Harnessing Experiential Learning to Achieve Warfighting Excellence

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Harnessing Experiential Learning to Achieve
Warfighting Excellence

• Dr. Ellen S. Menaker, CPT
• Dr. Susan L. Coleman, CPT
• Joe Collins
• Dr. Marci N. Murawski
• Intelligent Decision Systems, Inc.

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Harnessing Experiential Learning

• High fidelity simulation can emulate the
  warfighting environment technically.
• Is immersing the learner in that environment
  enough?
• How can we apply current research to optimize the
  experiential learning?

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What do you think?
Agree
Disagree

• ? ? 1. If you experience something you will
  learn from it.
• ? 2. Physically experiencing something is more
  powerful than reading about it or watching a
  video.
• ? ? 3. Any form of doing is more effective than
  being told.
• ? 4. Following ones own discovery path results
  in deep learning.
• ? 5. All levels of learners will find
  something of value when allowed to experiment.
• ? 6. Simulations require high fidelity to
  heighten the experiential value.

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Key elements of experiential learning
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Key elements of experiential learning
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What do we know?

• If you experience something you will learn from
  it.

Faulty assumption Why? You learn only if you
reflect on it or add it to a mental model.
(Beard Wilson, 2002, Kolb, 1984 Sternberg, et
al. , 2000)
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What do we know?

• Physically experiencing something is more
  powerful than reading about it or watching a
  video.

• Faulty assumption Why?
• Experience can be sub-optimized by
• Cognitive overload
• Improper encoding

(Clarke, Ayres, Sweller, 2005)
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What do we know?

• Any form of doing is more effective than being
  told.

• Faulty assumption Why?
• The key is sense making
• Cognitive activity vs. behavioral activity
• Instructional guidance can be more effective and
  efficient than discovery

(Mayer, 2004)
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What do we know?

• Following ones own discovery path results in
  deep learning.

• Faulty assumption Why?
• Learners judgments regarding their learning
  preferences often dont result in better
  learning.
• Guided discovery produces better results.

(Clark Mayer 2003 Mayer, 2004)
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What do we know?

• All levels of learners will find something of
  value when allowed to experiment.

• Faulty assumption Why?
• Prior knowledge is key - what adds to knowledge
  for one group may detract for another.
• Different levels of cognitive skill require
  different types of feedback.

(Kalyuga, Chandler, Sweller, 2001 Schnootz
Rasch, 2005)
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What do we know?

• Simulations require high fidelity to heighten the
  experiential value.

• Faulty assumption Why?
• Cognitive and physical fidelity must be balanced
  depending on
• Prior knowledge of learner
• Learning objectives

(Kirscher, Sweller, Clark, 2006 Mayer, 2004)
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Optimizing learning

• How do we take what we know and make it into
  effective experiential learning?

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Balance cognitive and physical fidelity
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Sequence to promote understanding
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Deliberately increase tempo and complexity
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Use a purposeful feedback strategy
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Deliberately promote reflection
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How do you optimize experiential learning?

• Balance cognitive and physical fidelity
• Sequence to promote understanding
• Deliberately increase tempo and complexity
• Use a purposeful feedback strategy
• Deliberately promote reflection

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Caution

• Overemphasis on media threatens to
  intellectually bankrupt the field as
  instructional technologists move farther and
  farther away from any grounding in the science of
  learning.

(Fox, 2006, p. 22)