Experiential Learning and Learning

Study Skills

The author of this report has been asked to offer a treatise on the subject of study skills. The dimensions and facets of studying skills that shall be covered include some reflection, the five learning outcomes for the model in question, the author's feelings about the matter, the evaluation of the same, an analysis of the overall progress and framework in question and an overall action plan. Study skills are often over-hyped or overly minimalized. However, to dismiss their importance or wield them improperly is a recipe for disaster when it comes to both the work and educational spheres. While incessantly drilling and covering subjects over and over can lead to burnout and wasted motion, being under-prepared is less than optimal and can lead to setbacks that are hard to recover from.

Analysis

Study skills, of course, refer to the manner by which people work from an academic standpoint so as to absorb and retain material that has been learned in an educational or work environment. Many people are quick to focus only (or mostly) on the educational/college sphere. However, to suggest that study skills are not useful in the work/employment sphere would be less than wise. In both cases, information needs to be learned and retained so that it is at the ready when it is needed. Just like a college student in algebra needs to know how to solve quadratic equations, the same can and should be said for a working professional that is studying for a certification or exam. A common example of the latter would be an accountant sitting for their Certified Public Accountant exam. Indeed, if knowledge is not used and flexed on a fairly consistent basis, the knowledge will become harder to retain and use. To be sure, having to look up things and/or verify whether one's recollection is correct can take time. To correlate this to the model used for this process and paper, one need not flex one's mind all that much. Indeed, Gibbs' main point was that people in many ways learn by doing. If one is not "doing," then one is not learning and retaining that facet of their life, that class or whatever else is being learned or experienced (Gibbs, 1988).

As explained by Gibbs, there were five major focal points extended. These were, in order, experiential learning theory, learning styles, practical methods to implement the aforementioned experiential learning as a cycle, case studies that involve the same and the overall way to learn uses for experiential methods. As it relates to the workshops, the marking exercises clearly show that a proper and firm linkage between doing and what is being corrected is key to getting the point across while also proving the validity necessary to the client or learner. There does indeed need to be a recitation of what is desired, what has led the person to where they are currently and how to change things going forward. To use an example from the parameters of the assignment, a person that has heart disease did not get there overnight. Beyond that, that person needs to take very proactive and preventative steps to keep and retain their health or they will be an early death statistic. Correlating prior action, current results and what is necessary to slow things down or even stop them is crucial if good results are going to be attained (KCL, 2016; Gibbs, 1988).

Overall, the author of this report was quite excited because a lot of what was witnessed and reviewed as part of this assignment and process was just a confirmation of what was already known. Even with that, there were some individual "pieces" of knowledge that were put together and assembled. Indeed, some people do indeed have the ability to learn and absorb knowledge with little or no direct action or practice. However, that is far from being a norm that many to most people glom onto and thus avenues that involved "learning by doing" need to be employed. The learning by doing framework is not a fix-all that has to be done in all cases. Some people have the ability to be self-motivated and self-aware enough to spur their own change. However, there are many others that need a little to a lot of assistance and teaching methods that rely on experiential frameworks are extremely effective if done in the right way. Indeed, learning by doing has the effect of causing revised and new self-awareness that is required to get the point across in many instances. As it relates to study skills, this all would mean that people need to know that there is a strong correlation between effective study habits and good grades. It has to be instilled that there are no shortcuts or easy ways to good grades but some methods and paths are easier than others. Of course, the precise path that could or should be taken depends on the learning style and experiences of the person. Even so, experiential learning is usually a strong performer regardless of a student's background (Texas, 2016). With that in mind, an action plan for any learner is to find out what learning methods work the best, install a plan for each class or course of study and then move forward with that plan, troubleshooting and adjusting as needed (Cottrell, 2013). For example, culture or language would be something that might need to be adjusted for (Silberman, 2007).