ERIC Number: ED212427
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1981-Mar
Pages: 25
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Experiential Learning: A Teacher's Perspective.
Herbert, Tom
Variables which affect the experiential style of learning are reality, risk, responsibility, predictability, and analysis or reflection. Learning retention is dependent on the amount of reality involved, the directness of the experience, and the number of senses involved. The learner must also experience uncertainty. In experiential learning, the learner must be committed to what is being undertaken, and should be involved in course content and presentation and in his or her own evaluation. The students decide what they have learned by thinking about what has taken place and their position within that process. Because of the student's involvement in decision making, the teacher's role of clarifier rather than leader, and the overall process versus product approach, specific educational outcomes are not always predictable. Therefore, the teacher must determine the possible outcomes of student choices and must be able to help students analyze what has taken place. Experiential learning can take place anywhere there are interested people. The teacher can create an "adventure" on extended field trips, on short field trips, or within the classroom. It is the teacher's job to find things that appear insignificant and to let students learn from them. (CM)
Descriptors: Classroom Environment, Decision Making, Demonstrations (Educational), Elementary Secondary Education, Experiential Learning, Field Trips, Learning Theories, Outcomes of Education, Outdoor Education, Risk, Student Educational Objectives, Student Role, Summative Evaluation, Teacher Role, Teaching Methods, Visual Aids
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A