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“Experiential learning stimulates original thinking and develops a wide range of thinking strategies and perpetual skills which are not called forth by books or lectures.”

Experiential learning is any learning that helps individuals in applying their knowledge and conceptual understanding to real-world problems or situations. More than a hundred years ago, Hermann Ebbinghaus formulated the learning curve, which describes the relationship between memory and time. In a nutshell, it says that, during a lecture, if your absorption rate is at 100 percent on day one, there is a 50-80 percent loss of learning from the second day onward, which is reduced to a retention rate of just 2-3 percent at the end of thirty days.

However, when the individuals are given the opportunities to learn in authentic situations such as during internships, field placements, clinical experiences, research and service learning projects, interaction with leaders and mentors, etc the learning becomes significantly more effective. Authentic real- world experiences can help individuals:

1. Deepen their knowledge through repeatedly acting and then reflecting on this action,
2. Develop their skills through practice and reflection
3. Support and design novel ways to deal with varied and challenging situations,
4. Extend their learnings as they bring their learnings back to the society

At present, more and more organizations are gravitating towards experiential learning and training. Corporate trainers believe that the merger of two traditionally separate aspects of training: learning and hands-on experience, is the best way to provide skills. When it comes to the systematic acquisition of knowledge and skills needed to support business transformations, success depends on a combination of intellectual comprehension and hands on experience.

In modern corporate settings, effective capability builders rely on dedicated experiential learning programs through domain experts to achieve the desired results and the targeted goals.

The Experiential Learning Theory:

This theory provides a holistic model of the learning process, based not only on the cognitive and behavioral aspect, but also includes the subjective perception one experiences while learning.

According to psychologist David Kolb, experiential learning is a process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. This theory is based on four factors:

• Concrete Experience: the learner must be actively involved in this learning.
• Reflective observations: the learner must possess and use analytical skills to review and reflect on the experiences.
• Abstract Conceptualization: the learner must be able to reflect on the experience, make conclusions and learn from that experience.
• Active experimentation: the learner must plan and try out what they have just learned, using their decision making and problem-solving skills.

These are the four elements that form a cycle through which the learners can observe, understand, practice, experiment and learn.

Experiential Learning Techniques or Strategies:

Every organization is different from each other and therefore each company will likely have their own way of implementing experiential learning strategies. Some strategies to consider while tailoring experiential learning initiatives:

1. Simulations: This experiential learning program uses electronic, mechanical or software based activities to simulate a real-world situation to which a learner must react. Simulations varies depending on the number of parameters, the training or the learning program offers a terrific way to educate their staff and individuals on the most remote hypothetical scenarios that they might have to deal with.
2. Case Studies: these are the best examples of experiential learning which are based on real life instances, and situations that have occurred in the past. By divulging the leaners about the past, the trainers can give them an insight into the behavior required to deal with similar situations in the future.
3. Role Playing: These learning activities are designed to encourage the employees to appreciate specific work situations from perspectives different than their own. For example, a customer service manager may play the role of a customer to experience the impact that a policy might have on the customer.
4. Sensitivity Training: highly effective implementation of experiential learning strategy is to enhance employee self-awareness and confidence. The main objective of this training program is to design activities that help learners appreciate how others (peers, customers and managers) see them.
5. Gaming: experiential learning games are a current way of helping employees in an organization. These games can be organized in a way that individuals and groups play with each other, either by collaborating or competing in the real world. This process can help them in learning valuable lessons about how to deal with on-job situations.
6. On job Training: above all the experiential learning strategies, on job training is the one which gives you the most realistic training experience. By designing experiential activities for a group of trainees, based on the actual location where they will be working. On job training can expose the staff to business situations such as real customers, peers, managers, real products and services, that they will continue to deal with once the training is completed.

The need for rapid results and quick turnaround of fully trained workers is driving corporate trainers to include innovative training strategies in their programs. As a result, experiential learning is now fast becoming a standard approach to train effectively. Experiential training helps in the following:

1. Accelerates Learning: repetitive learning or learning by rote has been replaced by “learning by doing.” Experiential learning methodology uses critical thinking, problem solving and decision making to deliver a training module.
2. Provides a safe learning environment: simulations use real life scenarios that depict several challenges, which the individual will face after the completion of the course.
3. Bridges the gap between theory and practice: by moving beyond theory to the realm of “learning by doing”, the trainee gets a firsthand experience of practicing what has been taught. This plays an essential role in retaining the concepts and ideas.
4. Produces demonstrable mindset changes: there are a very few learning methods that can have a dramatic impact on the participants mindset. Management guru “Henry Mintzberg” pointed out long ago that, “Leadership like swimming, cannot be learned by reading about it.
5. Increases the engagement level: the high focus on collaboration and learning from each other benefits the participant as it increases engagement. On the other hand, since the participant is immediately involved in the problem-solving activity or event, the level of ownership of the outcome is high.
6. Delivers exceptional Return on investment (ROI): experiential learning is essential and effective in nature, influencing both feelings and emotions as well as enhancing knowledge and skills.
7. Provides accurate assessment results: assessing the effectiveness of the learning program in terms of the benefits to the trainees and the organization is the most crucial part of any learning program. Most of the assessments are data driven and traditional tools use tests to measure effectiveness. When it comes to experiential learning programs, it is extremely difficult to collect data. But with the use of analytics this data can be collected and used for assessments. This when combined with simulation and gamification, experiential training products becomes a powerhouse of data, which can be used to deliver assessments accurately across cognitive learning, skills effect and objective results. The analytics engines in these simulations record, analyze and provide a detailed report on the participants interaction throughout the simulation.
8. Enables personalized learning: To enable personalized learning, every program needs to enable a journey through the following phases: Assessment, teaching, learning strategy, and curriculum choice. Experiential learning methodology is highly effective in meeting these requirements to enable personalized learning. It is a radical departure from traditional learning methods and takes the learning beyond the classroom. The participants set their own learning pace.

Experiential learning demands self-initiative and self-assessment along with complete, hands-on participation by everyone. The essence of experiential learning is to demonstrate every possibility, so that the data doesn’t remain as information, it transforms into knowledge.

As Benjamin Franklin rightly said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn”. This is more relevant in today’s world when technology keeps evolving and change is a constant, learning and upgrading skills become inevitable.

Sources:

Experiential Learning Defined. (n.d.). Retrieved June 27, 2017, from https://facultyinnovate.utexas.edu/teaching/strategies/overview/experiential-learning

Experiential Learning for Leaders. (n.d.). Retrieved June 27, 2017, from https://www.td.org/Publications/Research-Reports/2016/Experiential-Learning-for-Leaders

Holdings, K. (2014, October 24). 8 Reasons Why Experiential Learning Is The Future Of Learning. Retrieved June 27, 2017, from https://elearningindustry.com/8-reasons-experiential-learning-future-learning