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in this lesson we'll talk in detail
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about the cold experiential learning
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cycle the Kolb cycle is a method of
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reflective thinking which is
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foundational to prior learning
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assessment what we learn today will lay
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the groundwork for much of the rest of
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our course to get us thinking
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reflectively let's do a mental activity
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this activity is called what so what now
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what and it will push us to move outside
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of our comfort zone with our thinking to
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begin let's set some ground rules I'll
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introduce a topic and we'll use the
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method it's a basic way to promote
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discussion that begins with reviewing
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the details of the experience and moves
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toward critical thinking problem-solving
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and creating an action plan now let's
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choose our first topic for discussion
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then we'll progress through each of
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these questions what so what now what
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for the first time through this activity
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I want you to think about the first
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training course you completed in your
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career maybe it was basic training for a
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branch of the Armed Forces maybe it was
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a 30 minute or even shorter supervisor
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led introduction to the computer system
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perhaps it was new employee onboarding
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for the purposes of this activity think
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about the first training you ever
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completed ready here we go we'll start
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off with what what is descriptive it
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includes facts like what happened and
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with whom pause the lecture here to
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think about the what of the first
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training course you completed now let's
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move on to so what so what is a shift
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from descriptive to interpretive it
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introduces the meaning of the experience
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for each participant it includes the
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feelings involved and the lessons
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learned it also gets at the why of what
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happened pause the lecture here to think
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about so what now we'll move on to now
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what now what is contextual it's seeing
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the place of the situation in light of
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the big picture it involves applying the
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lessons learned or insights gained to
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new situations it also involves setting
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future goals or creating an action plan
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pause the lecture here to think about
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the now what nice job
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are you ready to play one more time this
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time I want you to choose the topic
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pause the lecture here and mentally go
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through the steps what so what now what
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now that we've warmed up with some
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reflective thinking let's dig into the
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first section of today's material all
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about the Kolb experiential learning
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cycle the Kolb experiential learning
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cycle is named for its creator David
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Kolb
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David Kolb is a social psychologist and
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educational theorist whose interests
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focus on experiential learning and
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professional development in 1984 he
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presented a cyclical model of
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experiential learning this is a method
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of reflective thinking and writing and
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it's foundational to prior learning
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assessment much of the work that you'll
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do in this course and others in the
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program will be structured using this
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cycle the handout titled cold
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experiential cycle guiding questions
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will help you through each step of the
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cycle
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an important part of learning is
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articulating and evaluating what you
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learned because your brain integrates
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new learning into the mental structures
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of what you already know
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reflection is the way to build and
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cement your learning into those
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structures think of your brain as a
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palace with many rooms and you keep
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adding in more furniture in the next few
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slides we'll talk about a mental model
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for reflecting on learning the Kolb
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experiential learning cycle will use
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that handout I talked about as we go
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you'll want to keep the handout for
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reference throughout this course and the
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rest of the program the first step of
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the Kolb experiential learning cycle is
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concrete experience concrete experience
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is the actual event Kolb maintains that
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learners should become actively involved
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in the exploration of the learning
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experience if they're to get the most
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out of it this can involve drawing up a
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checklist of things that the learner
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should try to do such as active
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observation of what's going on producing
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a law or a record of some sort and
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formulating appropriate questions
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questions surrounding the identification
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of the event or learning experience can
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be things like what was done why when
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where how long were there others
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involved and the depth and breadth of
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the experience the verbs that you'll
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want to use when writing about this step
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include worked created prepared
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implemented conducted or produced as an
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example someone may have learned a
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shortcut in completing a form for work
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in this step you'll describe a learning
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experience or product that illustrates a
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competency or a grouping of competencies
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explain what you did or applied that
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shows your learning of the competency
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write about the experience that shows my
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learning is preparing such or the
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products that Dimon's
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this competency is step two is
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reflective observation these are the
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thought processes and patterns or trends
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of the experience the learner then
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relates this experience to other
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experiences in his or her life this is
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generally acknowledged to be the most
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difficult stage of the Kolb cycle but
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it's probably the most crucial of all
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students and practitioners should
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reflect on what they learned how they
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learned it why they learned it whether
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the learning experience could have been
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more effective and so on discussion of
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these reflections with one's instructor
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can prove extremely helpful as can
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discussion with one's peers either
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informally or at a formal debriefing
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session of some sort the questions
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surrounding this portion of the cycle
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are more evaluative what worked what
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didn't work are there patterns or
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similarities or differences the verbs
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that you'll want to use include observed
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watched noticed saw thought or
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discovered discuss what you noticed or
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observed analyze what you learned in
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experiencing or producing discuss what
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expertise you gained or expanded such as
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in experiencing I noticed this or in
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producing I discovered that when
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appropriate relate what you learned to
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the program goals and competencies this
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is like the furniture that you're moving
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into the palace the third step is
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abstract conceptualization this is a
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stage that is very often left out of
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experiential learning programs but again
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it's extremely important if the learners
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are to gain the maximum possible benefit
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for such learning the main object of
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this stage is to link the actual
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learning experience with theories that
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were meant to underpin it and or with
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greater understanding of the theories
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that the learning experience was
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designed
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to illustrate again discussion with
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one's instructor can prove extremely
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helpful during this stage of the Kolb
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cycle as can discussion with fellow
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learners the questions during this stage
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of the cycle include what insights have
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I had is this the same observation as
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with other experiences what theories or
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principles have I formulated as a result
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use verbs such as concluded theorized
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found realized deduced or learned
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evaluate your learning as it relates to
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a bigger picture to a theory posed by an
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author or your own ideas discuss any
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rules theories or concepts that apply to
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this learning right about conclusions
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you've drawn from the experience or how
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creating the product helped you to
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realize the ability to generalize is a
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key difference between a typical user in
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a problem-solver it is the essence of
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learning from experience this is like
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the rooms of the palace the fourth and
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final step of the cold experiential
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learning cycle is active experimentation
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active experimentation is the point in
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the cycle where the learner applies the
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learning from the experience to new
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situations the learner develops strength
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of learning for future experiences or
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events the questions for this portion of
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the cycle are how can I use this
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learning in another situation with this
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knowledge be useful in another situation
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how can I bake predictions based on this
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knowledge for future experiences you'll
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use verbs such as used updated applied
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tried implemented or changed what
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happened as a result of the experience
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reflection and learning what new ways
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did you create you might write based on
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this experience I changed the way I you
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could discuss why the learning is
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valuable to your job role you might
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write
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used the product in my work too at this
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point you should be fairly comfortable
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with each of the four steps of the Kolb
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cycle obviously I don't expect you to be
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an expert at this point but you'll get
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lots of practice using it in this course
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and in the rest of the program so now
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it's time to talk about the assignment
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after completing the readings the
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self-assessment and going through this
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lecture and all the related activities
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you'll lose use the cold experiential
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learning cycle to write a one-page
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reflection essay about what you've
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learned begin with the concrete
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experience that is what you did in this
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instance you visited several web sites
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took a survey and learned more about
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your own learning style use the guiding
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questions to complete the cycle as a
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general rule of thumb you should expect
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that each step of the cycle will
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comprise approximately one quarter of
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your essay in other words you should
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devote 25% of your writing to concrete
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experience to end 25% of your writing to
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reflective observation and so on
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well that's it for this lesson
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your instructor will review this
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reflection essay and will then provide
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you with detailed feedback this is like
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a practice run for future reflection
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essays you'll use the cold experiential
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learning cycle in every course in this
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program
