A Study Of Experiential Learning

After John Dewey publishing Experience and Education (1938), Dewey's education philosophy helped forward the"progressive education"movement, and spawned the development of"experiential education"programs and experiments. All in all, experience in teaching is not only a kind of activity, but also the result of activity. As a kind of activity, it means that the learner does something and reflects it, and as the result it means it enables shifts in attitude and behavior.Experiential learning is a student-centered learning style in which students are engaged in critical thinking and problem solving and decision making to get new knowledge, skills and attitudes within contexts that are personally relevant to them. The learner gets development through the reflection and experience. So we can say that experiential learning is the combination of"learning from doing"and"learning from thinking".Experiential learning has a long history in western countries. We can find the ideas about experiential learning from the scholars, such as John Dewey,Jean Piaget,Carl Rogers and David Kolb, etc. Experiential learning also has a long history in China. We can find the ideas about experiential learning from some famous scholars, such as Confucius, Wang Chong, Han Yu, Zhu Xi and Mao Zedong, etc.Experiential learning theories have their own philosophical foundation, psychological foundation,physiological foundation and cognitive approach foundation. In addition,different experiential learning models are set up according to the theoretical foundation:1-stage model,2-stage model,3-stage model,4-stage model,5-stage model and 6-stage model. But"Experiential Learning Circle"is often used to refer to the 4-stage process model discussed extensively by David Kolb. What this thesis focuses on is the application of experiential learning in Rural Senior Middle School English Teaching. It provides a detailed study on the literature review of experiential learning. First, the author does an experiment between September1, 2006 to February 26, 2007 in Xing'an No.3 Senior Middle School with two classes. Second, the author makes a survey to have feedbacks of the application of experiential learning in English teaching. Third, the author has the pre-test and the post-test for the experiment. Fourth, the author makes an analysis of the experiment. Lots of work and the experiments on the experiential learning show that this kind of teaching approach is an advanced and efficient one which puts the students in the first place and reflects the language value. It proves that experiential learning is effective in enhancing the students'English competence. This thesis consists of six chapters:Chapter One serves as an introduction, aiming at stating the background, significance and definition of the experiential learning.Chapter Two discusses the historical review of experiential learning, including the research abroad and in China.Chapter Three explains the theoretical base of experiential learning. It describes four types of learning cycle models. They are as follows: Experiential Learning Cycle Model, David Kolb's learning styles model and experiential learning theory, Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theories and model, VAK-visual, auditory, kinesthetic learning style model.Chapter Four is a practice of these models. One unit was chosen and taught according to these models we discussed above. For example, we can use Kolb's learning cycle in class,we can train the students with the texts of the textbooks in listening, oral English, reading comprehensive, paper-writing and integrating skills; we can use Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theories and model out of class, attracting students with all kinds of English activities, such as, singing English songs, watching original English films, attending English corners, reciting English proverbs ,attending the oral English contests and the contests of English plays, attending English study groups. Therefore, the students can improve their intelligence and their English abilities in many different ways. Moreover, we can also use VAK-visual, auditory, kinesthetic learning style model after class to stimulate students to read many kinds of English newspapers, magazines and to listen to much listening media. Therefore, students can read more, listen more, say something more about English language. So students can transfer information through listening, touching, feeling, holding, doing and practical hands-on experiences, which is beneficial to their English abilities.Chapter Five introduces the scale and modes of experiential learning. In addition, the hierarchy, principles, structures and experiential learning environment are introduced in detail.Chapter Six is the conclusion. The author summaries the study of experiential learning conducted in the previous chapters and asserts that experiential learning's science, practicality, affectivity and applicability will be accepted by more and more foreign-language teachers. It all depends on the concrete situation. It is undeniable that the experiential learning has exerted positive influence on English teaching in rural senior high schools in China. However, it is not possible for all the people to accept it completely due to the various learning and teaching factors.At the end of the thesis, the author gives her opinion on the application of the experiential learning, which may not perfect. When experiential learning is implemented in class as a kind of teaching strategies, it is an effective teaching technology. But it has its limitations, so it needs other learning styles to make up for that.