Editing Experiential learning (section)

{{Short description|Learn by reflect on active involvement}}
[[File:Shimer_College_Home_Economics_cooking_1942.jpg|thumb|[[Shimer College]] students learning to cook by cooking, 1942]]
'''Experiential learning''' ('''ExL''') is the process of [[learning]] through [[experience]], and is more narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1609604962|isbn=978-1609604967|last=Felicia|first=Patrick|year=2011|page=1003| publisher=IGI Global }}</ref> '''Hands-on learning''' can be a form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students reflecting on their product.<ref>[http://www.edutopia.org/blog/out-of-eden-experiential-learning-homa-tavangar ''The Out of Eden Walk: An Experiential Learning Journey from the Virtual to the Real'', Edutopia, January 3, 2014].  Retrieved 2016-03-16</ref><ref>[http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/program-components/hands-on-learning/ ''Action Learning – How does it work in practice?''  MIT Sloan Management].  Retrieved 2016-03-16 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308105240/http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/program-components/hands-on-learning/ |date=2016-03-08 }}</ref><ref>[http://njaes.rutgers.edu/learnbydoing/ ''The Power of Experiential Learning'', 4-H Cooperative Curriculum System]. Retrieved 2016-03-16 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306093751/http://njaes.rutgers.edu/learnbydoing/ |date=2016-03-06 }}</ref>  Experiential learning is distinct from [[Rote learning|rote]] or [[Didactic method|didactic]] learning, in which the learner plays a comparatively passive role.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Experiential Learning Toolkit: Blending Practice with Concepts|first=Colin|last=Beard|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DAhYlaZhRI8C&pg=PA20|isbn=9780749459345|year=2010|publisher=Kogan Page Publishers }}</ref> It is related to, but not synonymous with, other forms of [[active learning]] such as [[action learning]], [[adventure learning]], free-choice learning, [[cooperative learning]], [[service-learning]], and [[situated learning]].<ref name=itin>Itin, C. M. (1999). Reasserting the Philosophy of Experiential Education as a Vehicle for Change in the 21st Century. ''The Journal of Physical Education'' 22(2), p. 91-98.</ref>

Experiential learning is often used synonymously with the term "[[experiential education]]", but while experiential education is a broader [[philosophy]] of education, experiential learning considers the individual learning process.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Mary C.|last=Breunig|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHmJdHRbYQQC&pg=PA122|page=122|chapter=Teaching Dewey's ''Experience and Education'' Experientially|title=Teaching Adventure Education Theory: Best Practices|editor=Stremba, Bob |editor2=Bisson, Christian A.|year=2009|publisher=Human Kinetics |isbn=9780736071260}}</ref> As such, compared to experiential education, experiential learning is concerned with more concrete issues related to the learner and the learning context. Experiences "stick out" in the mind and assist with information retention.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-11 |title=Experiential Learning Theory |url=https://www.wgu.edu/blog/experiential-learning-theory2006.html |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=Western Governors University |language=en}}</ref> 

The general concept of learning through experience is ancient.  Around 350 BC, [[Aristotle]] wrote in the ''[[s:Nicomachean Ethics (Chase)/Book Two|Nicomachean Ethics]]'' "for the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them".<ref>''Nicomachean Ethics'', Book 2, [[D. P. Chase|Chase]] translation (1911).</ref> But as an articulated educational approach, experiential learning is of much more recent origin.  Beginning in the 1970s, [[David A. Kolb]] helped develop the modern theory of experiential learning, drawing heavily on the work of [[John Dewey]], [[Kurt Lewin]], and [[Jean Piaget]].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Learning Style|first1=Nancy M.|last1=Dixon|first2=Doris E.|last2=Adams|first3=Richard|last3=Cullins|title=Assessment, Development, and Measurement|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g8_yKiqe6JwC&pg=PA41|page=41|year=1997|publisher=American Society for Training and Development |isbn=9781562860493}}</ref>

Experiential learning has significant teaching advantages. [[Peter Senge]], author of ''[[The Fifth Discipline]]'' (1990), states that teaching is of utmost importance to motivate people. Learning only has good effects when learners have the desire to absorb the knowledge. Therefore, experiential learning requires the showing of directions for learners.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of Economic Education|volume=38|issue=2|date=2007|pages=143–152|last1=Hawtrey|first1=Kim|title=Using Experiential Learning Techniques|doi=10.3200/JECE.38.2.143-152 |s2cid=144914124 |id={{ProQuest|235244213}}}}</ref>

Experiential learning entails a hands-on approach to learning that moves away from just the teacher at the front of the room imparting and transferring their knowledge to students. It makes learning an experience that moves beyond the classroom and strives to bring a more involved way of learning.