In my group, I was assigned to the experiential learning. Speaking of the experiential learning, obviously, this learning approach is based on practical experience and hands-on practice to acquire knowledge, skills, and comprehension through personal involvement and practice. It emphasizes that learners deepen their understanding and apply it to real-world situations through practical practice, reflection, and summarization. If compared to the three instructional approaches in our first blog, the theory that I suggest is most closely related is ā€œconstructivismā€. Since they both focus more on hands-on activities and social interaction to construct an understanding of knowledge. Moreover, when it comes to the characteristics of the experiential learning approach, the main aspects include the following:

  1. Participation. The experiential learning approach encourages learners to be actively involved in practical activities. Meanwhile, learners are able to acquire knowledge and skills through personal experience and practical work.
  2. Social Interaction. Experiential learning focuses on collaboration and communication with others. For instance, learners enrich and deepen their learning experiences by sharing experiences with others, collaborating on problems, and receiving feedback.
  3. Reflection and Summarization. Experiential learners will review and analyze their practical experience to extract the key points and insights. As well as to apply their experience to future learning.
  4. Correlation with knowledge. The experiential learning approach places learning in real-world situations and emphasizes the close connection between learning knowledge and practical practice. Accordingly, learners apply knowledge and skills in specific contexts to understand and experience the practical value of knowledge.

Furthermore, the topic of our groupā€™s project is the economics of Canadian health care. Indeed, the experiential learning approach does align with our topic. Since I believe that almost everyone has been to the hospital because of illness. While people go to the hospital, they will have a preliminary understanding of the health care system and get a sense of how the country helps in the process of paying for health care. For instance, the method of payment is different, and the amount of medical insurance is also different. Undeniably, this learning approach is also one-sided for our subject matter, the demand of going to the hospital is not a regular occurrence either. Perhaps the first learning approach “direct instruction” is the most applicable to our topic.