The Learner’s Engagement in the Learning Process designed based on the Experiential Learning theory……

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The 2018 2nd International Conference on Education and E-Learning  in Bali, I attended was a fruitful one. Knowledge shared is rich and diverse especially ideas on solution and product of online learning.  Below is an excerpt of the paper I presented entitled “The Learner’s Engagement in the Learning Process designed based on the Experiential Learning theory in Post Graduate Program at Open University Malaysia.” 

ABSTRACT

Today, the methods of delivering knowledge through online have become diverse, and online learning environments have reached its maturity as evidenced by the fact that most institutions of higher learning are either using them or considering making them one of the leading modes of teaching and learning. Learners today are becoming open-minded due to the technology that provides communication channels with different features and functionality. This study aims to observe the learner’s engagement in the learning process designed based on four modes of the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) model.  Based on a case study and literature review, this study seeks to determine the components of Experiential Learning Theory to be synthesised into the learning process to create an effective lesson design. This study will report on the effects of the lesson design synthesised from the Experiential Learning Theory that is translated into the learning process, from the ‘grasp experience’ phase to ‘transform experience’ phase in the ELT learning cycle. The analytic learning data from the report in Moodle based Learning Management System is used to measure the learner’s engagement.

The implementation of ELT in the learning process involves two main components called as ‘experience’ as shown in Fig. 2. As a whole the ideas of ELT emphasise on experience. The overall learning cycle describes learning cycle as recursive circle (Kolb and Kolb, 2017:33). Its means there is an iterative process from the ‘grasp experience’ phase to ‘transform experience’ phase in the learning cycle from Stage 1 to 4. The process is then translated into a learning structure.

The process is then translated into a learning structure as below:

Table 2: Learning activities designed based on the Visualization of Four Stages of Learning Cycle in ELT (Zahari Hamidon, 2018)

The finding shows a significant drop in numbers of hours in engagement in online activities in the Transform Experience (TE). Comparative data between the grasp experience (GE) and transform experience (TE) section reflect the opportunities for the learners adjust the learning experience. Looking at the positive side of the engagement, this scenario is in line with the study by Turney, Robinson, Lee, & Soutar [11], wherein GE session student tends to spread their learning experiences over a more extended period in an online forum by gathering information and shared it with their peers. In TE session, the students tend to ignore the online activities and focus more on reflecting the ideas in writing a case study.

Conclusion

The study yield two critical findings:

1. More time needs to be given to the students in an online forum for them to share experience and gain insight by gathering ideas from their peers. The declination of hours in transform experience session reflect their commitment to synthesising ideas by focusing more on reflecting ideas.

2. The declination of numbers of hours in an online forum activity in TE does not mean the student ignored their study. It means they are adjusting their learning pace by putting more effort in reflecting previous experience.

the article “The Learner’s Engagement in the Learning Process designed based on the Experiential Learning theory……” including figure and table by Zahari Hamidon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.