Katye Wormer Literature Review

Experiential Learning Cycle Literature Review

Name	Commented On
Katye Wormer	Abi Perdue Moore/Group 2

Introduction

            People learn in different ways.  A basic categorization is to separate learners into passive and active.  Passive learners take in information presented, such as through reading, listening to lectures or viewing videos (University of Florida).  Active learning occurs when students are involved with information presented, such as with small group work, discussions, role playing, or more (University of Florida).  As time progresses and the world along with it, more and more educators are seeing the value and necessity of active learning (Leal-Rodríguez & Albort-Morant, 2019, p. 102).  Experiential learning is one such way to bring in active learning.

            In 1938, John Dewey said, “… all genuine education comes through experience” (as cited in Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007, p. 162).  Experiential learning is different from passive learning in that passive learning takes place in that moment and can stay there.  Experiential learning affects the learner beyond the moment of learning by causing the learner to apply what they learned to their past experiences and to think about future experiences that could relate (Merriam et al., 2007, p. 162).  There are many different theories related to experimental learning, but this literature review will focus on Kolb’s experiential learning theory using examples related to business education. 

General Themes

The experiential learning cycle has four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, which are shown in Figure 1 (McCarthy, 2016, p. 92).

Concrete experience occurs when the learner is open to and willing to engage in new experiences in real-world settings (Merriam et al., 2007, p. 164).  Reflective observation occurs when the learner is watching others who are engaged in the experience. The learner then reflects on what they have seen (McCarthy, 2016, p. 93).  Abstract conceptualization happens through cognition, analyzing, symbolism, and planning; uses ideas previously learned; and creates new concepts from the observations in stage 2 (McCarthy, 2016, p. 93; Merriam et al., 2007, p. 164).  The final stage, active experimentation, occurs when the learner begins to actively participate in an experience in a controlled environment (McCarthy, 2016, p. 93).  As Figure 1 outlines, each stage has an opposite in the cycle, which creates tension.  This tension is present during the experimental learning process and fosters the learning process (McCarthy, 2016, p. 93).  The learner needs to pass through the entire cycle to learn effectively, but they can enter the process at any point (McCarthy, 2016, pp. 92, 96).

Stage 1: Concrete Experience

            McCarthy (2016) explains concrete experience as experiences that put the learner in real-world situations where they take in the environment around them using “their sense and immersing themselves in concrete reality” (p. 93).  Leal-Rodríguez and Albort-Morant (2019) conducted a study with students taking a course called Management Skills in the Business Management program at Spanish business school (p. 99).  In this study, they worked with the professor to implement an end-of-semester project.  The students formed groups and job shadowed a professional at a company who had managerial duties (Leal-Rodríguez & Albort-Morant, 2019, p. 99).  They spent several days with this person and evaluated “the managerial competencies inherent to this professional” during their daily activities (Leal-Rodríguez & Albort-Morant, 2019, p. 99).          Doing this activity allowed the students to engage in a concrete experience.  The students were put into real-world situations and observed the environment and people around them, just as McCarthy describes.  Traditional methods in business education work well, but experiential learning lets business students make real decisions through activities and exercises (Ferguson, Makarem, and Jones, 2015, p. 3).

            An issue with the experiential learning model is that it places most of its emphasis on experience and not enough on reflection (Leal-Rodríguez & Albort-Morant, 2019, p. 98).  The experiment conducted by Leal-Rodríguez and Albort-Morant (2019) falls into this critique.  The project for the students required them to submit a final report (Leal-Rodríguez & Albort-Morant, 2019, p. 99).  However, the report is not mentioned again in their paper.  There was some type of assessment (as shown in Table 5) about the program itself, but reflection on what they learned and how they can apply it to the future was not specified (Leal-Rodríguez & Albort-Morant, 2019, p. 100).  More reflection could have been included to encourage the students to examine how what they experienced applies to have they have learned and what they will do in the future.

Stage 2: Reflective Observation

            With the argument that more focus needs to be placed on reflective observation comes an argument that more reflective observation needs to be included in curriculum for business courses.  Ferguson, Makarem, and Jones (2015) created a study at a university that followed students in two separate business courses as they participated in reflective observation by  engaging in group blogs and commenting individually on each blog created for their specific course.  This was the reflection portion of the cycle. At the end of the class, after engaging in the reflection, they took a survey letting the experimenters know what they thought of the reflection process (Ferguson et al., 2015, p. 5).  The authors argue that though group projects are often assigned in business courses, they are often due at the end of the semester, leaving little time for reflecting on the other three parts of the experiential learning theory cycle (Ferguson et al., 2015, p. 2).  The blogs were to be used all semester, as opposed to the end of it, to give more time for reflection.

            Reflection occurs internally but also can occur through social activities such as group work and discussion boards – also known as conversational learning – which is what the authors created (Ferguson et al., 2015, p. 3).  By assigning each student to reflect on another group's blog post in their course, the students were forced to reflect on their own experiences and provide a personal experience to the comments (Ferguson et al., 2015, p. 7).  Reflection for this study also occurred through a survey about reflective observation at the end of the course.  The survey at the end of the course found that 72 percent of students though the blog was a good way to reflect on the task, and 50 percent indicated they learned something through the blog process, which is the point of reflective observation in the cycle (Ferguson et al., 2015, p. 6).  Though they had not received much opportunity for reflective learning in other courses based on the authors’ assertion that reflective observation is limited in business courses, the students indicated that the reflective observation stage is useful in the learning process.

            Criticisms about the reflective observation stage exist.  Because students need guidance when working through exercises and activities, leaving reflective observation in students' hand is not the most effective way to move students through the experiential learning cycle (Ferguson et al., 2015, p. 3).  If students are left to their own devices, then the reflection will not go deep.  Without guidance, without teacher interaction, students are left to decipher their experiences – and the experiences of their classmates when conversational learning occurs – on their own.  

Stage 3: Abstract Conceptualization

            Abstract conceptualization is the third stage of the experiential learning model.  Abstract conceptualization is theoretical.  It’s the stage where learners create and apply concepts based on their reflection and experiences (Merriam et al., 2007, p. 164).  Students review the information they have learned through their experiences and lectures and texts and evaluate solutions (Ferguson et al., 2015, pp. 1-2).  Not much literature seems to be devoted to the abstract conceptualization stage.  Figure 1 in Ferguson, Makarem, and Jones (2015) shows “lectures, readings, PowerPoints” underneath the abstract conceptualization header (p. 2).  These types of materials and dissemination of information fall under the passive learning discussed in the introduction.  The same criticisms are involved, particularly with lecturing. The traditional learning format of lecturing and discussion serves as a way to convey basic information to students, but the information does not seem to stick for a long time and students are not engaged with the information taught (Aggarwal & Wu, 2019, p. 1).  But that is where active experimentation comes into play.

Stage 4: Active Experimentation

            Active experimentation occurs in controlled environments.  Active experimentation involves theoretical situations that students can use to practice their solutions on. Concrete experiences are real-world situations (Ferguson et al., 2015, p. 2). Both aspects of the cycle involve applying solutions, but active experimentation involves the theoretical.  Take international business, for example.  Challenges arise in international business all of the time, such as time differences, technical difficulties, language differences, and more (Aggarwal & Wu, 2019, p. 2).  By creating classroom experiences for learners to engage in active experimentation to address these challenges, learners will be more prepared to put what they have learned into action (Aggarwal & Wu, 2019, p. 2). 

            There are challenges involved with active experimentation.  Time and money are two big challenges educators need to overcome.  International business is about working with people in different countries.  By nature of the job, these people are different from each other.  Creating an environment where learners truly can work with people who are from around the globe is difficult.  The cost of developing programs is high, as well.  To work with businesses around the globe creates varying costs, which some universities cannot cover (Aggarwal & Wu, 2019, p. 2).  Active experimentation is limited by the resources available and isn’t always feasible.

Implications

            Concrete experience occurs in real-world environments where learners immerse themselves in experiences.  A way to implement concrete experiences is to create immersive learning opportunities in as many courses as possible.  Universities offer specific courses that are completely decided to an immersive experience.  More courses should be created that combine a normal class with experiences outside of the classroom.  Community-based learning could be that solution.  By working with groups and companies in their communities, universities can offer students experiences they will not receive in the classroom.

            Reflective observation occurs when the learner reflects on what they have seen, learned, and experienced.  Students need to be guided through this reflective process by the instructors.  When discussion boards are created, students should be expected to post their own content and also comment on their classmates’ posts.  Educators should follow along with what is being posted and engage with the students.  If instructors do not engage, eventually the reflections will have less depth.  If an instructor engages and asks questions of the students, more reflection will occur and the learner can see how to do more reflection on their own.

            Abstract conceptualization is learning about the theories and concepts used in the learner’s experience.  Educators need to tie abstract conceptualization materials into process that keep the learner active.  Lecturing and reading materials disseminate information, but it has been shown not to stick, as discussed above.  If educators can tie the material into a process that keeps the learner active with the process, then that information has a better chance of taking root.  In an anonymous survey conducted with 500 business students in a day and evening class of the same course, Hawtrey (2007) 60 percent of the students surveyed said experiential learning is important (p. 151).  Of the students in the evening course – which is most likely to have working adults – 71 percent said experiential learning is important (Hawtrey, 2007, p. 151).  By tying abstract conceptualization into experiences and/or activities, educators will create a greater chance of the information becoming a part of the learner’s routine.

            The last theme is active experimentation, which occurs when a learner begins to actively participate in an experience in a controlled environment.  Educators could create more mock scenarios for learners to participate in.  The educator would be present for the scenarios, which would create the controlled environment.  They would guide the learners through it while allowing the learners room to experiment.  Role playing falls into this category.  If learners take both roles – a consumer and the one providing the goods – then the learner can understand both sides of the process and use that information in their future roles in society and the workforce.

Reflection

            For me, the most interesting part of this review was the process of finding the articles.  There are many articles about experiential learning in several different fields, such as nursing, neuroscience, business, and more.  Finding articles that are about the same field proved to be somewhat difficult.

            While creating this literature review, I was reminded of how frustrating it can be to find journal articles.  Many are not open source, so you have to search even harder to find ones that are.  Ball State provides access to several databases that open up some articles, but there are even more out there that are unavailable.  I also was reminded of how poor my time management skills are.  I would suggest, for future literature reviews, to make concrete deadlines of when to have articles selected, reviewed, and drafts completed.

Themes	Implications
Concrete Experience: Learner is open to and willing to engage in new experiences in real-world settings.	More immersive programs need to be created for students to be involved in.
Reflective Observation: Learner watches others who are engaged in the experience and later reflects on what they have seen and experienced	Students need to be guided through the reflective observation process.
Abstract conceptualization: Learner uses cognition, analyzing, symbolism to create new concepts	Educators need to tie abstract conceptualization into processes that keep the information disseminated in the learner's mind.
Active experimentation: Learner begins to actively participate in an experience in a controlled environment	Mock scenarios should be created for students to experiment in while being supervised by the educator.

References

Aggarwal, R. & Wu, Y. (2019). Challenges in implementing experiential learning in IB education. Journal of Teaching in International Business, 30(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/08975930.2019.1637807

Ferguson, J. L., Makarem, S. C., & Jones, R. E.  (2015, Nov. 23). Using a class blog for student experiential learning reflection in business courses. Journal of Education for Business 91(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2015.1108279

Hawtrey, K. (2007). Using experiential learning techniques. The Journal of Economic Education 38(2), 143-152. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30042762

Leal-Rodríguez, A. L. & Albort-Morant, G. (2019). Promoting innovative experiential learning practices to improve academic performance: Empirical evidence from a Spanish business school. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 4(2), 97-103. doi: 10.1016/j.jik.2017.12.001

McCarthy, M. (2016). Experiential learning theory: From theory to practice. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 14(3), 91-100. Retrieved from https://clutejournals.com/index.php/JBER/article/view/9749             

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

University of Florida. (n.d.) Active vs. passive learning in online courses. Retrieved from http://citt.ufl.edu/online-teaching-resources/activelearning/active-vs-passive-learning-in-online-courses/