Why is experiential learning import

Why is experiential learning important?

Experiential learning teaches students the competencies they need for real-world success. The public is clamoring for an education that teaches students the competencies they need for real-world success. Although we can simulate the real world in the classroom and laboratory, authentic experiential learning creates an invaluable opportunity to prepare students for a profession or career, learn the craft of a fine artist, or discover how the discipline creates evidence to contribute to its body of knowledge. Thus, Sullivan and Rosin (2008) argue that the mission for higher education should be to bridge the gap between theory and practice and Bass (2012) suggests that to do this, the educational environment needs to intentionally create rich connections between the formal and experiential curriculums. Particularly at a research university, we have a responsibility to create situations where students benefit from the abundance of research that is taking place. Experiential learning provides one approach to ameliorating this criticism and mining the richness of the research taking place at the university.

Experiential learning motivates students. Experiential learning provides the conditions for optimally supporting student learning. When students are engaged in learning experiences that they see the relevance of; they have increased motivation to learn. Students are also motivated when they are provided opportunities for practice and feedback. Experiential learning meets these criteria (Ambrose, et. al., 2010).

Experiential learning creates self-directed learners. Through experiential learning, students are confronted with unfamiliar situations and tasks in a real-world context. To complete these tasks, students need to figure out what they know, what they do not know, and how to learn it. This requires students to: reflect on their prior knowledge and deepen it through reflection; transfer their previous learning to new contexts; master new concepts, principles, and skills; and be able to articulate how they developed this mastery (Linn, et al., 2004). Ultimately, these skills create students who become self-directed, life-long learners.

How does experiential learning work?

Kolb's (1984) cycle of learning depicts the experiential learning process (see figure below). This process includes the integration of:
• knowledge—the concepts, facts, and information acquired through formal learning and past experience;
• activity—the application of knowledge to a “real world” setting; and
• reflection—the analysis and synthesis of knowledge and activity to create new knowledge” (Indiana University, 2006, n.p.).