In all of life, reading or hearing about something is never as powerful as experiencing it for yourself. How much better do you understand geography after you’ve traveled somewhere on your own? And do you think you could ever learn to ski simply by watching a video? Only when you are out on the slopes can you fully grasp the meaning of planting a pole or putting all of your weight on your uphill foot.

In its most simple form, this is the essence of experiential learning, or learning by doing. Back in the 5th century BC, Confucius recognized the effectiveness of experiential learning when he said "I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand." Since then, many philosophers, psychologists, sociologists and educators have touted the merits of learning by experience. From the work of John Dewey in the early 1900’s to David Kolb’s more recent theories, experiential learning has expanded into a variety of approaches as educators learn (experientially!) what works and what can be improved upon.

Shifting curriculum to be more learner-centered and less lecture-focused can have a significant impact on any training program. There are several key components of experiential learning that can help students leave the classroom with better comprehension and retention, and an enhanced ability to apply concepts and skills in the business world.

Use Your Whole Brain
A “Whole Brain” approach to instruction incorporates all four lobes of the brain (memory, hearing, vision and motor skills) to seed concepts deep into long-term memory. The more places learning enters the brain, the better recall students have. This means combining exercises where learners use multiple techniques, such as talking, asking questions, working in teams, listening, seeing, reading and recalling information. Through these varied activities, students create “muscle memory” that dramatically improves retention.

Acknowledge Learning Styles
Research has shown that people exhibit different learning preferences and aptitudes. Some people learn by doing, others by listening and reflecting; some display mathematical acuity, while others excel in language skills. Thus, an effective curriculum is one that incorporates activities to engage learners in various ways. For example, you can “walk the process” to appeal to spatial learners, then talk about it in groups to help drive home concepts to the more linguistically minded. 

Less PowerPoint = Greater Engagement
PowerPoint slides have their place in keeping lessons on track and helping students know what to expect from the course. However, an overdependence on such tools leads to the traditional “lecture/listen” method, a more tedious and less engaging approach to training. When instructors go beyond static lectures and reading from PowerPoint slides, they become active facilitators
of learning who “drive epiphanies” in their students’ minds.

A variety of activities can be used to imbed knowledge into long-term memory and drive true behavior change, including discussions, group exercises, student "teach backs,” case studies and daily openers and closers.

For many types of learners, nothing beats a simulation for excitement, competition and learning to apply key concepts in the real world. Simulations give students the chance to apply the tools they have learned and see the outcomes firsthand. The data and observations from a simulation can easily be woven into the teaching of Lean Six Sigma, Change Leadership, or whatever the topic may be.

Proof in the Pudding
According to Stanford University professor Dr. Elliot Eisner, “The ultimate aim
of education is to enable individuals to become the architects of their own education and through that process to continually reinvent themselves.”

At BMG, our ultimate aim is to deliver more than just learning by driving true behavior change and results for your Performance Excellence program. We have recently revised our Lean Six Sigma curriculum to feature more experiential learning, and the response has been positive.

The proof is in the pudding. Says Ginty Chalk (this month’s Ask an Expert columnist), the true effectiveness of experiential learning can be seen once the students have changed their behavior. "We can all gain knowledge," she asserts, "but whether we use it to improve our skills or our job is the difference between merely gaining knowledge and actual learning.”

Additional Resources

• Association for Experiential Education
• Wikipedia
  
  

Wendy St. Clair is a Product Development Project Manager for BMG. She can be reached at Wendy.StClair@bmgi.com.