Experiential Learning, Just Do It!

"Learning by Doing" is one of the main reasons 4-H has been recognized and respected in the field of informal youth education. 4-H members and leaders have traditionally been encouraged to "engage" in their learning experiences. Today they are also being asked to think more about what they are learning and to ultimately learn more about themselves and the world in which they live. This process of doing, reflecting, and applying is referred to as Experiential Learning. The noted philosopher, John Dewey, stated: "Experiential learning takes place when a person is involved in an activity, looks back and evaluates it, determines what was useful or important to remember and uses this information to perform another activity." (Dewey, 1938) Being Extension Educators for the University of Idaho, we enjoy evaluating and meeting the needs of the people in our county and area. As youth needs and issues change, so must our educational efforts. For the last seven years, we have been members of the Bear River Basin Cluster, comprising of Extension Educators and staff from Bear Lake, Caribou, Franklin, & Oneida Counties. The Bear River Basin Cluster Team felt that to improve the educational experiences of youth enrolled in our 4-H program, the educational activities needed to incorporate experiential learning. This goal has greatly influenced the way 4-H activities are currently accomplished and has increased the involvement of youth and adults in their own learning. The team is developing and offering activities, project camps, and workshops using the project curriculum from the 4-H Cooperative Curriculum System (4-HCCS) as a guide. The University of Idaho Extension System is a member of the 4-HCCS, which currently has 42 states as members. This organization's curriculum utilizes the experiential learning model and focuses on teaching "life skills" along with traditional project skills. Each set of materials produced by this organization must pass the National 4-H criteria to be accepted as 4-HCCS curricula and listed in the National 4H Collection. The basis of the 4-HCCS Experiential Learning Model is doing, reflecting and applying. To do an activity that involves experiential learning, you need to include three basic principles. This base is more completely outlined in the following five steps: 1) Experience, 2) Share, 3) Process, 4) Generalize, and 5) Apply. Most individuals are very good at demonstrating to youth what and how things work. To adapt activities for experiential learning you have to change the "doing" part of the activity to involve the learner. One way to involve the learners is to lead them through an activity - having them do everything you do. Following the learning experience, youth have to "share" what and how they learned, then "process" their new knowledge and "apply" it to other facets of their lives. This process has increased the interaction of adults and youth in our 4-H program and led to a more participatory type of programming, where youth and adults all play an active role in the learning process. The experiential learning model challenges individuals to change and adjust their way of teaching. The team started by sharing and teaching the model to other adults/volunteers. These individuals needed to experience the educational moment as if they were being taught as a youth. This "moment" showed volunteers the joy of this teaching model and encouraged them to find activities they could share with the youth of the 4-H program. Engaging the volunteers in a discussion of the activity helped them to apply the other parts of the model, preparing them for their next teaching opportunity. …