HCMC University of Technology and Education

The importance of experiential learning in VietNam

University in the past 15 years of The Fourth Industrial
Revolution.
Teacher: Trinh Thi Giang Thanh

Student name:
Dương Minh Quân
 Contents
HCMC University of Technology and Education...............................................................0
Chap I: INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................3
1.Background Information...........................................................................................................3
2. The role of experiential learning and why it is important........................................................3
3. Research questions...................................................................................................................4
CHAP II:LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................4
2.1.General Information of Experiential Learning.......................................................................4
2.2. Brief history of the Role of Experiential in Education......................................................4
2.3 Effect of Experiential Learning on Working Effiency.......................................................5
2.3.a. Creates Real-Word Relevance………………………………………………………...6

2.3.b Creates An Avenue To Safely Make Mistakes..............................................................6

2.3.c Provides Opportunity For Creativity………………………………..………………...7

2.4 Challenge Of Experiential Learning......................................................................................7

CHAP III: METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................8
3.1 The aim of research................................................................................................................8
3.2 Participants.............................................................................................................................8
3.3 Data collection instruments....................................................................................................9
3.4 Data Collection Procedure.....................................................................................................9
3.5 Data analysis..........................................................................................................................9
Chapter IV: FINDING AND DISSCUSION....................................................................................10-15
CHAP V:CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................17
Reference..................................................................................................................................................18
 I. Introduction

1.Background information

- Around 350 BC, Aristotle wrote in the Nicomachean Ethics "for the things we have to learn

before we can do them, we learn by doing them". People applied experiential learning earlier

than school appeared. Unlike meaningful learning, experiential considers in the individual

learning process which student have to recall and use their knowledges by doing things.

Moreovers, experiential learning, requires that the learner play an active role in the experience

and that the experience is followed by reflection as a method for processing, understanding, and

making sense of it.

2. The role of experiential and why it is important

- More than 100 years ago, Hermann Ebbinghaus, a psychologist who pioneered the

experimental study of memory, was running an experiment which he tried to memorize 2,300

nonsense-syllables such as “ZUC” and “QAX. He also uncovered an unexpected pattern in

memory retention. He found that there is typically a very rapid loss of recall in the first hour by

meaningful learning , followed by a slightly slower loss so that after nine hours, about 60

percent is forgotten. After 24 hours, about two-thirds of anything memorized is forgotten.

Plotted on a graph, this shows a distinct “forgetting curve” that starts with a sharp drop,

followed by a shallow shape.

- We have many reasons to believe that experiential learning plays an important role in studying

process. Student not only need to understand theories but also have to utilize it or create a

good product in some case like cooking. By applying this method, we shift a move toward

student-centered teaching where student can play an active role so that they can changed their

thought about issues and also help them study more effective.

- For instance, THINK Global School(TGS) is a four-year traveling high school that holds classes in
a new country each term. Students engage in experiential learning through activities such as

workshops, cultural exchanges, museum tours, and nature expeditions.

As Paul Halmos said "The only way to learn Maths is to do Maths”.

3. Research questions

How does experiential learning increase student’s GPA/ succeed in their study?

II. Literature Review

2.1 General Information of Experiential Learning

Experiential learning (ExL) explained directly by wikipedia.org is one kind of learning:

“Experiential learning is the process of learning through experience, and is more

narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning can be a

form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students reflecting on their

product. Experiential learning is distinct from rote or didactic learning, in which the

learner plays a comparatively passive role”.

2.2 Brief history of the Role of Experiential in Education

“The role of experience in education has a history that connects back to philosophical

debates between rationalists and empiricists. Rationalists argued that the information that

is gained through one's senses is unreliable, and the only reliable knowledge is that which

is gained through reason alone. Empiricists argued that knowledge is derived from
empirical sense impressions, and abstract concepts that cannot directly be experienced

cannot be known. In 1787 the German philosopher Immanuel Kant resolved the debate

by arguing that both rationality and experience have a place in the construction of

knowledge. Indeed, the human mind imposes order on the experience of the world in the

process of perceiving it. Therefore, all experiences are organized by the actively

structuring mind.” According to an article.

Experiential Education - Brief History of the Role of Experience in Education, Roles for the Teacher

and the Student - StateUniversity.com

https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1963/Experiential-Education.html#ixzz7EW0X5SeV

2.3 Effect of Experiential Learning on Working Efficiency.

First and foremost, experiential education allows participants to grow emotionally and

socially as well as academically, fully equipping them for the complexities of their next

step in life. Students also learn how to discover for themselves rather than rely on teacher

for guidance.

a/ CREATES REAL-WORLD RELEVANCE:

- “Students may tune out lectures if they think the material doesn’t pertain to the real

world. Experiential learning takes data and concepts and applies them to hands-on tasks,

yielding real results.As the student interacts with the information, it becomes real to

them.” But they also need to do the project in the right sequence and follow the safety

principles. According to https://www.envisionexperience.com/blog/the-benefits-of-experiential-

learning (2015)

- “Having early opportunities for real-world experience helps students understand what’s

required for a career. As individuals take on new roles and practice skills, they also learn

more about themselves — their strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, for example.

Because they’re in a controlled environment, students can experiment within their roles

by practicing different approaches to problems. They can also decide early if a particular

field isn’t for them, allowing them to pursue other paths.” According to The Importance

of Experiential Learning(2021)

b/CREATES AN AVENUE TO SAFELY MAKE MISTAKES:

- As Sir Richard Branson says, “You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by

doing, and by falling over.”

- “We learn a great deal from mistakes, but many learning environments discourage

making them. For example, a wrong answer on a multiple-choice test means points lost

and a lower grade. This sends a message that mistakes are detrimental and should be

avoided at all costs.

- In contrast, mistakes are accepted as part of the learning process in experiential

education. Programs foster an environment where students feel safe making

mistakes, as they know they can recover, adjust, and try again.” As stated in the

text (The Importance of Experiential Learning) from

https://www.abingtonfriends.net/blog/news/the-importance-of-experiential-learning/ on

January 11, 2021

C/PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY FOR CREATIVITY.

- “Learning through trial and error engage the creative parts of their brains to

seek out unique, fulfilling and possibly accurate solutions for the task set forth.

As a teacher, you will quickly notice that each student approaches a problem

from a different angle, bringing out creativity and a solution-orientated approach

to learning. Not only does creative thinking benefit your students and their

development past high school years, it also enriches the classroom experience in

the moment” As the author pointed out in The Benefits of Experiential Learning

by CAS Trips Staff(November 1, 2018) (www.castrips.org/benefits-experiential-

learning)

- “Additionally, experience-based learning can actually accelerate retention.

Students with access to hands-on lessons are more likely to retain knowledge and

are more engaged with the learning process. Individuals who understand how they

learn are more likely to feel comfortable investigating future questions. Watch our

Experiential Learning Presentation from Fall 2020”. According to The Importance

of Experiential Learning) from https://www.abingtonfriends.net/blog/news/the-

importance-of-experiential-learning/ on January 11, 2021.

2.4. CHALLENGE OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING.

Besides a number of benefits, there are some drawbacks of this method.

“Critics though such as Kirschner, Sweller and Clark (2006) argue that instruction
in experiential learning is often ‘unguided’, and pointed to several ‘meta-

analyses’ of the effectiveness of problem-based learning that indicated no

difference in problem-solving abilities, lower basic science exam scores, longer

study hours for PBL students, and that PBL is more costly.

They conclude:” In so far as there is any evidence from controlled studies, it

almost uniformly supports direct, strong instructional guidance rather than

constructivist-based minimal guidance during the instruction of novice to

intermediate learners. Even with students with considerable prior knowledge,

strong guidance when learning is most often found to be equally effective as

unguided approaches.” The experiential learning link between theories and real

work which require considerable re-structuring of teaching and a great deal of

detailed planning if the curriculum is to be fully covered. I couldn’t agree more

giving student task to do in real world situation without guidance and support is

likely to be ineffective.

3. Methodology

3.1 The aim of research

This research is conducted for find out how effective experiential learning in

university of the student at HCM city in Vietnam country. This aim is reply a

question:

- How does experiential learning increase student’s GPA/ succeed in their study?
3.2 Participants

We collected from about 30 student from many university in HCM city to

observe the data as objectively as we can. They were freshman, sophomores,

seniors, juniors so we can discover how much the method affect student in every

single year at University. Beside, the result of experiential learning could depends

directly on ability to acquire knowledge of the respondents and the faculity of

their school’s equipments. During the covid-19 quarantine, the learning process

also have negatively affected because student be not able to take part in offline

lessons.

3.3 Data collection instruments.

The main purpose of this research is to determine is how experiential learning

student’s GPA. In other word, we want to find out how much affect of this

method to student’ success. This research use quantitative method by using a

questionnaire which was taken by many student in HCM’s University

The questionnaire of this research has two parts. Part one is to ask the students

about their individual information (gender and major). Part two is multiple-choice

and opened question for responders answer to examine about experiential learning

in their school.
A multiple choice grid question was created by Google Form. HCMUTE students

ticked their answers from A to E for each question.

3.4 Data collection procedure

The questionnaire was made by researcher in Google Form on the internet and

then was sent by messenger for volunteers. The participants were both friends and

unknown people who are studying in that university. Over 30 answer were

collected.

3.5 Data analysis

After collecting the date, we receive many answers from students which was a

valued data for us. Beside, almost people not tend to do the opened question

because of some reasons.

 IV. Finding And Dicussion

8% 17%

47%

28%

1. Which year are you in college?

Freshman Sophomore Junior

This pie chart display information regarding the respondent’s year of study. Senior have

the greatest proportion of 47 percent because senior have a more chance than the others

in attending fieldtrips and internships. Junior is the next popular component of the chart

(28%). Also, sophomore and freshman have small proportion are 17% and 8%,

respectively.
 6% 3%
19%
6%
10%
10%

6% 6%

13% 19%

2. What do you study/ What major are you in?

Economy IT Engineering Medical Education Tourism Linguistics
Architect Politic Logistics

We collected data from many majors in university as much as possible for the result. By

doing that, the obtained results will quite objective. Moreover, we can figure out to

what extent experiential learning is applied in school lessons. The major such as IT,

Economy, Engineering, Medical, Linguistics, Education,.. etc.

17% 6%

36%

42%

3. How often do you have to take part in field trips and

internship in your curriculum?
Always Usually Sometimes Seldom Never
This pie chart illustrate the frequency HCM’s university students take part in field trips

and internship in their studying process. According the chart, we see most of students are

sometimes take part in practice lessons account for 42%. Another part account for very

high proportion is the students are usually attend to internship and fieldtrips (36%).

Student seldom or always take part in field trip is about one fifth of the survey. We can

see that practical lessons now have a significant portion in curriculum of University.

31%

69%

4.Does your major/school usually take part in practical

lessons?
No. We studying theory without any Yes. We focus on practicing to fully
practical exercises understand the issues

This pie chart regard whether student study in a major that required theories or practice. It

obviously that practical lesson is concerned in school these days. We can see internships

and fieldtrip place an important role in studying process because of its benefits. School

now have better condition to education student through practicing to improve the

productivity. As a result student have an advantage over people do not practicing when

they apply for a job.

 5. If experiential is effective, what are the benefits of
it? 17%
25% 1%

13%

4%

17% 21%
Retaining knowledge faster and more
effective
Bridges the gap between theory and
practice.
Have a chance to apply what we have
learned.
Learn fast and more efffective.
Provides your team with a safe space to
fail.

This pie chart regard to some benefits of experiential learning method. According to the

result of the survey, we see almost student admit that internship or fieldtrip is helpful

for them to apply their knowledge and skill to real situations which account for 46% for

two options. “More realistic because learn in real condition” account for 25% and “Have

a chance to apply what we have learned” account for 21%. In comparison to option

“learn fast and more effective” and “retaining knowledge faster and more effective” is

about 17%. The answer “bridge the gap between theory and practice” is more than one

in ten in the survey. It is obvious that experiential method help students improve the

result and practical knowledge. Another equally important point is this method increase

the efficiency and speed of receiving knowledge.

 6. Do you think your curriculum have provide you enough real-
life experiences? Do you need more? How many percentage do
you suggest for experiential part.

30% 15%
15%

40%

10-20% 25% 30-40% 60-80%

This pie chart illustrates percentage of practical lessons that student suggest for

schedule. We found that two-fifths responder recommend experiential lessons should

account for 30 to 40 percentages. About less than a third suggest it should account for

60 to 80 percentages. The students suggest experiential part should account for 25

percentage or less than 25 percentages share the same figure. There’s no doubt that

almost students want pratical lesson account for a third to two-fifths in curriculum to

guarantee they fully understood theories before practicing.

This question regard some solution that responders suggest to improve the learning

effectiveness. Here are some answers of the question that volunteer recommend. As

you can see, most of them found that experiential help student in studying, especially in

engineering, pharmacy or doctor. One of the main reason is the requirement of the job,

they need to do it fluently in the future. Besides, experiential learning also train student

ability to work as a team, how to manage the time to meet deadline, so on..
 10. Which solution do you prefer to improve yourself more after
participate in internship?
17% 17%

17%
21%

7% 21%

Practice after learn something new, keep working on it again and again.
Apply data and ideas in a real-world situation, try to understand it by real activities.
Chose a career relate to what I learn.
Learning through trial and error to create better success.
Enhancing their knowledge and skills day by day so that I can improved attitudes
toward learning
Repeat and apply your knowledge in real life

This pie chart perform some solution that we suggest for student to improve the

studying effectiveness. According to the figure, “chose a career relate to what I learn”

and “Enhancing their knowledge and skills day by day..” is the most common option

which account for 21%. While the answer “Learning through trial and error to create

better success” is the least once. The other options has the same percentage(17%) are

“Repeat and apply your knowledge in real life”, “Practice after lean something new,

keep working on it again and again”, and “apply data and idea in real-world situation, try

to understand it by real activities”. We can see the answer is very diverse because of

different majors that responders study in. Besides, student have many solution to

improve their major skill and knowledge after school.

Here is some recommendation from the responders we collected. Responder suggest a

lot of things, many of them are great and realistic. Moreover, some solution focus on

knowledge and skills improvement. I really appreciate your help for responding this

survey.

V. Conclusion

This survey is created with a purpose to find out whether experiential learning

methor is effective or ineffective in curriculum. The research employed more than

30 HCM’s university student from many majors. We found that experiential

learining is part of curriculum of many schools. These lessons not only provided
student a chance to try and make mistakes but also created a different atmosphere

from the rigidly theories classes. Moreover, this method focus more on student

which is a opportunity for student express themselves to understand the issues

better.

Last but not least, we also create a question for student to understand how much

this method effect to their result and receive the suggestion from them to improve

the survey. In conclusion, depend of specialization students need to take part in

fieldtrip and practical lessons at various level. However, learning by practicing is

the most basic method and very useful until now.

VI. Reference

DEWEY, JOHN. 1938. Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan.

Ebbinghaus, Hermann., (1885). Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology,

University of Berlin.

http://scihi.org/hermann-ebbinghaus-memory/

Aristotle. (350 BC). Nicomachean Ethics.

Kirshner, P., Sweller, J. and Clark, R. (2006) Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction

Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based,

Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching Educational Psychologist, Vo. 41, No.2

CAS Trips Staff. (2018, November 1). The Benefits of Experiential Learning.

https://www.castrips.org/benefits-experiential-learning/

Abington Friends School. (2021, January 11). The Importance of Experiential Learning.
https://www.abingtonfriends.net/blog/news/the-importance-of-experiential-

learning/