The learning theory informing this course is experiential learning, also known as active learning because you participate actively in the learning process rather than passively receiving knowledge as if you are an empty vessel to be filled by the instructor. This theory is closely related to discovery learning, the foundation of most of the writing assignments in my courses.
Traditional learning retention rates are 5-10%; Experiential learning retention rates are 80-90%
An example: On May 24, 2008, at 12:40 PM, Hannah Chesser sent this email: "Dear Professor, Yesterday I watched the new Indiana Jones movie . . . . There is one part where Indiana Jones (who is also a professor) rides a motorcylce through a library . . .. Along the way he skids into one of his students who then proceeds to ask him an intellectual question, ignoring the urgency of the situation. Jones then answers the question and tells the student to get out of the library more often. It's a very comical scene! And, it reminded me so much of you . . ."
- Experiential learning is considered more meaningful because
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[1] while you are participating, you are paying more attention.
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[2] it can be dynamic, engaging, and fun.
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[3] it allows students to practice roles unfamiliar to them and fully immerse themselves in experiences that generate authentic knowledge.
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[4] it activates both sides of your brain: the heart as well as the head, emotion as well as reason, nonverbal as well as verbal knowing, the visual as well as the verbal, intuition as well as logic, holistic as well as linear thinking, synthesis as well as analysis, metaphor as well as abstraction, the personal as well as the impersonal, creative imagination as well as academic thinking, and the playful as well as the serious.
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[5] it appeals to multiple intelligences: not just the abstract verbal and the mathematic-logical, but, depending on the circumstances, also the spatial; the kinesthetic; the musical; the interpersonal; etc.
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[6] because both sides of the brain and many intelligences are engaged, active involvement results in processing of information deeper than mere memorization; it results in "episodic memory," a deeper kind of memory specific to an event so that if you cannot at first remember the idea or technique you can reconstruct it from the event.
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[7] it makes use of your own personal associations as a basis for remembering and understanding vs. parroting back the instructor's version of a concept.
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[8] it can be more motivating, incorporating the pleasures of creating your own environment.
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[9] it can force you to confront your current ideas about the subject, many of which may be misconceptions, and reconcile them with what you now observe to be the case.
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[10] it can make the value of education more obvious because you begin connecting information to the "real world."
Where Do We Go From Here?
