The right set of learning experiences for students can set them up for a lifetime of success. Through good learning experiences and strategies, teachers can radically transform how students engage with subject areas. They can inspire students to think with greater clarity and curiosity about any subject area or field.
The essence of engaging learning can spark interest across ages, which is why it is one of the most effective techniques being used by leading teachers worldwide.
Students can approach subjects with a growth mindset, giving them the right tools to view topics from a well-rounded approach. Math, science, geography, and a range of other subjects can be taught via multi-sensory mediums to create a sense of excitement and joy for everyday learning.
- What are learning experiences in curriculum
- Benefits of learning experiences in the classroom
- Types of learning experiences
- Student-centered importance of learning experiences
- Techniques to incorporate learning experiences in the classroom
- Tracking student performance
- FAQs
What are learning experiences in curriculum? Aren’t students already learning?
While the term learning experiences may mean different things to different teachers, it is a scalable strategy that can be used to drive better student outcomes. Learning experiences can improve student performance, group participation, and active engagement within the classroom setting.
So, what is a learning experience?
A learning experience is a strategic approach to teaching that involves reworking the flow of a curriculum to focus on end goals and objectives. It also emphasizes using multiple teaching methodologies to engage learners of different types. Social participation, collaborative engagement, multimedia games, and other forms of teaching are employed to provide a more holistic experience.
There is also greater attention given to the purpose behind the learning of the subject, along with a highly structured pathway to achieving specific goals. Teachers also establish context behind the lessons being taught to their students, which helps create a stronger relationship with the subject.
By understanding the current knowledge level of students within a grade, addressing the end goals for the semester, and using multiple engagement tools for better context, teachers can effectively introduce learning experiences.
Benefits of Learning Experiences in the Classroom
There are several intrinsic advantages of learning experiences that can drive better results for teachers working in complex digital and traditional environments.
1. Assimilation at different dimensions
Subject areas, such as decimals, counting, language comprehensive, etc., require learning at different dimensions. Students get an opportunity to learn at a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral level, for a well-rounded educational experience. This promotes stronger memory connection, better recall, and a greater ability to leverage simple topics for complex processing.
2. Application beyond the classroom
Another benefit that implementing learning experiences offers students is the application of various subject areas. Through the lens of the end objective with each lesson plan, teachers can introduce learning experiences with a focus on application. This can help connect different topics together, promoting more complex thinking when learning about new subjects. Students can find themselves using differences, pattern recognition, and visualization, outside of the traditional classroom setting.
3. Context-rich teaching for students
Through activities, games, interactive sessions, and multimedia tools, deeper context can be established with what is being taught. Teachers can create new conversations around language, algebra, geometry, and history, which helps reinforce the lesson with richer meaning. Establishing real-world applications of counting, verbs, and multiples can also help students relate to the subject matter from a practical standpoint as well.
4. Strengthened focus on mastery
Through learning experiences, students have a chance at mastering subject areas that may have been previously thought of as being challenging. They can realign their approach to learning about a subject, by interpreting the information through different mediums. A great example of this would be using a level-based game focused on fractions, specifically designed to escalate difficulty to promote mastery.
5. Personalized learning for students
A vital benefit of adopting learning experiences in the classroom is the scalability of personalization. Teachers can explore new methods of delivering a unique message to the classroom and have individual students acquire information in the way that they prefer. By using multiple tools, focusing on end objectives, and driving direct context, all students have a better chance at successfully learning simultaneously.
6. Boost in social learning and collaboration
By understanding topics and subject areas closely, students are more confident in learning in groups as well. They can collaborate on problem-solving-based tasks and learn from other students in an engaging environment. Open activities, group tasks, and collaborative challenges can help spark new insights in students that may not have had the chance to explore traditionally.
7. Helps identify learning gaps quickly
Another essential reason why learning experiences are pivotal for modern classrooms is the ease with which gaps can be identified. As there are different types of learning experiences, teachers can use them to gauge the level of understanding of certain topics. Through non-conventional testing via classroom tasks and interactive activities, teachers can find gaps within learning and address them instantly.
Types of Learning Experiences
A significant reason behind the growing adoption of learning experiences within academic curricula is the flexibility they offer to teachers across subjects and grades. There are several sources of learning experiences that teachers can leverage to drive the message home for their students. Students that respond better to cooperative learning can acquire knowledge just as quickly as those that prefer visualization-based learning.
Let us explore the different types of learning experiences that teachers can adapt to their classrooms –
1. Direct learning experiences
Direct learning experiences are impactful for several students that enjoy learning through touch, feel, and other sensory mediums. They can manipulate word cards, mathematics tools, mobile science games, and other touch-based learning mediums and gain knowledge at a faster rate. Teachers can also introduce new tools to leverage when students adapt to existing ones for better performance.
In fact, children who play SplashLearn more than 4 times a week show a learning improvement of more than 77% within the first 2 months.
2. Indirect learning experiences
Indirect learning experiences are abstracted through accounts, without experiencing them physically. These methods are highly scalable and can include multimedia content, pictorial representations, discussions, debates, workbooks, etc. They can help stimulate a sense of curiosity and learning by empowering the student’s creative thinking. Strategies such as verbal games, thought experiments, role-playing, etc. can help students learn about subjects from a different angle.
3. Individual-level learning experiences
Many students also respond better to learning experiences when studying individually. These students prefer worksheets, written activities, storytelling, and a range of stimulative exercises. These individual-level experiences are critical to leverage, especially when you have a smaller classroom of students that can spend time in an introspective environment. They also respond well to audiobooks, video journals, one-on-one time, and other similar strategies.
4. Group-level learning experiences
Some of the top student-centered learning examples emerge from the concept of group-level learning experiences. Discussions, classroom activities, team-based tasks, and other collaborative initiatives can spark a sense of joy around complex subject areas. Gamification and expressive learning strategies are a core part of the group-level learning experience, which is why it is highly recommended for students in Pre-K through grade 2.
5. Hybrid or blended learning experiences
Hybrid is one of the most effective types of learning experiences, as it focuses on blending various strategies to maximize potential impact. Classrooms are emerging increasingly diverse, digitized, and results-oriented. Hybrid methods help engage students across learning types, by involving them in various activities that stimulate creative thinking, social engagement, and knowledge application.
Importance of Learning Experiences for Classroom Success
Students of all ages face challenges in learning concepts that aren’t instinctive to them. Introducing learning experiences can open their cognitive horizon to more complex-level thinking. Activities, such as field trips, group discussions, role-playing, experimenting, and creative expression, can bring out the complete potential of a student and boost their in-school performance.
1. Making students fall in love with a subject
Students also tend to enjoy learning about a subject if it is taught in a non-traditional and interactive way. While this may be cumbersome to execute for each topic, a general subject can be taught with learning experiences integrated into the course. E.g., when teaching word problems to 5th graders, teachers can use props, games, animations, and cut-outs, to help break down a problem into simpler concepts.
2. The best approach for home-schooling
Kids that are home-schooled prefer learning through multiple mediums that can expand their way of thinking about a problem statement. Through a blend of technology and paper-based tools, students can be taught difficult subjects in a much easier way. A great example of this is using puppets, memory cards, games, and other interactive mediums to teach younger kids about counting and addition.
3. Teaching how the student wants to learn
Why are learning experiences so good at explaining topics? It is because they help teach students the way they want to be taught. Some kids prefer reading while others learn through puzzles. Embedding learning experiences in the curriculum allows all students to learn the way they want to learn without feeling left out of the momentum of the session. Ultimately, the student benefits immensely as they are being stimulated through multiple mediums.
4. Extended attention long-term
Teachers that are using traditional methods of explanation and query resolution will find learning experiences refreshing. Through different activities, exercises, and thought experiments, students focus on the task-at-hand much longer and they are more stimulated than passive reading. They are highly engaged in context-rich learning exercises, which improves their attention duration significantly.
Techniques to Incorporate Strategic Learning Experiences in the Classroom
There are many strategies that teachers can use to introduce learning experiences in their classrooms.
1. Starting from the student first
The needs and interests of the students should be contextualized, with a highly customized teaching plan that can instantly engage them. While each class is unique, teachers should be able to develop effective plans for the semester based on the knowledge level of their students.
Teachers should also focus on what learning experiences can impact their students best through experimenting with different strategies. With a specific goal in mind for the day, teachers can work backward and develop an engaging approach to empower students and make them more curious about the subject.
2. Focusing on multisensory stimulus strategies
Students tend to participate more in activities that engage them in multisensory ways. Tools and techniques that allow for direct, indirect, and group participation learning experiences, can activate the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of knowledge better.
The result of this will be a more cognitive stimulation of the mind of the student, with a stronger focus on rational thinking and logical reasoning. These skills are difficult to inculcate through instructional teaching and require learning experiences and hands-on engagement with students long-term.
3. Encouraging experiential learning in class
It is important for teachers to encourage first-hand experiential learning when dealing with new subjects and difficult topics. Through various role-playing exercises, experiments, and challenges, students can be asked to demonstrate the day’s lessons in a fun and engaging way.
This improves the student’s understanding and application of a subject area while allowing teachers to analyze knowledge gaps. Students also feel a sense of pride when they accomplish tasks by themselves, which improves information retention.
4. Eliminating barriers to learning in the classroom
Teachers can eliminate barriers to learning by ensuring the following –
- Focusing on one activity or exercise at a time, to not overwhelm students.
- Eliminating distractions to learning, whether online or in-class.
- Introducing clarity in objectives to avoid tangential tasks. E.g., saying this is our task for today, rather than being ambiguous about what the students will learn.
- Collaborating with students on their learning experiences.
- Ensuring autonomy in decision-making during exercises.
- Embedding multiple digital and paper-based tools, cards, games, etc. to ensure optimal learning.
Tracking Student Performance across Implementations of Learning Experiences
The best way to engage students through learning experiences is to track how they interact with various activities over time. Teachers can analyze the class performance of student groups with the intervention that suited them the best.
Student performance can be tracked through various activities and compared with their overall grade. Teachers can then change activities, introduce new devices, add fun games, and review student performance again.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the challenges that I will face when implementing learning experiences in the classroom?
Teachers may face the following challenges when implementing learning experiences for the first time –
- Resistance to shifting teaching style or additional work involved.
- Overstimulation caused due to too many exercises and activities.
- Distractions and tangential conversations during learning experiences.
- Lack of curiosity towards the novel concept of learning experiences.
What is the right age to introduce learning experiences for students?
Learning experiences can be introduced to students from Grade 1, as they are already familiar with most tools and activity structures.
What if learning experiences don’t work for my students?
It is best to try different methods and to develop a relationship with individual students to gauge their style of learning. A questionnaire or a simple introductory activity can provide initial insights for better adjustment.
What are the future trends in learning experiences?
Several trends will shape how teachers introduce learning experiences in the classroom, namely –
- Greater implementation of mobile applications, focused on engagement-based learning.
- More customization of teaching plans that are focused on productivity improvement.
- Visually engaging learning experiences that mirror real-world problems for better conceptualization.
- VR for higher grade learning experiences, especially for teaching highly complex subject areas.