Experience-based learning

Experience-based learning describes a didactic model based on the assumption that only direct, practical confrontation with a subject enables an individual to learn effectively and meaningfully . In this model, learning requires a concrete experience with a real character outside of artificial learning environments. Experience-based teaching / learning arrangements are a form of situated learning in which the learner is the central actor .

Learning theory basics

Pedagogy of pragmatism

The concept of experience-based learning goes back to the pedagogy of pragmatism with its most important representative John Dewey . For him, learning always requires an active, reflexive examination of concrete experiences. Problematic situations that are challenging to cope with are the origin of learning processes. According to Dewey, only reflection , i.e. intensive thinking about such problematic situations that arise in everyday life, leads to instructive experiences and thus to the expansion of a person's knowledge . Conversely, learning in formal educational situations (e.g. at school) can only be effective if the abstract knowledge imparted there is linked to specific individual experiences:

“What avail is it to win prescribed amounts of information about geography and history, to win ability to read and write, if in the process the individual loses his own soul: loses his appreciation of things worth while, of the values ​​to which these things are relative; if he loses desire to apply what he has learned and, above all, loses the ability to extract meaning from his future experiences as they occur? "

- John Dewey : Experience and Education

Constructivist understanding of teaching / learning

The focus on direct experience as the basis of learning processes shows that experience-based learning models are constructivist approaches. In contrast to behaviorism and cognitivism , constructivism as a learning paradigm assumes that knowledge cannot be imparted objectively, but is constructed individually by each individual. This position is clearly shown in the equilibrium model of developmental psychologist Jean Piaget , who is considered the forerunner of radical constructivism. Piaget describes the growth of cognitive (knowledge) structures as an interplay between the two processes of assimilation and accommodation . According to the equilibration model, individuals interpret environmental information against the background of their existing knowledge and fit it into this; they assimilate new things into their existing knowledge structures. If information contradicts previous knowledge in such a way (in the sense of a “disruption”) that it is not possible to adapt, it is necessary to change the knowledge structures in such a way that the information appears meaningful again for the individual; the knowledge structures are accommodated. This model shows why an active engagement of the individual with his environment is of great importance for learning from the point of view of constructivism: Individual experiences are the source of every learning process. In addition, social interaction plays a decisive role in the constructivist understanding of learning. Joint action and communication enable, on the one hand, a coordination of individual points of view (intersubjective understanding) and, on the other hand, offer learning opportunities through the meeting of different perspectives. The emphasis on action and social interaction is reflected in different models of experience-based learning.

See also : Constructivist Didactics

Role of the learner

Didactic models of experience-based learning assign the learner an actively acting role. In contrast to frontal teaching, for example, the learning content is not taught instructively, but actively (re) constructed by the learner. Learning takes place here by dealing with (and solving) real problems. The role of the teacher changes accordingly: He does not instruct, but rather formulates and clarifies problems, intervenes in a supportive manner if necessary and advises the learner. He becomes a learning companion ( coach ), instead of imparting knowledge, he has the task of designing learning contexts in such a way that the learners can have instructive experiences.

Models and Concepts

Action learning

Reginald W. Revans' Action Learning is based on the knowledge that learning processes are triggered by a team of learners reflecting on practical problems together. It is based on observations of conversations by Welsh miners who pooled their various experiences and were able to solve problems. Action learning focuses on practical action as a source of new knowledge and is characterized by a critical attitude towards formal expert knowledge . Accordingly, according to Revans, learning always consists of a combination of expert knowledge (programmed knowledge) and critical questioning of this programmed, given knowledge.

Experience-based learning cycle

With reference to Dewey and Kurt Lewin , David Kolb (1984) developed an experience-based learning cycle in which four steps, concrete experience (1), observation and reflection (2), abstract concept formation (3) and active experimentation (4) , get connected.

• Concrete experience : Similar to Dewey's Problematic Situation, this forms the starting point of a learning process. This experience is genuine; that is, it has an observable consequence for the learner.
• Observation and reflection : Based on this experience, the learner observes and then reflects on it. The experience is shown again and, for example, possible causes for the experience made are mentally played out.
• Formation of abstract concepts : The process of reflection leads to the formation of abstract concepts , i. In other words, the concrete experience influences the knowledge structure of the learner. In this step there is a generalization in which the concrete experience is abstracted and the principles on which it is based are recognized. Only through this step do the insights gained from the experience become knowledge that can be transferred to other situations.
• Active experimentation : In the fourth and last step, the learner becomes an agent again: When actively experimenting with the newly acquired knowledge, he tries his hand at real situations. As a result of this last step in the learning cycle, the learner can again have concrete experiences and a second cycle begins.

Since the learning cycle is repeated over and over again, the learning process that takes place in a spiral movement leads to an ever higher level. Kolb emphasizes that the learning cycle can in principle begin at any of the four points, i.e. also when conveying abstract terms (e.g. theories) that are tried out in practice through active experimentation and can thus be concretely experienced by the learner. The learning cycle model is supplemented with a categorization of different learning styles . Kolb assumes that each individual masters certain steps in the learning cycle particularly well, others less well and assigns four learning styles to the four steps: divergent (preferably concrete experience as well as observation and reflection), assimilator (preferably observation and reflection as well as abstract concept formation), Converger (preferably abstract concept formation and active experimentation), accommodator (preferably active experimentation and concrete experience).

Learning helix

The learning helix is ​​a further development of the experience-based learning cycle. In order to make it easier for users to use the learning helix in practice, the learning helix is ​​not divided into four, but eight fields of action. This should create the necessary orientation when going through change processes. In contrast to the experience-based learning cycle, the learning helix places a stronger focus on the conscious perception of differences in one's own actions with the help of various instruments (self-assessment, impact evaluation, delta learning ...).

Problem based learning

Like action learning, problem-based or problem-oriented learning is a variant of experience-based learning in which practical experience forms the starting point of a learning process. The learner is presented with a problem that he then has to solve largely independently. The teacher does not take on the role of an instructor , but is only available as a coach in an advisory capacity.

See also

• Learning from mistakes

literature

• John Dewey: Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education . Original edition 1916. Reprint Digireads, Stilwell 2005.
• John Dewey: Experience and Education . Original edition 1938. Touchstone, New York 1997.
• Jean Piaget : The Equilibration of Cognitive Structures . Klett, Stuttgart 1976.
• D. Boud, GI Feletti: The Challenge of Problem-Based Learning . Kogan Page, London 1997.
• JR Pimentel: Design of Net-Learning Systems based on Experiential Learning. In: Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks. Volume 3, Issue 2, November 1999. ( online ( Memento from February 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ))

Web links

• David A. Kolb on experiential learning. Review article on experience-based learning.
• Review of Kolb's "Theory of Experience-Based Learning"
• Collection of resources for experience-based learning
• Resources of the University of Cologne on problem-based learning
• On the concept of experience
• On the concept of reflection

Individual evidence

1. ^ John Dewey: The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953 . In: Jo Ann Boydston (Ed.): The Later Works of John Dewey . tape 13 . SIU Press, 1988, ISBN 0-8093-1425-8 , pp. 29 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
2. ^ R. Revans: ABC of action learning: Empowering managers to act and to learn from action. Lemos & Crane, London 1998.
3. ^ DA Kolb: Experiential Learning. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1984.
4. ↑ M. Kaufmann, R. Mangold: The project. 2008.   ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Lernhelix ) A learning and action model for the sustainable and profound development of people and organizations. proEval, Dornbirn.