Experiential Learning And Its Importance

Being able to reflect on an experience as a form of learning is the goal of experiential learning. Let’s talk about its importance in this article.

Experiential learning is an educational approach or methodology that  aims to allow the student to learn from experiences. In other words, students face different situations through which they learn curriculum concepts and contents.

Characteristics of experiential learning

The experiential learning methodology maintains that meaningful learning takes place through action.

Thus, far from lectures and memorization of concepts, experiential learning intends that students participate in their own learning and, therefore,  make use of all their senses and their reasoning ability in an educational experience linked to a situation real.

Along with other active learning methodologies,  experiential learning aims to actively involve the student so that he can study and research a specific phenomenon or situation.

It is like learning based on challenges, projects or problems, the centers of interest or  Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. In other words, all of these are globalizing teaching-learning strategies, which consider the particularities of those who learn, integrating and involving content from different disciplines.

As we have said, the main goal of experiential learning is  to do  with  the students face a learning situation based on an experiment. And that, in addition, they can critically analyze their own process, as well as the new elements, behaviors and concepts learned.

Qualities of experiential learning

• Allows the student to  learn through experience and situations related to their closest environment. In this way, he can get a global knowledge of that environment.
• It is  valid for different educational levels and ages, as long as the teaching situations are properly designed and developed.
• It involves  meaningful, deep and long-term learning.
• It gives the student a leadership role, encouraging their participation, collaboration and delivery.
• It helps students to gain autonomy in their own learning process, assuming that mistakes are part of all experiential processes.
• It considers the  educator to be a fundamental part of the student’s learning process by assuming the role of advisor and mediator. The teacher must establish an equal relationship with their students in order to accompany them and meet the particular demands of each one of them.

• It seeks the integral development of students as a result of experimental learning, in which different knowledge and, therefore, subjects are treated, in addition to different social, cultural, psychological and personality dimensions.

Learning through experience

Thus, experiential learning must have, as a starting point, educational activities designed based on experiences. That is, using  real, practical and empirical situations to learn school subjects.

For example, it is possible to use drama techniques or group dynamics to learn literature or social skills. Prioritize direct contact with nature to learn biology or physics, or use plastic or musical expression to develop psychomotricity or creativity.

On the other hand, learning from or through experiences has an impact not only on the development of intelligence and senses, but also on the development of emotions.

When people have an experience, sensations and feelings come into play that allow them to develop or connect with aspects of their personality.

In short…

The importance of experiential learning lies in the fact that it uses experience for learning. An experience to be lived on which, later, one must reflect.

It is in this aspect that the educational potential of this methodology lies,  as we really learn when we can reflect on the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to face a specific situation.