Explaining the Educational Power of Games

Experiential Learning

According to Experiential learning theory (ELT), the most powerful learning comes from direct experience – through action taking and seeing the consequences of that action. Learning is said to occur through the resolution of conflicts over different ways of dealing with the world. ELT suggests a holistic integrative perspective on learning that combines experience, perception, cognition, and behavior (Kolb, 1984).

Kolb (1984) describes the experiential learning model as: (p. 21): “an integrated process that begins with here-and-now experience followed by collection of data and observations about that experience. The data are then analyzed and conclusions of this analysis fed back to the actors in the experience for their use in the modification of their behavior and choice of new experiences”. Learning is conceived as a four-stage cycle shown in Figure 1. Immediate concrete experience is the basis for observation and reflection. Observations are assimilated into a theory from which new implications for action can be deduced. Implications or hypotheses then serve as guides in acting to create new experiences.

Figure 1.

The experiential learning model (Kolb, 1984)