Article Review : Class Organization For Experiential Learning Classes

Topic 4 : Class Organization For Experiential Learning
Classes

According to Lee, W.R. in the article entitled "
Language Teaching Games ", if teams or groups are to
be named, the names should be suitable. This depends
on the country you are teaching in and on the
learners' ages too. If there is any sort of
competition or contest between teams, they should be
evenly matched, when the more advanced or more
backward learners are unevenly distributed, certain
groups or teams always win and this is discouraging
for the others. Besides that, pair activity can give a
greater amount of communicative practice although
there is less opportunity for consultation and mutual
correction. We have to be content with teams where the
classroom is very crowded and there is nowhere else to
go. In this situation, two teams may be enough and is
very manageable. For pair activity, members of the
class face their opposite friend by turning sideways
and desks can be pushed towards or against each other
if necessary. If the members of the teams need to be
all together, only the two outside lines need change
seats. A class of the same size could have three
teams. With a bigger class, it may be livelier to have
four teams.

According to Linda Darling - Hammond and Kim
Austin in the article entitled " Lessons for Life :
Learning and Transfer ", structuring the learning
environment in strategic ways can also foster
understanding. For example, experiential learning can
be made more powerful when it is combined with a
structured examination of the central ideas to be
learned. Class organization for experiential learning
should be able to create a simulation or an inquiry
experience in which students can explore materials or
data and then following it with a structured
explanation of those ideas through a lecture or guided
discussion can produce stronger learning than either
experience or explanation alone. Based on an
experiment done on three different groups of students,
it is true that the group which explored actual data
sets and then heard a lecture is better compared to
the group which conducted only hands - on activities.
So, it is important to organize a classroom in a
proper manner so that students will be able to conduct
activities by applying ideas and skills in real - life
contexts.

According to Charles A.. Ratrick and G. Rod Erfani in
the article entitled " Reflections on Foreign Field -
Based Experiential Learning : Taking the Classroom to
the Culture ", it is very important to keep the class
size manageable. Teacher will be able to individualize
their instruction to fit the needs of their students
if the number of students is small. Besides that,
teachers can spend more time on students, have greater
knowledge of their students, and feel more
enthusiastic about their work. In addition,
individualized instruction and more hands - on
activities result in more in - depth instructional
content, more students self - direction and greater
student achievement. Teams are larger than groups.
Organization into groups which can be active at the
same time, is one way of multiplying language
practice. Four or five people in a group are enough.
What the teacher is supposed to do is able to get from
group to group quickly. So, furniture in the classroom
has to be arranged. If the classroom is crowded, leave
it and conduct the lesson outside the classroom. For
example, conducting
the game under the trees outside the classroom.

Apart from that, according to Lawrence S. Corman
in the article entitled " Preparing Students For
Entrepreneurship Opportunities ", experiential
learning classes should create a classroom setting
that motivates students as students will see the
direct applications of theory to real world
situations. According to Linda - Darling and Kim
Austin in the article entitled " Lessons for Life :
Learning and Transfer ", motivation affects the amount
of time people are willing to put into learning.
Motivation can be seen as a function of how learners
see themselves, how they see the task at hand, whether
they think they can succeed, and whether teacher help
them engage with the material in productive ways.
Teachers can support this perception by choosing tasks
at appropriate levels of difficulty, carefully
supporting each student's learning process and
providing multiple entry points into the material.
Motivation is also enhanced when learners value a task
and find it interesting, something teachers can
support by relating material to student's lives and
experiences. Teachers must be able to allow choice and
assigning tasks that are active, authentic and
challenging can serve to engage students in the work
at hand.

People cannot learn a language really well and
enjoyably unless from time to time they can move about
and do things while speaking it and it is therefore a
great advantage if they can get out readily from their
seats. Unless the classroom is small, it is unwise to
have any learners seated at the back where it may be
harder to hear. Classroom must be equipped with light
and easily moveable tables, around each of which a
group of learners may sit.

References

Corman, L.S. , Walls, S.G. & Cook, R.A. Preparing
Students For Entrepreneurship Opportunities.

Hammond, L.D & Austin, K. Lessons for Life : Learning
and Transfer

Lee, W.R. 1979. Language Teaching Games. Oxford
University Press : England.

Ratrick, C. A. & Erfani, G.R. Reflections on Foreign
Field - Based Experiential
Learning : Taking the Classroom to the Culture.

By :

Malini Karuppiah
AP040094
Shereena
AP040283

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