Editing Experiential learning (section)

==Implementation==
Experiential learning requires self-initiative, an "intention to learn" and an "active phase of learning".<ref name=moon /> Kolb's cycle of experiential [[learning]] can be used as a framework for considering the different stages involved.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kolb|first=D|title=Experiential Learning as the Science of Learning and Development|year=1984|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ}}</ref> Jennifer A. Moon has elaborated on this cycle to argue that experiential learning is most effective when it involves: 1) a "reflective learning phase" 2) a phase of learning resulting from the actions inherent to experiential learning, and 3) "a further phase of learning from feedback".<ref name=moon /> This process of learning can result in "changes in judgment, feeling or skills" for the individual<ref>{{cite book|last=Chickering|first=A|title=Experience and Learning|year=1977|publisher=Change Magazine Press|location=New York|pages=63}}</ref> and can provide direction for the "making of judgments as a guide to choice and action".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hutton|first=M.|title=Learning from action: a conceptual framework, in S. Warner Weil and M. McGill (eds) Making Sense of Experiential Learning.|year=1980|publisher=SRHE/Open University Press|location=Milton Keynes|pages=50–9, p. 51}}</ref>

Most [[educator]]s understand the important role [[experience]] plays in the learning process. The role of [[emotion]] and feelings in learning from experience has been recognised as an important part of experiential learning.<ref name=moon>{{cite book|last=Moon|first=J.|title=A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning:Theory and Practice|year=2004|publisher=Routledge Falmer|location=London|pages=126}}</ref> While those factors may improve the likelihood of experiential learning occurring, it can occur without them. Rather, what is vital in experiential learning is that the individual is encouraged to directly involve themselves in the experience, and then to reflect on their experiences using analytic skills, in order that they gain a better understanding of the new knowledge and retain the information for a longer time.

Reflection is a crucial part of the experiential learning process, and like experiential learning itself, it can be facilitated or independent. Dewey wrote that "successive portions of reflective thought grow out of one another and support one another", creating a scaffold for further learning, and allowing for further experiences and reflection.<ref>Kompf, M., & Bond, R. (2001). Critical reflection in adult education. In T. Barer-Stein & M. Kompf (Eds.), The craft of teaching adults (p. 55). Toronto, ON: Irwin.</ref> This reinforces the fact that experiential learning and reflective learning are iterative processes, and the learning builds and develops with further reflection and experience. Facilitation of experiential learning and reflection is challenging, but "a skilled facilitator, asking the right questions and guiding reflective conversation before, during, and after an experience, can help open a gateway to powerful new thinking and learning".<ref name=ruddy>Jacobson, M. & Ruddy, M. (2004) Open to outcome (p. 2). Oklahoma City, OK: Wood 'N' Barnes.</ref> Jacobson and Ruddy, building on Kolb's four-stage Experiential Learning Model<ref name=kolb /> and Pfeiffer and Jones's five stage Experiential Learning Cycle,<ref>Pfeiffer, W. & Jones, J. E. (1975). ''A Handbook of Structured Experiences for Human Relations Training''. La Jolla, California: University Associates.</ref> took these theoretical frameworks and created a simple, practical questioning model for [[facilitator]]s to use in promoting critical reflection in experiential learning. Their "5 Questions" model is as follows:<ref name=ruddy />
* Did you notice?
* Why did that happen?
* Does that happen in life?
* Why does that happen?
* How can you use that?

These questions are posed by the facilitator after an experience, and gradually lead the group towards a critical reflection on their experience, and an understanding of how they can apply the learning to their own life.<ref name=ruddy /> Although the questions are simple, they allow a relatively inexperienced facilitator to apply the theories of Kolb, Pfeiffer, and Jones, and deepen the learning of the group.

While it is the learner's experience that is most important to the learning process, it is also important not to forget the wealth of experience a good facilitator also brings to the situation. However, while a facilitator, or "teacher", may improve the likelihood of experiential learning occurring, a facilitator is not essential to experiential learning. Rather, the mechanism of experiential learning is the learner's reflection on experiences using analytic skills. This can occur without the presence of a facilitator, meaning that experiential learning is not defined by the presence of a facilitator. Yet, by considering experiential learning in developing course or program content, it provides an opportunity to develop a framework for adapting varying [[teaching]]/learning techniques into the classroom.<ref>Rodrigues, C. A. (2004). The importance level of ten teaching/learning techniques as rated by university business students and instructors. Journal of Management Development, 23(2), pp. 169–182.</ref>