Reflection Paper On Experiential Learning

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate my experiential learning of personal and social adjustments when confronted with life-changing events and the mechanisms utilized to effectively cope from traumatic experiences. The components supporting this piece include: confronting the problem, learning to adapt and cope, cultivating self-worth, the importance of a support system and over time change influencers. To support my understanding of personal and social adjustments, I will use the content of this paper to speak as evidence of my experiential learning derived from confronting a long-term spiritual abuse situation and process of unraveling and coping from its affects.

For college students, perhaps the most difficult decision they will be forced to make is what occupation to pursue. Picking a particular career from the thousands available can seem impossible at times. According to the University of La Verne, 50%-70% of students change their major at least one time during their academic career. Informational interviews are an excellent way of learning about a particular job from someone with first-hand experience.

In scientific environments, logic, analytical skills, structure and applying relevant past experience when dealing with problems are required to complete projects. My best-fit MBTI profile ESTJ (Appendix-6) is in line with being logical, analytical and objectively critical (Thinking). I have a predisposition in assimilating information using the five senses (Sensing), being pragmatic in finding solutions and constantly in search of details (Judging).

From the age of 15 I have had a job and was always better at work than school. It wasn’t until recently that I began to look back and decided I needed a change so, I made the choice to start college. My love of fishing and the outdoors made the decision easy when it came to choosing my major, Land Forestry Wildlife Management. Although the decision came easy and I feel it is the right career for me, there are many issues, positive and negative, related to my field. Land Forestry Wildlife Management does a lot of good for people and animals but can also hurt. Prescribe burning, wildlife control and forest management are all big issues related to the field.

Reflection is thought by linking recent experience with early experience to promote more complex and interrelated mental models or patterns. The thinking involves looking for commonalities, differences, and interrelations beyond their superficial elements. The goal is to develop higher order thinking skills.

During this course, the class curriculum has brought up the importance of asking questions and speaking with others involved in a certain major or career. The informational interview project further proved why this is crucial and helpful. This project required me to step out of my comfort zone and engage with people that work in different occupations. I chose to interview one person that is an elementary school teacher, and one that is currently the head athletic director of a high school. Interviewing these two qualified individuals helped me learn about whether or not these occupations are ones that I should look into. Learning this important information is vital for me because I am still an undecided student attempting to find choose a major.

Speaking of interactive exercises, Dr. Alt also prepares several experiential learning exercises that really help you internalize the information you learn during lecture. Although it is embarrassing, I must admit that I was a bit of an introvert that often found himself in awkward social situations that were almost exclusively caused by a culture gap. I grew up in Korea and coming to the United States was a bit of a culture shock for me. I quickly learned how different Western and Asian cultures really were in terms of humor and etiquette. This is unquestionably the reason behind why, of all the experiential learning exercises, the Cultural Awareness activity left the largest impact on me.

From the age of 15 I have had a job and was always better at work than school. It wasn’t until recently that I decided I need a change, so I chose to start college. My love of fishing and the outdoors made the decision easy when it came to choosing my major, Land Forestry Wildlife Management. Although the decision came easy and I feel it is the right career for me, there are many issues, positive and negative, related to my field. Land, Forest, Wildlife Management does a lot of good for people and animals but can also hurt. Prescribed burning, wildlife control and forest management are all big issues related to the field.

“Past research suggests that organizations must rely on their cultural environment to promote employee ethicality” (Sekerka, 2014). Corporate policies communicate organizational values and offer standardized guidance to employees for exhibiting acceptable behaviors and attitudes. In order for an ethics training program to be successful the following must be present, “help people understand ethical judgment philosophies and decision-making heuristics; address areas of ethical concern within their industry/profession; teach the organization’s ethical expectations and rules; help people to understand their own ethical tendencies; take a realistic view, while also elaborating on difficulties in ethical decision making; and have people use the material in the workplace, then

This self-learning experience examines an area not often contemplated in society today. Within the legal contract of marriage, there can be a delusion that rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse, does not take place (Vayeghan, 2016). Many reject the accusation made by a wife of rape by her husband as a crime within a marriage relationship, claims Vayeghan (2016). Consequently, many cultures do not consider sexual assault or sexual abuse within the marriage setting to be a crime. Sexual assault and sexual abuse exist and does occur in marital relationships. Marriages in which sexual abuse and/or assault occurs have been investigated throughout the world and can be considered problematic in some areas. Sexual abuse can be regarded as physical,

Describe briefly how any idea from the article relates to a specific learning-related event or experience you had last term.

This history of curriculum studies course has been particularly insightful because of the way it has enabled me to examine the history of the curriculum present in US schools since the founding of our nation. One of the concepts I have been most intrigued by is the notion of experience learning. Having attended a progressive school driven by principles of John Dewey, from a very young age I was exposed to the practice of learning through doing. Because this unique kind of education served as the foundation of my educational experience, I naïvely believed that all schools embraced this philosophy and encouraged students to take an active role in their education. It was not until college that I learned

Although Roger’s experiential learning theory has provided many examples of advantages, there are some limitations that follow in his outlined theory. When discussing the implications of experiential learning, we often wonder what the full meaning represents. “The main problem about experience, a problem which precedes questions about how we can learn best from experience, lies in a double unsaid: a silence about the implication of experience in language and a silence about the implication of experiential learning in discourse” (Boud, Cohen & Walker, 1993, p. 169). This author explains that through the very subconscious thoughts, we often approach events believing that they have to acquire a particular meaning. Sometimes

In the reading Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development by David Kolb (1984), he proposed that learning is a cycle process in which individuals learn through their own experiences in life. This notion of the learning cycle in which he was influenced by the ideas of three other theorists (Piaget, Dewey, and Lewinian) called it Experiential Learning Theory. Kolb’s theory was based on how people learned by imputing information and processing the information. Within this two abilities, there are four steps in which Kolb’s believe the learning process occurs. The first one he calls “concrete experience”, in which one actually does the learning right then and now. The second one is “reflective observation” when the learner thinks about what they did as a reflection of the experience. The next step is the “abstract conceptualization”, where the learner makes a generalization of the experience. The last step is “active experimentation”, where the learner puts to practice his/her understanding and adapts to it. The learner does this by taking all the first three steps of the learning cycle and seeing the results (pg. 30). Learning is a process in which individuals learn through trial and error. This process can then be reused with our prior experience to strengthen the outcome of our first experience. It is shaped as a cycle in the way we process information cognitively. This is how I understood of the reading on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory.

In today’s competitive world, people are expected to be highly effective and efficient. They need specific skills and knowledge for their education or work purposes. This has enforced various skill enhancement programs proposed by fraternity all over the world.