Experiential Learning!
Experiential learning is learning through reflection on doing [Wikipedia, 2018]. This does not mean that every class that has an activity is experiential. There are nine characteristics of Experiential Learning (Rogers, 1979)
Characteristics
1.
A mix of content and process.
4.
Encouraging the big picture perspective.
7.
Re-examination of values.
2.
Absence of excessive judgement.
5.
Learners reflect on what they are experiencing.
8.
The presence of meaningful relationships.
3.
Engagement in purposeful endeavors.
6.
Creating emotional investment.
9.
Learning outside one's comfort zone.
Experiential Model Design!
Here's Why!
The internship at the courthouse with a sitting judge was a new experience for me. At the time, I had never been in a courthouse and wanted to study to be an attorney. Studying the law (as I did in the first quarter) did not prepare me for seeing it applied in an actual courthouse. Observing attorneys, listening to the judge, and meeting with the judge weekly was a new concrete experience.
During my internship, I kept notes on a legal pad. I had a lot of questions every week for the judge because I wanted to reconcile what I thought I was going to see with what was actually occurring. The judge's answers to my questions did not satisfy me. Instead, I began keeping a journal to reflect on what I was observing and what my deeper questions were. I pondered why none of the attorneys were more argumentative. All of the participants seemed bored with the process. My fellow students were bored by the experience and many stopped coming to observe. It was difficult for me to imagine a career participating in this.
I wondered in my journal, "Why is this like the law in slow motion?" I also wanted to find out why the judge spoke so highly of the profession. I questioned my priorities for what is important in a court case and what is misconception. I struggled to make sense of what I had observed. I started to investigate all the court roles, not just the judge and attorneys. I noted the importance of documents being introduced and the care the stenographer took to capture every word correctly. My weekly meeting with the judge stopped focusing on factual questions and instead centered around why her job was important.
During the last weeks of my internship, I theorized that the judge has a crucial role. She was in my estimation a conductor, a gatekeeper, and a scholar. She controlled what information would be admitted to the record (which is what the jurors would use to decide the case) and what would be excluded. Passionate arguments like on television would not impact any of her cases. I wanted to see if this was true in other courtrooms; therefore, I signed up for a different courtroom internship for the next quarter.
The next quarter's internship began Kolb's Experiential Cycle again.
Sources
Indiana University Bloomington. (n.d.). Authentic Assessment. Retrieved July 14, 2018, from https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/assessing-student-learning/authentic-assessment/
Mcleod, S. (2017, February 05). Kolb's Theory of Learning Styles, The Converger, The Diverger, The Assimilator, The Accommodator, Learning Cycle. Retrieved July 19, 2018, from https://simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html
Rogers, C. (2018). Experiential Learning (Carl Rogers). Retrieved July 20, 2018, from http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/experiential-learning/
Rogers, C. R. (1979). Freedom to Learn. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing
Wilbert, M. (2013, April 19). Authentic Assessment in Action. Retrieved July 16, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/sammamish-4-authentic-assessment-in-action-mark-wilbert