eLearningbyDana

Experiential Learning

An approach to learning in which people build knowledge and skills through meaningful experience, reflection, feedback, and opportunities to apply what they learn.

Experiential Learning

Learn by doing, reflecting, and applying the experience.

Experiential learning is an approach in which people develop knowledge or skill through meaningful experience rather than relying only on explanation or information.

The experience may happen during training or in the real work environment. Learners might solve a realistic problem, practice a task, make a decision, complete a project, participate in a simulation, or try something on the job.

What makes the experience valuable is not simply doing something. Learners also need opportunities to think about what happened, receive feedback, and use what they learned the next time they face a similar situation.

Experiential Learning Can Take Many Forms

The experience should give learners a meaningful opportunity to practice, decide, solve, create, or perform.

Realistic Practice A customer service representative practices responding to a difficult call and receives feedback.
Simulation A technician troubleshoots a simulated equipment problem before working with the actual equipment.
Project or Challenge A new manager develops a real team communication plan and discusses the results with a coach.
On-the-Job Experience An employee performs a new task with guidance, then gradually works more independently.
Experiential learning does not require sophisticated technology. The experience can be digital, face-to-face, coached, or embedded in the work.

An Activity Alone Does Not Make Learning Experiential

The experience becomes more useful when learners have a chance to process what happened and connect it to future performance.

Experience Something Meaningful The learner performs, decides, solves, creates, or responds in a situation connected to the desired skill or behavior.
Reflect on What Happened Learners consider what worked, what was difficult, what surprised them, or what they would change.
Receive Feedback or Perspective Feedback from a coach, facilitator, system, peer, SME, or the results of the experience helps build understanding.
Apply the Learning Again Learners use what they discovered in another practice opportunity or when they return to the real work.
Doing creates the experience. Reflection, feedback, and application help turn that experience into learning.

Design the Experience Around the Performance

Start with what learners need to be able to do, then create an experience that gives them a meaningful chance to do it.

Useful Question What could learners experience or practice here instead of only hearing about it?
Keep It Relevant Use situations, decisions, tools, constraints, and consequences that resemble the learner's actual work when possible.
Allow Learners to Think Avoid turning every experience into a set of obvious instructions. Give learners room to make choices, solve problems, or try an approach.
Build in Reflection and Feedback Help learners understand what happened and what they can carry forward into another situation.
The goal is not activity for activity's sake. The experience should help learners perform more effectively afterward.

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