Experiential Learning Cycle
Early experimentation with the REAL idea demonstrated that for participants to be true owners of their businesses, they also must have ownership of the process through which they learn to be entrepreneurs. As a subject, entrepreneurship does not lend itself well to traditional teaching and learning methods. Student entrepreneurs are more interested in “getting down to business” than in reading about it. Therefore, the REAL program is designed to be taught and learned through experiential methods.
Experiential methods work to educate entrepreneurs because they promote ownership, self-direction, and responsible decision-making—all qualities needed for successful business ownership. The diagram below summarizes the experiential learning process.
Experience – The learner has a concrete experience – an event or exercise in which the learner actively participates.
Reflection – The learner reflects on the experience, focusing on what happened, how he/she felt about it, and why the experience was (or was not) valuable and educational.
Expansion – The learner expands on the experience by identifying the abstract ideas, theories, and principles behind it. This step may include research, lecture, reading on related topics, analysis, and hypothetical application.
Application – The learner transfers his/her newly acquired knowledge and skills to situations in the “real world.” This stage involves application and active experimentation.
Satisfactory outcomes for students require that the instructor make experiential education methods the heart of his or her teaching repertoire. However, not every class session of the REAL course addresses every stage of the experiential learning cycle, nor should it. A variety of teaching methods best serve the variety of ways participants learn. At the same time, experiential learning is emphasized in REAL’s Curriculum and professional development activities because it is critical to creating the involved and committed atmosphere that promotes entrepreneurial success.
REAL instructors use a broad range of activities under the heading “experiential learning methods.” As previously stated, the experiential learning cycle is the guiding model for all such activities. Within each step, however, there may be a great deal of variation.
The experience portion of the cycle might include diverse activities such as:
- taking a field trip to a local realtor’s office
- role-playing an interview with a banker
- having lunch in a family-owned restaurant
- participating in a complex business simulation.
In reflecting on that experience, a participant might:
- talk with a colleague
- write in a journal
- exchange feedback with a partner regarding each other’s participation
- create a piece of visual art work.
In the search to connect the learning with past experience and/or future needs, expansion might lead the participant to:
- read articles on the same or related topics
- describe how changes in the experience might change the outcome
- attend additional classes
- discuss the experience with experts on the topic.
In the case of the REAL program, application would most often be to the participant’s business plan or business:
- writing or revising a portion of the business plan
- creating a marketing brochure
- revising a projected cash flow statement
- developing a new customer service policy.
