Experiential Learning and a Short Lesson on “The Role of Reflection”

  

Experiential Learning and a Short Lesson on “The Role of Reflection” 

Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

 

Experiential learning is the process whereby students learn by doing from direct experience (UNA, n.d.) that offers an array of discovery opportunities (Forbes, 2018). It is different from any conventional way of learning in the classroom because it engages students to make their own learning without the teacher’s interference on what and when to do what tasks (Schwartz, 2012). The students take the major responsibilities during the learning processes and the learning happens beyond the classroom learning. Students are directly involved in developing their own knowledge, skills, and relevant values for their personal and professional growth from the experience they gain outside their classroom. (UNA, n.d.) because they learn through experience and reflection during the learning process which enables them to connect theories, knowledge, skills, and values to real-world experiences or situations (Kent State University, 2022). In the words of Chapman, McPhee, and Proudman, simple activities conducted in the classroom do not make learning experiential because learning depends on the type of activity carried out and the place where the learning occurs (Schwartz, 2012). Thus, Schwartz outlined nine learning activities that enable experiential learning experiences based on the situation. From the nine outlined learning activities, this discussion will elaborate on a scenario about an activity, “The role of reflection” that fulfills the definition of experiential learning.

 The Role of Reflection

 A teacher should construct his lesson based on reflective experiential learning so that students can create meaning out of the learning experience they draw through the lens of the constructivist approach. Making students reflect on their experience helps them construct structured opportunities whereby they are involved in analyzing their experience critically. This helps them transform their experience into a new learning experience for new understanding. Schwartz (2012) stated that students should be able to bring ‘the theory to life” by reflecting on their learning experience so that they can deepen their learning by understanding themselves to interact well with the world.

According to Moon (2004), there are two stages to processing reflective learning in the classroom. In the first stage, students are asked to “present their reflection” in the written format, followed by the second stage in which students are asked to “understand their reflection” from the initial to the complex ideas through critical collaboration. However, the teacher should ensure that students are aware of the concept and methodology of reflective writing (Schwartz, 2012).

A Short Lesson on “The Role of Reflection” that fulfills the Experiential Learning

Below is a short lesson on “The role of reflection” that fulfills the experiential learning for class eight students during the Science lesson.

Before introducing the lesson, the teacher will divide the class into eight groups of four students and ask them to discuss the differences between the renewable and non-renewable resources that they have seen in their locality and note them down quickly in their notebooks. There will be a short sharing session to check their previous knowledge. To stimulate the curiosity of the students, the teacher will introduce the lesson by asking the students to note down in their notebook:

·       The type of waste they produce in a week.

·       The list of resources they use at home.

·       How to use them in sustainable ways.

After that, they will be asked to compare their answers with their friends in their groups.  Next, the teacher will prompt the discussion with “what if” questions so that they engage in reflecting on their own manners:

·       What if there is no water in your house for two days?

·       What if there is no electricity in your house for a week?

·       What if you have no firewood or LPG in your house?

During the lesson development, the teacher will ask them to move around the school campus, hostel areas, the school kitchen areas, and the school canteen areas to take notes, record them, draw their opinion, and reflect on the waste thrown and examine which waste can be reused or recycled. It is followed by a visit to the nearby waste management plant located in the community and follows the same process of making the observation. After the observation, students will be asked to format their findings as per the 5Rs (reduce, recycle, reuse, recover, and repurpose) table. After the field trip session, they will be asked to go to the computer lab to discover detailed information about the waste based on the findings made by the different international organizations along with the national findings and record it in the 5Rs table.

During the follow-up of the lesson, the students will be asked to draw the interferences by letting them compare and contrast their findings with their friends and conclude by thinking about some reliable ways to reduce, recycle, reuse, recover, and repurposed the waste they noticed or observed after which they will present it to the entire class. The teacher will then conceptualize the lesson based on the interferences by students and make them understand how we can take responsibility for using the 5Rs in managing our waste to keep our environment safe and sound. Finally, the lesson will be closed by making the students reflect on their findings and prepare a report on the measures that they have taken to reduce waste in their lives. They will also be asked to reflect on their 5Rs and the effective ways of implementing 5Rs in preserving the environment and becoming environmentally friendly. After their reflections, they will be engaged in preparing an awareness program for the local community.  

In conclusion, making students reflect in such a way boosts their learning through mistakes and realization that supports a growth mindset of continuous lifelong learning (Miller, 2019). Moreover, engaging students through experiential learning enables them to make effective and meaningful connections with their content (University of North Texas, 2022).

 

References

Forbes. (2018). 10 Easy Ways to Implement Experiential Learning in The Corporate World. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/06/29/10-easy-ways-to-implement-experiential-learning-in-the-corporate-world/?sh=a8a35fc1e8fd

Kent State University. (2022). What is Experiential Learning and Why is it Important? https://www.kent.edu/community/what-experiential-learning-and-why-it-important#:~:text=Experiential%20Learning%20is%20the%20process,classroom%20to%20real%2Dworld%20situations.

Miller, A. (2019). Treating Reflection as a Habit, Not an Event. https://www.edutopia.org/article/treating-reflection-habit-not-event

Moon, J.A. (2004). A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.

Schwartz, M. (2012). Best practices in experiential learning. https://www.mcgill.ca/eln/files/eln/doc_ryerson_bestpracticesryerson.pdf

UNA. (n.d.). Experiential Learning. https://una.edu/career/experiential-learning/index.html

University of North Texas. (2022). The Impact of Experiential Learning on Student Learning. https://teachingcommons.unt.edu/teaching-essentials/engaged-learning/impact-experiential-learning-student-learning