David Boud's paper sketches out some ideas about immersive experience and its use in formal educational settings and examines these from the perspective of experiential or experience-based learning. It starts by considering what immersive experiences might be. It continues by summarising some of his own earlier work about learning from experience and applies a model of learning from experience to immersive situations. It warns about the trap of naïve experientialism and cautions about the uncritical application of experiential learning practices in formal educational contexts in which assumptions of volition and aware participation may not be valid. It continues with discussion of more recent work about learning in workplaces, which is nothing if not experiential.
David poses a number of questions to promote further enquiry about the use of immersive experiences in higher education contexts.
- What kinds of immersion are good for which purposes? This begs the further question: are some immersive experiences not good environments for learning, or some kinds of learning?
- What particular kind of immersion is appropriate for the given learner and the given learning outcomes?
- Why is an immersive experience thought preferable to one that is less immersive for the particular educational outcomes sought?
- What are the key considerations in the design or selection of an immersive opportunity?
- Can an event or activity that involves significant immersion be ethically justified and particularly justified in terms of the risks involved? Can an ethical challenge be mitigated by the preparation and ongoing support that the learner receives in a highly immersive situation, or the need for the learner to be prepared for difficult or risky situations?
- Are learners sufficiently well prepared and suitably equipped to utilise the opportunities the event provides? What constitutes appropriate preparation for immersive environments that are highly unpredictable?
- To what extent are learners able to notice and retain what is happening in an immersive situation?
- What occasions and opportunities are there within the context of the activity, and following it, for reflection and processing to occur?
- Are the reflective processes available for learners sufficiently well understood, and practiced, for them to be able to be applied to the experiences involved?
- Is enough time available, and conditions suitable, for reflection during and following the event?
- Are assessment activities sufficiently well designed to ensure that they do not inadvertently inhibit and distort reflection on the immersive experience?
- In what ways can assessment tools and criteria be made able to take account of the unpredictable nature of the outcomes that emerge through immersive experiences?
Colin Beard and John Wilson
Page Information
|
Wiki Information |
Recent PBwiki Blog Posts |
Create your own educational wiki!