This paper examines the resources and conditions necessary for designing and developing experiential learning programs in higher education. Drawing on Kolb's four-step learning model and Cantor's work on adult learners, the paper argues that hands-on, applied learning is essential across all disciplines — not only in professional and technical fields. It identifies key resources including flexible instructors, community partnerships, institutional financial support, and administrative buy-in, while contending that experiential learning better serves diverse learning styles and connects academic study to real-world professional outcomes.
Most adult learners approach the pedagogical process in a practical fashion — very often they decide to go back to school to enhance their professional capabilities. In both undergraduate and graduate programs with a technical emphasis, hands-on, applied, experiential learning is usually deemed to be a vital part of becoming an experienced and competent practitioner: "Disciplines in the professional and technical fields — including education, the health careers, and social work — are using experiential learning instructional techniques to provide students with the competencies necessary to pursue successful careers upon graduation" (Cantor 1995). Few patients would want to be treated by a doctor who had never had any interaction with a live patient; a social worker and a teacher could not be competent dealing with human beings only in theory, rather than in the messiness of practice.
David Kolb has described learning as a four-step process: (1) watching, (2) thinking, (3) feeling, and (4) doing (Connor 2007). For many majors, however, knowing and doing remain separated. Too often for university students, the crucial fourth — and sometimes third — step is ignored. Just as someone would never think that knowing how to ride a bicycle only in theory was sufficient to be competent, all learning must be reinforced with experience. Why are applied skills considered less valuable in less vocationally-oriented professions? An economics major can benefit from seeing the ramifications of public policy decisions regarding finance; an English major must learn how to communicate in written forms beyond scholarly essays to succeed in the real world.
Jeffrey Cantor argues that learning should not take place in an ivory bubble — rather, learning how to apply what one learns, however abstract, to the real world is essential: "the need to provide college students with opportunities to reinforce social and ethical values has caused college faculty to consider ways to incorporate service-learning activities into the formal curriculum" (Cantor 1995). This approach also benefits students with different learning styles, such as those who learn best kinesthetically rather than verbally, helping them feel more competent and engaged in the classroom.
"Instructors, community partners, and classroom tools"
"Finances, libraries, and administrative buy-in"
Young and older adults alike, anxious that their degree will translate into a profession, are likely to be more eager students in the experiential classroom. They are fighting for their future, learning crucial skills, and striving to achieve more. Experiential learning is about understanding, not merely pleasing the teacher — it is about pleasing yourself.
You’re 57% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 2 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.