The Cone of Experience

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The Cone of ExperienceModes of Representation
by Steve Somers
Use the keys on your keyboard to move
forward or back in this presentation
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The Cone of ExperienceModes of Representation
by Steve Somers
Consider the following . . .
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Experience is the best . . .
. . . teacher!
Is this true or false? Why?
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Experience is the best . . .
. . . teacher!
Its false . . .in real life . . .
Evaluated Experience . . . . . . is the best
teacher!
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Study without reflection is a waste of time
Reflection without study is dangerous!
Now, try this experiment . . . Read the
following paragraph
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These functional fuses have been developed after
years of scientificinvestigation of electric
phenomena, combined with the fruit of long
experience on the part of the two investigators
who have come forward with them for our meetings
today.
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Now, read the paragraph again, but this time
count the number of times the letter f appears
in the paragraph.
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These functional fuses have been developed after
years of scientificinvestigation of electric
phenomena, combined with the fruit of long
experience on the part of the two investigators
who have come forward with them for our meetings
today.
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How many did you see? Some see 5, others 7,
Still others see 8, 9 or 10. There are
actually 11 fs in the paragraph. Look again. . .
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These functional fuses have been developed after
years of scientificinvestigation of electric
phenomena, combined with the fruit of long
experience on the part of the two investigators
who have come forward with them for our meetings
today.
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Did you see all 11? Why or why not? Most
people dont see all 11 fs because they miss one
or more times that it appears in the word of.
Phonetically, we often only see the hard sounding
fs as in federal or fuses. The soft sound
is less obvious.
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Try another experience . . . On the next slide,
read and then memorize the bold headline of the
article . . .you have 10 seconds.
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Study sheds light on the the cause of AIDS
virus Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or
HAART, is the standard of care for HIV/AIDS
patients and has prolonged the lives of countless
persons with the disease. HAART has been
associated, however, with the emergence of
lipodystrophy syndromes. In this month's issue of
the journal Mitochondrion, researchers from the
National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., report
that protease inhibitors, a component of HAART,
can lead some patients
to mitochondrial toxicity. The effect, seen in
this test tube study, of protease inhibitors on
mitochondria could help explain the biology
behind lipodystrophy and also could point to
possible future therapeutic approaches for the
syndrome. Lipodystrophy is a clinical condition
characterized by a poor or uneven distribution of
fat cells. This distribution causes large amounts
of fat to be stored in inappropriate places,
which can lead to lower belly obesity and a
buffalo-like hump on the upper back.
Lipodystrophy side effects also include diabetes
and high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.
There is significant scientific debate about the
precise mechanisms and metabolic
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Now, on some scrap paper, write the headline from
memory. Be sure to write it exactly as it
appeared in the headline (as you remember it).
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Did you end up with . . . Study sheds light on
the the cause of AIDS virus Notice that the word
the is repeated . . .did you catch this error?
Why or why not? Lets try another one . . .
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I LOVE PARIS IN THETHE SPRING TIME
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Did you end up with . . . I Love Paris in
the the Spring Time Chances are that you got
this one correct. This is because of your
evaluated experience from the previous
slides. Lets look at this idea . . .
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The Cone of Experience
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How does the learner learn?
Through Experiences
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How We Learn
1.0 2.0 3.0 11.0 83.0 100

• TASTE
• TOUCH
• SMELL
• HEARING
• SIGHT

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What We Retain after 3 hours
of what we HEAR of what we SEE of what we HEAR
SEE of what we HEAR, SEE DO
70 72 85 95
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What We Retain after 3 days
of what we HEAR of what we SEE of what we HEAR
SEE of what we HEAR, SEE DO
10 20 65 90
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An orange is a yellowish fruit.
POOR (hearing only)
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An orange is a yellowish fruit.
BETTER (hearing and sight)
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An orange is a yellowish fruit.
BEST (hearing, sight, touch, smell taste)
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For I did not receive it from man, nor was I
taught it, but it came through a revelation of
Jesus Christ. Galatians 112, RSV
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Some experiences are real life experiences.
DIRECT,
Hitting your Thumb Going on a Trip
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Some experiences are DIRECT, But they are
or play-like experiences.
MADE-UP,
Acting in a Play
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Some experiences are using representations of
real things.
INDIRECT,
Seeing a Film
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Some experiences are INDIRECT, using
WORDS or SYMBOLS.
Reading a Book Listening to a
Speech
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Edgar Dales Cone of Experience
Abstract
Indirect
Symbolic Mediated Made Up Real Life
Concrete
Direct
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Cone of Experience
Cone of Retention
Symbolic Mediated Made Up Real Life
Hear See Hear See Hear, See Do
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I hear and forget, I see and remember, I do and
I understand. Unknown
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Clearly, when we take time to reflect on life
experiences we are most likely to really learn
something. Now, lets consider how these
experiences are expressed or represented to our
students.
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Any concept worth knowing as an adult may be
represented in some intellectually honest form to
any child at any age.
Jerome Bruner
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Modes of Representation . . .
ENACTIVE
means active movement
Most communication is made up of movement or body
language.

• 55 non-verbal
• 38 tone of voice
• 7 words spoken

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Modes of Representation . . .
ICONIC

• pictures
• props
• drawings

Consider the power of pictures!
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Modes of Representation . . .
SYMBOLIC

• We excel in this concept in language
• Language is a very arbitraryset of symbols.

Words Symbols
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Modes of Representation . . .
Try using all three modes when you teach!
ENACTIVE
BEST LEARNING
ICONIC
SYMBOLIC
Words Symbols
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Implications . . .
Most powerful learning takesplace when you SAY
somethingwhile your are DOING it!
Best learning comes when ALL THREE modes are
used.
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Implications . . .
Concepts represented onlySYMBOLICALLY are known
onlySUPERFICIALLY.
100 of the population under- stands the ENACTIVE
MODE.
The enactive mode is the leastEFFICIENT, it is
the mostUNIVERSAL.