After the activity we did in the last class, everyone or every group stressed on how experience is a great way to learn. We can all agree that learning is inseparable from doing by arguing that all knowledge is situated in activity bound to social, cultural, and physical contexts. Nonetheless, learning is more likely to occur in authentic contexts where knowledge is gained and applied in everyday situations. As an example, if a child reads every book in the world about how to play soccer, but he/she won’t fully learn how to play until he/she goes and plays soccer at a soccer field with other people who know the game.
By saying so, we must think of how to incorporate learning from experiences and show the student how the may use the content learned in the real world. Teachers and instructors can do that by creating real-world situations or examples, so students can apply the skills they learned. Developing a scenario, case studies, or role plays will increase student interest and involvement. Also, students will have the chance to practice and make choices and receive feedback on them, which will increase the application of the skills they learned in the class.
I totally agree with you. We learn from the experience. As civil engineers, we learn how to design buildings, bridges, roads., etc. But everything is on the paper. It is not until we build these structures that we really learn how to do it. As you say, we have to include real-world scenarios in the classroom so students can apply the skills they learned.
I’m not usually big on quotes, but there’s one that stuck on me from C.S. Lewis. “Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God, do you learn.”
I agree that experience and practice are the best ways to learn new skills, and expand your proficiency in skills you already know. Role playing in the classroom is great way to get that practice.
Wejdan, you have captured the essence of experiential learning. It is important to note that in the context of our lives, learning is not just one interpretation but can mean different things to different people based on who they are…then teaching with absoluteness in mind limits the possibilities of what students will learn…right…and yet it is such a strange concept to some.
I had a professor once that used to say, “Screwing up is the best way to learn. Because once you screw up, you’ll never forget.” … only, he didn’t say “screw”
Still, food for thought. Sometimes making mistakes is an important part of growth.
I definitely agree with you on learning from experience. As an undergraduate, I only worked on computational models. When I started graduate school and had to perform my own experiments, I started understanding more about biology and what I was actually trying to model. It’s been a great experience!