The Experiential Learning Cycle

The Experiential Learning Cycle as a Pedagogical Approach

Every discussion of experiential learning must include a reference to the Experiential Learning Cycle - a cycle of learning that is comprised of three necessary phases:

• students participate in an experience connected to a community outside of school;

• students reflect on those experiences to derive meaning ; and

• students apply their learning in various aspects of their lives.

Characteristics of effective Experiential Learning

At its core, experiential learning activities immerse students in “an experience” that is connected to a community outside of school; that is, the student is an active participant in the experience, not merely an observer of it. Secondly, the student thinks about and/or analyses (i.e., reflects upon) the experience - both during the experience and after it - to make meaning and identify what has been learned. It is through a structured reflective process that students develop new skills, new attitudes, and new ways of thinking (Lewis & Williams, 1994). Finally, the student applies the learning by using the newly acquired knowledge and/or skills to inform current and future decisions and actions.

Three questions – What?, So what?, and Now what? – are associated with each stage of the process and help to focus students’ thinking and drive the process, as follows:

Participate: What? Students are immersed in an experience, acknowledging what they are doing, what they are thinking, and what they are feeling during the experience.

Reflect: So what? Students think about their experience, guided by reflective questions and prompts, and identify what they learned as a result of the experience – about themselves, other people, the world, their opportunities, or the subject of study.

Apply: Now what? Students describe how their learning stimulates further inquiry; how it has influenced – or may influence – their decisions, opinions, goals, and plans; and what they might do differently if they have a similar experience in the future.

The simplicity of the experiential learning cycle makes it appropriate for students of all ages. By altering the reflective questions and prompts at each stage of the cycle, educators can adjust the complexity, focus, and depth of the process to suit the developmental needs of the students.

Experiential learning requires educators to:

• provide explicit instruction in the skills of reflection; and,

• assist students in developing the habit of looking for the learning that can be drawn from all life experiences.

Reflection is a strategy that develops skills of metacognition (i.e., the process of thinking about one’s own thought processes). Metacognition includes the ability to monitor one’s own progress towards achieving a learning goal, a skill that is reinforced in curriculum expectations and assessment policy (assessment as learning).