Self Directed Experiential Learning
Table of Contents
"If you tell people where to go but not how to get there, you'll be amazed by the results."
-General George Patton
Learning is a lifelong process. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we confront the following questions after every learning experience: What did I learn? What does it mean? What's next? We choose learning situations because we think they can answer questions and solve problems. At the same time we expect every learning experience to raise new questions and redefine old problems. From this perspective the criterion for a successful learning experience is that it results in both solutions and questions. While the solutions represent an immediate practical outcome, the questions provide guidelines for the choice of future learning experiences. Thus, questions are the basis for setting personal learning goals.
An irony commonly noted by managers in business is that often the smartest people find it the hardest to learn (Argyris 1991). Why might this be? It may have to do with people defining learning too narrowly, as mere "problem solving," so that they tend to focus on identifying and correcting errors in the external environment. Solving problems is important, but learning requires individual's to look inward. This means, they need to reflect critically on their own behavior, identify the ways they often inadvertently contribute to problems, and then change their actions. In particular, they must learn how the very way they go about defining and solving problems can be a source of problems in its own right.
Problems are not a sign of failure but a challenge to seek new and better ways to create knowledge.
The four-stage problem solving model (problem - data collection - solution [goal] - action) can be seen as a description of the learning process itself. Immediate concrete experience is the basis for observation and reflection. Observations are assimilated into a "theory" from which new implications for action can be deduced. These implications or hypotheses then serve as guides for acting to create new experiences.
The learner, if s/he is to be effective, needs four different kinds of abilities:
Concrete Experience abilities (CE): the learner must be able to involves her/himself fully, openly and without bias in new experiences.
Reflective Observation abilities (RO): the learner must be able to reflect on and observe these experiences from many perspectives.
Abstract Conceptualization abilities (AC): the learner must be able to create concepts that integrate his/her observations into sound theories.
Active Experimentation abilities (AE): the learner must be able to use these theories to make decisions and solve problems.
There are two primary dimensions to the learning process. The first dimension represents the concrete experiencing of events at one end and the abstract conceptualization at the other. The other dimensions have active experimentation at one extreme and reflective observation at the other. Thus, in the process of learning one moves in varying degrees from actor to observer, from specific involvement to general analytic detachment.
(Adapted from David Kolb, 1984 ,by the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy, University of Maine; also refer to Ladder of Inference adapted from Peter Senge)
The Learning Style Inventory is intended as a starting point for reflection and analysis of the way you learn best. It is intended to help you identify those learning situations and resources that will maximize your effectiveness as a learner.
After completing the Learning Style assessment and receiving your results you may find it helpful to answer the following questions:
Do you feel that your Learning Style inventory scores are valid indicators of your learning style? How would you characterize the way you learn? What is your greatest strength as a learner? . . .your greatest weakness?
What are your "learning to learn" objectives? What modification of your learning style seems necessary in order for you to more easily master the new material you wish to learn? Do you want to alter your learning style in any way?
Given your learning style and learning objectives what kind of environment do you need to learn best? Do you learn best alone or interacting with others? Do you need discipline or freedom? Does competition help or hinder your learning? What teaching methods are best for you (e.g., theoretical discussions, reading, experiential exercises and games, practical application or oriented cases, etc.)?
(Adapted from David Kolb 1984 , by the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy, University of Maine)
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"If you can't change direction, you'll wind up where you're headed."
-Lobsterman, Calais, Maine