DIRECT, PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES AND

BEYOND

BY: ENAJ SELOLAM

HOW DO WE LEARN SPECIAL

SKILLS?

• COOKING

• DANCING

• SINGING

• PLAYING BASKETBALL

LEARNING BY DOING

DIRECT, PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES

CONCRETE AND FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCES THAT MAKE UP OUR FOUNDATION OF LEARNING.

RICH EXPERIENCES THAT OUR SENSES BRING FROM WHICH WE CONSTRUCT THE IDEAS, THE CONCEPTS, THE GENERALIZATIONS THAT GIVE MEANING AND ORDER TO OUR LIVES. (DALE, 1969

IN OTHER WORDS…

Direct, purposeful experiences are firsthand, sensory experiences that serve as the foundation of learning.

EXAMPLES

PREPARING MEALS

MAKING A PIECE OF FURNITURE

DOING A POWER POINT PRESENTATION

PERFORMING AN EXPERIMENT

DELIVERING A SPEECH

TAKING A TRIP

INDIRECT PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES

Are experiences of other people that we observe, read and hear about. They are not firsthand but rather vicarious experiences.

They are not our own self-experiences but still experiences in the sense that we see,

read and hear about them.

INDIRECT ACTIVITIES

Climbing a mountain is firsthand, direct experience. Seeing it done in a film or reading about it is a vicarious, substitute experience. It is a clear, therefore, that we can approach the world of reality directly through the senses and indirectly with reduced sensory experience .

EXAMPLES OF INDIRECT EXPERIENCES

What are these direct experiences described to be purposeful?

Purposeful because the experiences are not purely mechanical. They are not a matter of going through the motion. These are not “mere sensory excitation “. they are experiences involve the asking of questions that have significance in the life of the person undergoing the direct experiences.

IMPLICATIONS TO THE TEACHING

PROCESS

1. GIVE STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN BY DOING.

2. MAKE USE OF REAL THINGS AS INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS FOR AS LONG

AS WE CAN

3. HELP THE STUDENTS DEVELOP THEIR FIVE SENSES TO THE FULL TO HEIGHTEN

THEIR SENSITIVITY TO THE WORLD.

4. GUIDE STUDENTS SO THAT THEY CAN DRAW MEANING FROM THEIR FIRSTHAND

EXPERIENCES.

5. LET US NOT BE TEMPTED TO GET STUCK TO THE CONCRETE

AND FAIL TO BRING UP STUDENTS TO THE HIGHER LEVEL

OF THINKING PROCESS

APPROXIMATION OF HOW MUCH PERSONS LEARN THROUGH THE FIVE SENSES

PERSONAL POSTSCRIPT

LEAD THE STUDENTS IN DRAWING GENERALIZATION OR ABSTRACTION ABOUT THE DIRECT EXPERIENCE FOR MEANING

FIRSTHAND SENSORY EXPERIENCE ALONE DOES NOT ENSURE ADEQUATE LEARNING.

THANK YOU!!!