Experiential Learning Cycle & Processing Questions A Guide for Coaches From: The 1979 Annual Handbook for Group Facilitators

Experiential Learning has the potential to involve the whole person in the educational process Each stage of the learning cycle has objectives that move toward increasing the options available to a person in the face of new but similar situations

Phases of the Experiential Learning Cycle Experiencing: Generates individual data from one or more of the sensing, thinking, feeling, wanting or doing modes

Sharing: People report the data generated from the experience

Interpreting: People make sense of the data generated for both individuals and their group (School)

Generalizing: People develop a testable hypotheses and abstractions from the data

Applying: Bridge the present and the future by understanding and/or planning how these generalizations can be tested in a new place

Processing Questions Stage I Experiencing Stage What is going on? How do you feel about that? What do you need to know to...? Would you be willing to try? Could you be more specific? Could you off a suggestion? What would you prefer? What are your suspicions? What is your objection? If you could guess the answer, what would it be? Can you say that in another way? What is the worst/best that could happen? What else? And? Would you say more about that?

Processing Questions Stage II Sharing Stage Who would volunteer to share? Who else? Who else had the same experience? Who reacted differently? Were there surprises/puzzlements? How many felt the same? What did you observe? What were you aware of>

Processing Questions Stage III Interpreting Stage How did you account for that? What does that mean to you? How was that significant? How was that good/bad? What struck you about that? How do those fit together? What does that suggest to you about yourself/your (school)? What do you understand better about yourself/your (school)?

Processing Questions Stage IV Generalizing Stage What might we draw/pull from that? What does that suggest to you about ______ in general? Does that remind you of anything? (back at your school) What principle/law do you see operating? How does this relate to other experiences? What do you associate with that?

Processing Questions Stage V Applying Stage How would you apply/transfer that? What would you like to do with that? With what you learned? What could you do to hold on to that? What are the options? How could you make it better? What would be the consequences of doing/not doing that? What modifications can you make work for you?

Final Stage of Processing the Entire Experience as a Learning Experience How was this for you? What were the pluses/minuses? How might it have been more meaningful? What changes would you make? If you had it to do all over again what would you do?