Experiential Learning Perspective Research Articles

Enhancing research engagement in MSW students by investigating social work majors’ adverse life events and mental health outcomes

ABSTRACT Research literacy for graduate social work students may be enhanced by approaching the process of teaching research methods from an experiential learning perspective. This article provides an overview of an introductory MSW research course where students investigated adverse life events (ALEs) and their association with mental health outcomes in social work majors (N = 51). MSW students’ inquiry into ALEs helped to increase their understanding of the practical elements of trauma exposure and aftermath, along with conducting research that adds to the knowledge base of the topic. The findings on childhood maltreatment, adult interpersonal violence, and mental health outcomes are presented, along with students’ process of constructing and implementing their research studies. ALEs were common across the lifespan. However, few associations were found between ALEs, whether in childhood or adulthood, and mental (depression, anxiety, stress) and behavioral (alcohol use, cannabis use) health. Such findings underscored for students the complex relationship between psychological distress and resilience for social work trainees. Implications include further investigation to examine how positive coping skills may serve as essential moderators that create stress-buffering effects for social work trainees in the context of risk. Such information may enhance curricula to prepare students better to achieve professional competence.

Using Simulations to Support Students’ Conceptual Development Related to Wildfire Hazards and Risks from an Experiential Learning Perspective

Using Simulations to Support Students’ Conceptual Development Related to Wildfire Hazards and Risks from an Experiential Learning Perspective

Exploring the evolution of consumer attitude from followers to brand enthusiasts: an experiential learning perspective on social media

PurposeSocial media marketers are keen to understand how viewers perceive their brands on a platform and how the learning experiences from content can impact their attitudes toward a brand. This study aims to focus on examining the effect of firm-generated content (FGC) on X (formerly known as Twitter), using Kolb’s experiential learning theory to analyze the viewers’ learning process. In addition, the study investigates how the length of time a viewer follows a brand and the type of brand can influence their attitudes toward it.Design/methodology/approachThis study involved three qualitative studies on X to investigate how content learning affects consumer attitudes toward two brands, namely, Nike and Subway. The study also examined the impact of the duration of following the brands, with participants following the brands for 4, 8 and 12 weeks, respectively, to assess changes in their attitudes.FindingsThe results demonstrate that content learning significantly impacts consumer attitudes. By following brands and engaging with their FGC over time, viewers can transition from being occasional or intermittent followers to becoming devoted brand enthusiasts. Through the four-stage experiential learning process, followers undergo cognitive, emotional and behavioral transformations that collectively shape their brand attitudes. The impact of content learning varies according to the brand type, and the duration of following has a positive effect on brand attitudes.Research limitations/implicationsThe study’s findings have significant marketing implications for social media marketers, suggesting that they should restructure their social media platforms as learning platforms to effectively engage followers. Companies should adjust their content marketing strategies from a learner’s perspective, providing followers with content that resonates with them, enhances their learning outcomes and helps shift their beliefs and brand attitudes, ultimately converting them into loyal consumers.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this qualitative research is the first of its kind to apply experiential learning theories to investigate how users learn from FGC by following brands on social media and how this learning ultimately changes their brand attitude. The study provides a unique perspective on social media marketing, enriching the understanding of content marketing and consumer experiences on social media platforms.

Using AI to Improve Sustainable Agricultural Practices: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

The world is confronted with the grand challenge of food insecurity amidst growing populations and the climate crisis. Artificial intelligence (AI) deployed in agricultural decision support systems (AgriDSS) raises both hopes and concerns for increasing agricultural productivity in sustainable ways. In this paper, we conduct a scoping review to uncover the roadblocks to the use of AI-supported AgriDSS in sustainable agriculture. Based on the corpus of 121 articles, we find that the effective use of AI-supported AgriDSS is hindered at technical, social, ethical, and ecological levels. Then, drawing on the experiential learning perspective, we propose how conjoint experiential learning (CEL) can enhance sustainable agricultural practices by enhancing both AI and human learning and overcoming roadblocks in using AgriDSS. Based on this conceptual framework, we build a research agenda that suggests blind spots and possible directions for future research.

Informal Education Pedagogy Transcendence from the ‘Academy’ to Society in the Current and Post COVID Environment

The purpose of this paper is to consider the following two notions; (1) that the use of ‘informal education pedagogies’ within teaching and learning in the ‘academy’ can both support the learning process within the ‘classroom’ but also transcend to society via students; and (2) that synergies exist between informal education and social pedagogical concepts. The discussions are situated from the perspective of an experienced practitioner and academic who is currently teaching youth related degree courses within a Higher Education Institution. This experiential learning has informed knowledge acquisition, understanding and skills application from professional practice to the teaching environment. An experiential learning perspective will be the primary method adopted; the value of this paper lies in its potential to re-affirm that degree courses which embed a ‘practice the practice’ approach in their teaching methodology support the embedding of core values of the said discipline. The paper argues that the ethically value-based principles and practice of informal education pedagogy, and social pedagogy, are relevant for the current and post COVID-19 pandemic environment.

The cloverleaf model of cognitive behaviour therapy as experiential learning: implications for case formulation, therapeutic practice and practitioner development

Abstract Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy for a wide variety of psychological problems. While the exact working mechanisms of CBT remain unknown, its mode of action might usefully be conceptualised as facilitated experiential learning. An adapted ‘cloverleaf’ version of Borton’s ‘what, so what, now what’ learning model is presented to elaborate some of the potential benefits of taking an experiential learning perspective on CBT. These include conceptualising the maintenance of client problems as inhibited experiential learning and the CBT therapeutic process as the cultivation of more effective experiential learning. An experiential learning perspective might also provide an accessible way for trainee and early-career CBT therapists to understand more clearly the learning methodology that underlies CBT’s distinctive approach to psychotherapy. The model is also intended to create an overarching conceptual bridge between reflective practice, the therapist’s experiential learning in the client role, and the client’s experience of CBT as facilitated experiential learning. Key learning aims (1) To introduce a modified ‘cloverleaf’ experiential learning process model that can be applied to the conceptualisation of client difficulties, CBT therapeutic processes, and practitioner development. (2) To demonstrate how the model can be used to develop cross-sectional and descriptive maintenance formulations of client problems and client wellbeing. (3) To show how the model can be used as a conceptual and practical tool to help formulate both the therapeutic process and challenges and obstacles to that process. (4) To help practitioners make links between the process of personal and professional development and client change processes.

Translating the transformative learning approach into practice: the case of a training of trainers’ pilot in client-centred extension approach

ABSTRACT Purpose To analyse the experiential learning approach to induce attitudinal change in the Ethiopian agricultural extension system to transform services from a top-down teaching to a participatory and interactive way. Design/Methodology/Approach Reconstruction of three training of trainers’ pilot trainings in a regional Ethiopian extension system from 2017 to 2020. The article analyses authors’ reflections and trainees’ self-assessment of the process and learning outcomes in view of the experiential and transformative learning perspective. Findings The article showcases how theories are translated to concept development and application of an innovative training of trainers’ pilot. It describes the actors, processes, outcomes and main learnings of a repeated training of trainers. Experiential learning-based training has the potential to activate individual agents as starting points that enable transformative changes in the Ethiopian extension system. In order to increase that potential, such a design should consider the prerequisites inside the extension system and among its agents. Practical implications The study offers insights for practitioners working towards enhancing the competences of agricultural advisors. Based on learned lessons, it serves as a guidance in the design of training the trainer approaches in similar contexts and whenever reorganisation of advisory services is required. Theoretical implications There is a need to include the long-term dynamics of knowledge and attitudes between individuals and their organisations; the way how organisations learn and transform themselves and how systematic reflections can be used to better assess the effectiveness of innovative training methods for more participatory advisory systems. Originality/Value The iterative sequence of theories, concepts, application, and outcomes, and referring back to concepts, and the clear demonstration of peer learning processes.

Effects of Flipped Classroom on Learning Outcomes and Satisfaction: An Experiential Learning Perspective

This article explores the flipped-classroom learning cycle and traditional blended-learning cycle from the experiential learning-theory perspective, according to which we proposed three teaching strategies: high-flipped classroom (high-FC), low-flipped classroom (low-FC), and Traditional Blended Learning (traditional BL). And, the three teaching strategies are adopted in the course of Enterprise Resource Planning System. The purpose is to investigate the effects of learning outcomes and satisfaction among high-FC, traditional BL, and low-FC. This research adopts a quasi-experimental method. The sample for the study is a compulsory course of the Information Management Department of the University of Science and Technology in Taiwan, with a total of 94 students in two classes. There are several research conclusions. (1) The three groups of t test results found that there are significant differences in the learning outcomes of the system skills. high-FC is better than low-FC, low-FC is better than traditional BL, and high-FC is better than traditional BL. However, there are no significant differences in the learning outcomes of process knowledge. (2) The results of ANOVA testing showed that students have the highest perceived learning outcomes for high-FC, followed by low-FC and traditional BL. (3) The results of ANOVA testing showed that students have the highest perceived learning satisfaction in high-FC, followed by low-FC, and the lowest is traditional BL. (4) The t test result shows that students are more satisfied with preview e-learning than review e-learning. The study findings provide several implications. (1) It is feasible to implement flipped classrooms from the perspective of experiential-learning theory. (2) Fully flipped classrooms have practical difficulties. A partially flipped classroom (high-FC or low-FC) can be a feasible gradual strategy. (3) Flipped classrooms and e-learning support each other’s sustainable development. (4) The flipped classroom based on experiential learning theoretical perspective has obtained preliminary verification in the ERP-system course.

Employing Virtual Reality (VR) Technology with Experiential Learning Perspective to Enhance Students’ Learning Experience

Employing Virtual Reality (VR) Technology with Experiential Learning Perspective to Enhance Students’ Learning Experience

An exploratory study of experiential learning in teaching a supply chain management course in an emerging market economy

PurposeThe study is exploratory and aims to investigate students’ learning experience in a supply chain management (SCM) course at a university in Bahrain. The selected learning skills were cognitive, affective and interactive, whereas the adopted pedagogical tools were case analysis, evaluative essay and game exercise.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was distributed to undergraduate students enrolled in an SCM course at a university in Bahrain. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques were used. Inferential analysis tests were principal component analysis, Kruskal–Wallis analysis of variance and Dunn’s post hoc pairwise comparison test.FindingsResults are inconclusive but revealed significant differences in students’ perceptions of learning skills among the adopted teaching methods. Significant differences in the perceived learning skills were found between the evaluative essay and the case analysis and between the report and the game exercise. The game exercise was the most useful technique in improving students’ interactive, cognitive and affective skills, followed by case analysis and evaluative essay.Research limitations/implicationsAs the sample of this study consisted of students enrolled in a particular SCM course at a University in Bahrain, the small sample size may restrict the study’s conclusive findings.Practical implicationsIt is recommended to establish an experiential or problem-based learning support unit to assist faculty in the planning, design and development of pedagogical and assessment tools.Originality/valueThe research findings are expected to help design, assess and enhance students’ learning experience in SCM and other business courses that adopt a process-based experiential learning perspective.

The Application of “My Pedagogic Creed” from Experiential Learning Perspective: A Survey of School Teachers in Karachi, Pakistan

<p align="center"><strong> </strong>This research measured the efficacy of experiential learning model proposed in “My Pedagogic Creed” by John Dewey in the perspective of teachers in the local context of Karachi, Pakistan. Literature reported that Dewey had promoted the notion of social interaction, group learning and experiential learning as strategies of teaching in the modern system of education. A survey questionnaire was developed and classified under four sections from experiential learning perspective: Aims and Objectives, Social Context of Teaching, Pedagogy and Teacher’s Behavior; hundred and seventy-one teachers participated in this survey. Results showed no significant difference in opinion of gender related to the above mentioned four variables. However, there was a significant difference in the opinion of male and female teachers with reference to their highest qualification and work experience regarding the said four variables. This study recommended more training for teachers in Karachi related to experiential learning model to improve the current scenario.</p><p align="center"><strong>Keywords:</strong> experiential learning, social interaction, group learning, Deweyism</p>

Experience distribution, experienced leaders, and team performance

Although research has indicated that organisational performance can be improved by investigating and learning from experiences, some studies have found that organisations may generate incorrect lessons or fail to learn. This study addresses this inconsistency by turning attention to experience distribution over time. Drawing from the experiential learning perspective, we argue that highly concentrated failure experiences and highly dispersed success experiences in a time period will impose negative impacts on organisational learning. Further, we also find that experienced leaders will ameliorate such negative effects through “circumventing” and “inspiring” mechanisms. We find support for our theory through a set of panel data collected from the teams of National Basketball Association during the 2003–2004 and the 2012–2013 seasons.

A Discursive Perspective on Corporate Social Responsibility Education: A Story Co-creation Exercise

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) pedagogies and teaching techniques have been extensively discussed in the literature. They are viewed as crucial for illustrating business–society relationships and encouraging business students to act ethically. Although the experiential learning perspective prevails in the discussions on CSR education, little attention has been paid to the discursive nature of CSR learning. Considering this gap, the paper explores the role of discourses in CSR education by drawing upon the discursive perspective on CSR and the relational social-constructionist orientation to management learning. To that end, a story co-creation exercise implemented in a CSR course in a Nordic University is used to demonstrate how discourses enable and constrain certain CSR meanings within a business educational context. The paper contributes to the field of CSR education and critical CSR research by suggesting how the discursive nature of CSR can be used to promote more reflexive practices among business students.

Learning in the Palaver Hut: The ‘Africa Study Visit’ as teaching tool

The aim of this article is to assess the experiential learning environment of the African Study Visit (ASV). It presents a theoretically grounded analysis of the ASV. Although field visits are not a new phenomenon within Higher Education, they seem, but with few exceptions, to be considered as an add-on teaching method. By drawing from the experiential learning literature, we demonstrate that there are sound pedagogical reasons for incorporating field visits like the ASV into the curriculum as stand-alone components. Thus, the original contribution of this article is to place the ASV within the experiential learning literature such that the theoretical, practical and conceptual benefits for students are understood. Its significance is that this article offers a set of practices from an experiential learning perspective that can be used for deepening the levels of comprehension of political issues in Africa for international studies students.

Post‐Formation Inter‐Partner Equity Transfers in International Joint Ventures: The Role of Experience

Under what conditions is an IJV partner likely to acquire its counterpart's equity stake upon a market cue of more opportunities; or sell its own equity stake to the counterpart upon a market cue of fewer opportunities? The puzzle springs from the premise that, upon a market cue, both the MNE partner and the local IJV partner are motivated to appropriate value in a manner consistent with the direction of the market cue. However, only one partner can change the ownership share in its favor. Building on the real options logic and the experiential learning perspective, we suggest that the local partner is more likely to realign ownership share in its own favor, all else equal. However, an MNE's cumulative operational experience overturns this. Our model is supported by data on Japanese automotive supplier IJV equity changes over an 18‐year period.

Research on Higher Tourism Vocational Education and Management Based on the Factor Analysis

The aim of this study is to explore the tourism management professional education reform from experiential learning perspective, focus on the tourism management education how to carry out experience learning concept, improve the overall quality of education, change the traditional education model and tourism management teaching practice experience learning thinking of macro policy and microcosmic operation. Based on the current situation of the domestic tourism education and management, we put forward the connotation of experiential learning, concept and characteristics. Taking the tourism management specialty of Changchun Vocational Institute of Technology reform as an example, we use the factor analysis method of mathematical model, in view of the difficulties of current domestic tourism education and management, improving and expanding the application range of experiential learning theory, from the angle of practice, strengthen the education for the industry to expand the demand to the talent, to promote the tourism management education and international development, from the tourism sustainable development angle optimization of tourism management and development strategy.

Electronic commerce‐based internationalisation of small, niche‐oriented retailing companies

PurposeThe main object of this research paper is to analyse the dynamic internationalisation process in small retailing firms, achieved on the basis of electronic commerce – a combination that has seldom been investigated. An analysis of dynamic internationalisation in companies presumes that the businesses concerned are observed over a longer period of time, which is why the paper focuses on the case of one specific company.Design/methodology/approachThe basis of the analysis is a theory‐based framework which refers to two opposing approaches in international management, namely the incremental, experiential learning perspective, and the revolutionary perspective. The framework and the case study look specifically at market‐oriented, supply side‐oriented, and management processes. Based on an extended case study on a small, born‐global firm, the many facets of increasing professionalisation have been documented.FindingsThe paper shows that small, niche‐oriented companies can be successful internationally and achieve growth. The process of dynamic internationalisation is both incremental and revolutionary. The special feature in the present case lies in the fact that the small company was able to internationalise via electronic commerce, which was possible without capital investments and in‐depth foreign activities, unlike other forms of internationalisation, which is already evident from other small retailers on the web. Blue Tomato succeeded in reaching cross‐national market segments, with a specific scene orientation and which also share snowboarders' attitude to life, by means of inter‐active scene relationship management. This focused scene orientation is one of the key differences compared with other catalogue retailers, especially larger ones.Originality/valueThe originality of the paper lies in the fact that the subject of internationalisation is investigated particularly from the point of view of small retail companies. This contrasts with many other papers focusing on large retailing companies. In addition, the paper looks at the dynamic perspective of internationalisation and change processes. The present paper could be a small step towards gaining an understanding of international change based on electronic commerce.

The Mind of the Strategist

The article introduces a series of papers on strategic leadership. A natural outgrowth of psychologist Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence is an interest in leadership development, taking the form here of WICS--wisdom, intelligence, and creativity synthesized. Sternberg argues that leadership is premised on intelligence, not just because a healthy dose of cognitive ability is necessary, but because practical intelligence--particularly as it relates to the formation and use of tacit knowledge--comes close to describing and explaining what leaders display. Larry Greiner teams up with Arvind Bhambri and Tom Cummings to search for a strategy to teach strategy. They begin by covering the Business Policy course, from its 1912 inception at Harvard Business School through the subsequent 1946 expansion of its primary pedagogy, the case, to all courses in the Harvard Business School curriculum, and eventually to most schools across the country. The benefits of case methodology as historically practiced, they argue, are best understood via an experiential learning perspective as a means to bridge the much-bemoaned knowing-doing gap.

Information Systems Strategy Formation Embedded into a Continuous Organizational Learning Process

Mintzberg's viewpoint that strategy is an emergent learning process rather than a plan has a valuable contribution to make to the Information Systems IS field. This argumentation has rendered both the necessity of strategy planning sessions and the strategy plan itself questionable. Here, strategy is seen from an experiential learning perspective, but learning is supported by planning sessions. The purpose of the planning process is to produce a formal plan to direct IS development and utilization. On the other hand strategy is what an organization knows, not what is written. The outcome of an IS strategy process should thus be an increased understanding of IS opportunities and constraints, and a shared view of IS utilization. This study presents an approach to combine the learning and planning approaches to strategy formation. An approach to link the experiential learning cycle and the Information Systems Strategy ISS process is presented and tested. The proposed solution is based on four process phases. First, evaluation of the current organizational reality of IS utilization from the management, usage and Information Technology IT viewpoints. Secondly, joint learning through an interactive planning process between interest groups to improve managerial abilities, change organizational structures and reach a common view of IS use and management i.e. IS Strategy. Thirdly, another learning process directed by IS strategy during implementation at middle management and personnel levels. Finally, the outcome of the ISS process has to be constantly observed and evaluated to understand progress and needs for further development. A longitudinal case study has been conducted to test the developed approach. The research process is presented and the outcomes of the approach discussed.

Student Teams Studying Organizations: Connecting the Classroom Through Field Experience

ABSTRACTEducation limited to the classroom may not connect theory to practice. From an experiential learning perspective, learning increases significantly after information has been transformed by ...