructor is integral to assessment of experience-based learning and immediately follows the initial practice opportunities. These comments provide students with detailed and real-world feedback on what they could do differently if they did not appropriately or adequately perform. This constructive feedback strategy allows students to see that their decisions and actions have a variety of consequences, both positive and negative. Subsequent practice opportunities provide a gradual decrease of teaching intervention and feedback as learners become better able to self-assess and prepare themselves for real-world applications.

...