experiential learning

Challenge Course programs are a part of the larger field of Experiential Education, through which people are motivated to venture out into unfamiliar and challenging territories of life experiences. Growth and learning take place when people become willing to face the unknown, make an effort to accomplish something new, and often take some personal risks.

There are many ways that people learn – through seeing, hearing, reading, observing, etc… but studies have shown that the more we are immersed in the learning process, the more we will retain long term.  In fact, it has been documented that we forget 90% of what we hear in a classroom setting within 30 days.  If however, we have the opportunity to have a hands-on learning experience, and ideally teach others the things that we learn, we are able to retain up to 90% of the information put forth. 

Experiential Learning is basically “learning through doing”. It is a process through which individuals have experiences, spend intentional time reflecting, then accept responsibility for their own learning and behavior moving forward.

Lasting Change often requires a catalyst

Research has shown that post childhood, the primary way that adults experience lasting change in their lives is when a significant event occurs that proves to be catalytic experience igniting the process of change. On the ropes course we have a great opportunity to provide catalytic events with the ability to begin the process of true change in people’s lives.  While there are often life events leading to change that are not chosen and occur completely outside of our control (death of a loved one, loss of a job, traffic accident, etc…), the challenge by choice philosophy dictates that we only challenge people to the point they are willing to choose for themselves at any given moment.

The challenge course offers growth opportunities, using primarily experiences, and this is explained in the Experiential Learning Cycle.  This is a cycle that represents the way we learn in both individual settings as well as in group settings.  Helping people understand the Experiential Learning Cycle can turn any experience into a learning opportunity.

Experience - This can be a planned experience (i.e. ropes course) or an unstructured event that occurs in an individual’s life.

Discuss – For intentional learning this is a critical, yet often missed, piece of the process.  Ask open ended questions pertaining to the experience and have participants discuss, communicate, and learn from each other and the experience. This is a time to exchange reactions, observations, feeling, thoughts, and/or problems from the experience.

Discover -This is an ongoing process in which individuals and groups look back on the experience, the debriefing, and how it applies to them personally as members of the group.  In the ropes course environment, this often happens throughout the ropes program as we reflect back on previous discussions and goals that may have been set.

Apply - After debriefing, reflecting, and learning from the experience, the individual then applies the knowledge to other similar situations and the cycle starts over.