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STUDENT LEARNING, CHILDHOOD & VOICES | RESEARCH ARTICLE
Innovative experiential learning experience:
Pedagogical adopting Kolb’s learning cycle at
higher education in Hong Kong
Shui Kau Chiu*
Abstract: General education constitutes a significant portion of undergraduate
curriculum. However, students are not always keen on learning general education.
Pedagogy of experiential learning is one of the strategies in arousing their learning
motivation. Although many previous pieces of research were conducted in the field,
attention on how experiential learning works with information and communication
technology (ICT) on teaching general education at higher education deserves more
attention. Thus, by adopting Kolb’s learning cycle from Experiential Learning Theory,
this paper suggests an innovative pedagogical approach of implementing experi-
ential learning with(out) adopting ICT in a general education course offered by one
of the universities in Hong Kong and has been successfully implemented for three
years within classroom setting to enhance learning motivation and consolidate
learning experience. Data were collected from auto-ethnography and then analysed
through conversation analysis and qualitative content analysis. Through proposing
the pedagogical approach, this study is significant in transforming experiential
learning beyond personal level and extending students’learning from within to
beyond classroom setting in a cost-effective manner.
Subjects: Education - Social Sciences; Teaching & Learning - Education; Theories of
Learning; Higher Education; Teaching &Learning; Theories of Learning; Study Skills;
Classroom Practice
Keywords: Experiential learning; Kolb’s learning cycle; experiential learning theory;
general education; higher education
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. Shui Kau Chiu is currently a full-time PhD
candidate in the Department of Applied Social
Sciences at The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University. His research interests include science,
technology and society, risk perception, cultural
theory of risk, education and history. This paper
deals with the way of innovative and skillful
integration of information and communication
technology into pedagogy and that contributes
further understanding of bridging the link
between the fields of education and science,
technology and society.
PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
Students tend not having interest in learning gen-
eral education even though it is an important
component in the university curriculum. One of the
proposed reasons is that students find it difficult to
generate feeling of and attitude towards the con-
tent of the general education in classroom envir-
onment. Through innovative and skilful adoption of
information and communication technology in
teaching and learning activity, this paper suggests
that it can be done within classroom environment
in a cost-effective way. The findings help us to have
a better understanding of the way of integrating
technology with society. Teachers can take this
study as a reference in preparing learning activity.
Chiu, Cogent Education (2019), 6: 1644720
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2019.1644720
© 2019 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons
Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
Received: 23 July 2018
Accepted: 14 July 2019
First Published: 18 July 2019
*Corresponding author: Shui Kau Chiu
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
E-mail: ssivan.chiu@connect.polyu.hk
Reviewing editor:
John Lee, Education University of
Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong
Additional information is available at
the end of the article
Page 1 of 16
1. Introduction
Different pedagogical strategies have been proposed to enhance students’learning and arouse their
learning motivation. One of them is experiential learning where students can develop deeper under-
standings and reflections on knowledge through experience. Another strategy is through adopting
information and communication technology (ICT). There are many studies focused on how each of
them can enhance students’learning experience. However, attention on how the adoption of ICT
works with experiential learning in consolidating students’learning experience requires more atten-
tion. With a view of bridging this gap, this paper is going to propose a suggested pedagogical
approach in experiential learning with(out) adopting ICT, aimed at enhancing students' learning
motivation and experience in studying general education. In the followings, a brief account on
general education and its development in Hong Kong will be examined first. Experiential learning,
Experiential Learning Theory (ELT), Kolb’s learning cycle and some of the major studies on experiential
learning will then be briefly reviewed. In addition, research questions and methodology of this study,
background of the course and rationale behind the task will be explained followed by a description of
the suggested pedagogical approach. After that, findings and discussions will be made. Before
drawing a conclusion and making acknowledgements, implications for further work, significances
and limitations of this study will be stated.
2. General education at higher education and its implementation in Hong Kong
General education is “to understand how everything that we teach in the arts and sciences
relates to their lives and to the world that they will confront”(Harvard University, 2007,p.3).It
is about “educational foundation of skills, knowledge, habits of mind, and values that prepares
students for success in their majors and in their personal and professional lives after gradua-
tion”(Nicholls State University, 2019). General education emerged in the United States origin-
ally aimed at helping people to link up with different streams of knowledge (Brint, Proctor,
Murphy, Turk-Bicakci, & Hanneman, 2009, p. 607). Nonetheless, this belief has changed since
general education is being adopted at higher education when many American universities
deployed it just as courses to fulfil part of the graduation requirements (Rudolph, 1977,
p. 253). As its importance is underestimated, one of the challenges in implementing general
education at higher education is that it can only provide students with basic understanding
of the subject matter (Latzer, 2004,p.20).
Adaption of general education in Hong Kong shares similar mentioned experience. General
education has framed as one of the significant components in Hong Kong undergraduate
curriculum since an implementation of curriculum reform in 2012 (Jaffee, 2012,pp.
193–194). Hong Kong has also encountered challenges. Like the case in the United States,
the status of general education in the whole undergraduate curriculum in Hong Kong has not
perceived very significant even among some academic staff. Based on the author’sreal
experiences, teaching hours of general education have always been sacrificed for the sake of
promoting admission exercise. Similarly, students usually did not take a serious attitude
towards general education. It is an usual practice at higher education in Hong Kong to allow
students to select some general education courses (Lau, 2011, pp. 3–6). Based on the observa-
tions from the author and other lecturers, in many cases, students always lacked learning
motivation, especially on those general education courses offered by non-majored depart-
ments. Thus, arousing learning motivation among Hong Kong students is one of the measures
in helping them to consolidate and enhance their understanding towards general education.
One of the methods to do so is through experiential learning.
3. Experiential learning, experiential learning theory and Kolb’s learning cycle
John Dewey (1938) pathed a modern theoretical recognition on experiential learning.
Experiential learning can be understood as “a process through which a learner constructs
knowledge, skills, and value from direct experiences”(Jacobs, 1999,p.51).Inotherwords,it
is about learning through experience (Shiralkar, 2016, p. 1). Nevertheless, experience does not
necessary to be meaningful and relevant to learning as not “all experiences are genuinely or
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equally educative”(Dewey, 1938, p. 13). Meaningful and relevant experience, however, can link
behaviours or realities with mindset and is said to enhance students’involvement in learning
(Beard & Wilson, 2006,pp.16–22; Gross & Rutland, 2017,p.32).
As one of the proclamations among different notions of experiential learning, David A. Kolb
(1984)proposedELT.Itis“the process whereby knowledge is created through the transforma-
tion of experience”(Kolb, 1984, p. 38). ELT stresses on the role of experience in constructing
knowledge (Kolb, & Kolb, 2005a, p. 2). Knowledge can be constructed through assimilating
lessons and feelings stem from experience (Kolb, 1984,p.41).Theongoingprogressof
assimilating experience to constructing knowledge, which is referred as Kolb’s learning cycle,
involves an interplay between “action/reflection”and “experience/abstraction”(Kolb & Kolb,
2012,p.125).Kolb’s learning cycle composes four stages, namely concrete experience, reflec-
tive observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. Overall speaking,
concrete experience is the time when students engage in the experience to learn. Reflective
observation refers to students review from their experience. Abstract conceptualization is that
students try to apply the knowledge that they have already acquired to explain and justify
what they have experienced. Active experimentation focuses on the way of students in making
use of what they have acquired from the experience into future application (Kolb, 1984,pp.
30–31). Apart from learning style, learning also depends on how well a learner embraces and
conveys the experience (Kosir, Fuller, Tyburski, Berant, & Yu, 2008, pp. 660–661; Li & Armstrong,
2015, p. 423).
There are two general approaches to apply experiential learning in pedagogy, namely “live”
approach and “classroom-confined”approach (Georgiou, Zahn, & Meira, 2008, p. 808). The
former approach refers to arrange students to experience in a certain community (Eyler,
2009, p. 24). On the contrary, experiential learning for the latter approach is practised within
a classroom setting. With regard to “classroom-confined”approach, lecturers can practice
experiential learning inside the classroom through asking students to solve problem (Böcker,
1987,p.65;Georgiouetal.,2008, p. 808). Solving problem in classroom can be interpreted as
experiential learning since, through participation, students can generate, reflect and exchange
on the feelings and difficulties that they experienced with the lecturer and among classmates
(Böcker, 1987, p. 65). In addition, these exchanges enable the lecturer to have more under-
standing of the effectiveness of the experiential learning on students (Böcker, 1987,p.65).In
view of this, experiential learning in this paper can be understood as a problem-solving activity
practised in classroom environment. With reference to Kolb’slearning cycle, stages of concrete
experience, reflective observation and abstract conceptualization can be sustained with
a pedagogical approach within classroom setting, while the stage of active experimentation
may be implemented with assignment (Svinicki & Dixon, 1987, p. 142; Terry, 2001, pp. 77–79).
Experiential learning and ELT have been applied within classroom setting. There have been
many previous studies on the area. Some of them have not been supported by ICT while some
have. Concerning those previous studies without ICT support, for instance, Bowes and Johnson
(2008) conducted problem-solving experiential learning among American undergraduate stu-
dents in classroom setting. By using card game, they found that students experienced and
learned more about the difference between theory and practice over cooperation and non-
cooperation in the business environment (Bowes & Johnson, 2008, p. 15). However, their
attentions were on the economic field, and ICT was not involved in the activity.
Greene (2011) adopted experiential learning to teach year 1 students on fundamental
theories of marketing and general understanding of business. Through integrating Kolb’s
learning cycle into teaching and learning activity, the study found that the experiential learning
helped students to achieve the learning targets while offering them with unreplaced exposure
(Greene, 2011, pp. 81, 86). However, ICT did not incorporate into the experiential learning.
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Meanwhile, Marschall and Davis (2012) made use of Kolb’s learning cycle and introduced
some skills in teaching critical reading. While the skills were said to be applicable with various
stages in Kolb’s learning cycle, the skills did not involve any ICT and the study targeted at adult
students only (Marschall & Davis, 2012, pp. 66–67).
Concerning those previous major researches with ICT support, for instance, Kiili (2005)
examined the role of digital games in ELT by mainly presenting a model that combined digital
games into instructional theory. The study offered an understanding of how the combination
contributes to the learning experience in general without referring much to the empirical issues
at a specific field. Nonetheless, Kiili (2005) encourages this current study by demonstrating
a feasibility of combing ICT, ELT and educational theory.
Pauleen, Marshall, and Egort (2004) studied the role of course management system in ELT
among different groups of postgraduate students in information management (p. 92). While
Pauleen et al. (2004) pinpointed that adoption of course management system facilitated students’
experiential learning, such adoption may not able to fully reflect the role of ICT took within the
classroom setting as students could access course management system after lessons (p. 98). That
informs the current study to take this factor into consideration when designing and embedding ICT
with ELT.
Jarmon, Traphagan, Mayrath, and Trivedi (2009) probed into ELT through employing digital
platform among American postgraduate students in communication (p. 169). Jarmon et al.
(2009) pointed out that the employment of ICT in approaching ELT facilitated students in going
through the four stages of Kolb’s learning cycle (p. 179). While the digital platform facilitated
students to go through the stages of concrete experience, reflective observation and abstract
conceptualization in Kolb’s learning cycle, students applied the experience that they learned
from the platform on their assignments and projects (Jarmon et al., 2009, pp. 171, 179). In
other words, adopting ICT to approach experiential learning also helped students to achieve
active experimentation in Kolb’s learning cycle. In this regard, Jarmon et al. (2009) inform this
study by illustrating that active experimentation in Kolb’s learning cycle can be reified by
a project or an assignment.
Similarly, Leggette et al. (2012) conducted experiential learning among students in commu-
nication course by making use of an online platform named Second Life. Partly through
reviewing the written assignment after the activity, Leggette et al. (2012) pointed out that
students did able to apply what they experienced from the online platform (pp. 132–133).
While the online platform might not solely approaching experiential learning within classroom
setting, Leggette et al. (2012) also inform this study in using an assignment to crystalize active
experimentation in Kolb’slearningcycle.
In short, previous major literature on ELT mainly shed their lights on the fields other than
general education and beyond the Hong Kong context. Therefore, more attention should be
focused on researching experiential learning with an adoption of ICT on teaching general
education at undergraduate level within the Hong Kong context. While the effectiveness of
implementing of experiential learning demands students’devoted participations, attracting
students’engagements in “classroom-confined”approach may be a challenge as students
may not easy to recognize, immerse and reflect from the experience (Georgiou et al., 2008,
pp. 808, 810). With a view of bridging the aforementioned gaps, increasing students’engage-
ments, learning motivation and enhancing their learning experience, ICT was embedded with
experiential learning in this suggested pedagogical approach while incorporating with an
element of cooperation in an innovative and skilful way. The strategy of asking students to
tackle the problem was adopted in approaching general education as it could motivate stu-
dents to experience, consolidate and reflect on their learnings (Georgiou et al., 2008,pp.
809–810).
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4. Research questions and methodology
Based on the above denotations, the first research question for this study was formed as follows:
(1) Can the suggested pedagogical approach of embedding ELT with(out) ICT motivate
Hong Kong university students’learning on general education?
This research question informed this research on the effectiveness of the suggested pedago-
gical approach. Even when finding of this research question suggests an effectiveness of the
approach, an understanding of how it achieves is needed. Because of that, the second research
question for this study was set as follows:
(2) In what ways the suggested pedagogical approach of embedding ELT with(out) ICT motivate
Hong Kong university students’learning on general education?
The research question helped this study in identifying the ways of the suggested pedagogical
approach in motivating students’learning on general education. These two research questions
enabled this study to offer more sociological imaginations on the researched area.
When looking for sociological imaginations from the two research questions, appropriate
research approach should be chosen. Even though some researchers like Pai (2016)and
Witesman (2012) employed a quantitative approach in studying experiential learning, this
study adopted qualitative research approach as it offered an in-depth understanding of how
the adoption of ICT in experiential learning enhanced and consolidated students’learning
experience (Byrne, 2012, pp. 209, 215). Other scholars such as Borredon, Deffayet, Baker, and
Kolb (2011), Chan (2012) and Opdyke, Javernick-Will, and Koschmann (2018)alsoadopted
qualitative research approach when studying experiential learning. Empowerment from the
qualitative research approach, this research was a three-year auto-ethnographic case study
on a course adopted the below-mentioned suggested pedagogical approach. The course was
on general education which had been offered by one of the universities in Hong Kong for
several years as a part of the graduation requirements. More specifically, the course was about
self-advancement as a lifelong learner. Some key concepts covered in the course including
digital divide, cooperation and knowledge construction. Enrolment in the course was all non-
majored full-time students. Students were required to attend 3-hour lecture and 3-hour tutorial
lesson every week, and their attendances were checked. The medium of instruction for both
lecture and tutorial lesson was English. Around the middle of the semester, students had to
submit individual essays. Lectures covered all the subject matters of the course, while tutorial
lessons consolidated and enhanced what students learned in lectures. The suggested pedago-
gical approach was implemented during the tutorial lessons which covered some significant
concepts and ideas that students needed to address on in their individual essays. The entire
three-year study covered 210 students from six tutorial lessons with class sizes of 49, 46, 30,
25, 23 and 37 with an average of 35. Most students were studying at year 1 and year 2 of their
academic years.
After conducting the proposed pedagogical approach, there was a debriefing session. In the
session, students were invited to casually share their results and, most importantly, all sorts of
feelings and difficulties they encountered in the activity. In order to create a comfortable setting
for students to freely express their opinions, they were not required to do sharing in front of the
class. In addition, students were permitted to use their mother tongue, Cantonese, to do the
sharing. When some students did their sharing, other classmates were welcome and encouraged
to join the sharing and voice out their respectful comments or responses, no matter they were
approvals, disapprovals or supplements. The lecturer gave some comments and illustrations
whenever appropriate. This would fill up the session with constructive and interactive chitchatting
not only between the lecturer and students but also among classmates themselves. Key contents
of chitchatting were then immediately marked down on field notes. By doing so, data on students’
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opinions and reflexivity towards the suggested pedagogy were collected during the session. In
addition, as students may need time to develop and generate reflections, casual conversations
between the author and the students or their comments after the tutorial lessons constituted
another source of data. For the sake of data triangulation, the author also adopted observations
and took a role of an observer as participant (Seale, 2012,p.535;Walsh,2012, p. 250). To record
the data, field notes were taken immediately after the end of the activity and the casual
conversations with the students. Data were analysed by conversation analysis and qualitative
content analysis.
Conversation analysis looks into activities that involve social interactions (Mondada, 2013,
p. 33). Reasons for adopting conversation analysis as a data analytical method are as follows.
First, activities in the classroom can be treated as social interactions (Huth, 2011,pp.
297–298). Second, as Kolb, Baker, and Jensen (2002) proclaimed, engaging into conversation
is one of the measures in generating meaningful ideas which lead to experiential learning and
it also fits into Kolb’slearningcycle(pp.52–53). Through conversation analysis, the effective-
ness of the suggested pedagogical approach in facilitating students’experiential learning has
been unveiled. Nonetheless, procedures of adopting conversation analysis in this study did not
follow traditional way of taking and transcribing video or audio records (Hepburn & Bolden,
2013,pp.57–58; Liddicoat, 2007, p. 8). With a view of further encouraging students to freely
express their views, actively involve into conversations among lecturer and classmates and
minimizing the Hawthorne effect which can change the natural behaviour of the research
participants, conversation analysis was adopted as non-invasive and non-aggressive as possi-
ble. The author tried not to create an impression among students that they were being studied.
Having that consideration in mind, intervention from the author as a sole researcher and an
instructor of the tutorial lessons was kept minimal. It eventually led to an unconventional
adoption of conversation analysis in this study as the author did not want students’experience
on experiential learning was affected by data collection procedure. Therefore, as afore
described, no audio or video recording and no photograph was taken. In the same vein, neither
formal interview nor focus group discussion was conducted. No transcription was prepared.
In this study, while conversation analysis was helpful in analysing how students felt and
reacted to the suggested pedagogical approach for Kolb’s learning cycle of concrete experi-
ence, reflective observation and abstract conceptualization, qualitative content analysis was
deployed to apply on Kolb’s learning cycle of active experimentation. Drisko and Maschi (2015)
describe qualitative content analysis as “a systematic method for searching out and describing
meanings within texts of many kinds”(p. 87). It is applicable to study if a person already
acquired a knowledge (Graneheim, Lindgren, & Lundman, 2017, pp. 29–30). Since students had
to internalize and apply what they experienced from the suggested pedagogical approach
through submitting individual essays at the middle of semester, the whole process took time
and that it might not be easily identified through conversation as it was embodied in written
format. After taking those concerns into considerations, instead of employing conversation
analysis, qualitative content analysis was used to look into the effectiveness of the approach
through analysing students’performance on the essays. Students, however, had no idea that
their essays were analysed for research purpose. Therefore, similar to the way of applying
conversation analysis in this study, adoption of qualitative content analysis also minimized the
explicit or implicit influence on students during the data collection process.
5. Rationale behind the activity
Apart from the theoretical foundation as mentioned earlier, another rationale behind the activity is on
digitalization of daily life, especially among teenage. Even though whether students are belonging to
a generation of digital native or not, as suggested by Prensky (2001), is beyond a discussion of this
paper, generally speaking, students are now living with digital media. Almost wherever they are, their
attentions are always attracted by their ICT devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, even
when they are attending lessons. To minimize distractions and better managing the classroom
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behaviour, some teachers in higher education are now working very hard and set up various rules to
regulate usages of ICT devices inside the classroom. Nonetheless, as Livingstone (2014) expressed,
adoptions of ICT in pedagogy can facilitate and enhance teaching and learning experience (p. 58).
Shek, Yu, Wu, and Chai (2015) also indicated cooperative pedagogy is much preferable by students to
conventional lecturing (pp. 1024–1025). Kayes, Kayes, and Kolb (2005) further proposed to enhance
the learning experience through embedding group activities with ELT. In addition, adoption of ICT can
help students to develop reflections from their experience, especially when such experience is missing
from their surroundings (A. Y. Kolb & Kolb, 2005b, p. 208). What is more, Bontchev, Vassileva,
Aleksieva-Petrova, and Petrov (2018) and Sung, Hwang, Lin, and Hong (2017) also illustrated the
importance of arousing students’learning motivation when adopting experiential learning.
6. Description of the suggested pedagogical approach
With a view of arousing students’learning motivation and enhancing their learning experience,
an idea of creating this proposed pedagogical approach was formed. The learning objective of
the tutorial lesson was to enhance students’understanding of the concepts of the digital divide
and the importance of cooperation in constructing knowledge. Even though the two concepts
were already covered in the lecture, students in Hong Kong often find these concepts too
abstracts and difficult to reflect on. They seldom think about the importance of cooperation in
knowledge construction. Besides, well-developed ICT infrastructure and affordable cost in
accessing to the Internet make most of them difficult to imagine, experience and recognize
the issue of digital divide. Arousing reflections related to relevant areas among Hong Kong
students through experiential learning may face challenges, but skilful incorporation with ICT
offers an envisaging here.
To implement the suggested pedagogical approach, the tutorial lesson has to be divided into
six units and students will all be assigned a task of problem to tackle, for instance, “based on
the behaviourism as suggested by Burrhus F. Skinner, explain the difference between negative
reinforcement and punishment”. The lecturer needs to divide the class into different units
based on whether students have prior knowledge on the assigned task or not. This can easily
be done by directly asking students whether they have acquired knowledge on the subject
matter of the task or not. The number of students and the instruction given to each unit are
not the same.
For the tutorial lesson with a class size of 35, unit 1 attaches with 10 students. Students in
this unit should all have already acquired knowledge on the subject matter of the task. They
can use their own different types of ICT devices and browse any pertinent websites they wish
during the activity. They are allowed to discuss the question within unit members.
Unit 2 is formed by the other 11 students. Students in this unit can be mixed between those
who have already acquired knowledge on the subject matter of the task and those who have
not. They can use ICT devices to surf an assigned online material only, which can be a little bit
relevant but must not be useful for solving the problem. For the problem in this proposed
pedagogical approach, webpage introducing a life history of B. F. Skinner compiled by Swenson
(1999) can be one of the many options. However, it should be noted that this is just one of the
suggested online materials. Students are allowed to discuss the problem within the unit.
Unit 3 accommodates another 11 students. They can be a mixture between those who have
already acquired knowledge on the subject matter of the task and those who have not. While
students cannot use any kind of ICT devices during the activity, they are allowed to discuss the
question within the unit.
For unit 4, it consists of one student only. That student cannot have knowledge on the
subject matter of the task. He or she can use ICT devices and access to any related webpages
during the activity. However, the student cannot discuss the problem with other units.
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Unit 5 composes of one student only. The student cannot have knowledge on the subject
matter of the task. He or she can use ICT devices to access the same online material as
assigned to unit 2 only. That student should work alone and cannot discuss the question with
other units.
Another student alone forms unit 6. That student cannot have knowledge on the subject
matter of the task. He or she can neither use ICT devices during the activity nor discuss the
problem with other units.
Duration of the whole activity is around 30–45 minutes but that must be based on the actual
situation and should be flexible. However, the whole activity should be conducted coherently.
Depending on the actual class size and the need for classroom management, the number of
students in a unit can be adjusted, while the number of units should be kept at least six. In
other words, the number of students in unit 1, unit 2 and unit 3 is not fixed, as long as they
have more than one student in a unit. Besides, to avoid too many students in a unit due to
a large class size, certain units such as unit 1, unit 2, unit 3 and the likes can be duplicated.
Meanwhile, to facilitate the running of this proposed pedagogical approach, this activity is
better to be held in a classroom that equipped with floating tables and chairs. In addition,
despite the regulation on medium of instruction, students can use their mother tongue to
discuss with others when they are allowed to do so. To avoid costing unnecessary mobile
Internet fee, students are highly recommended to use free campus Wi-Fi throughout the whole
activity, provided that it is stable, and its connection speed is reasonable. It is not necessary for
every student in unit 1 and unit 2 to have ICT devices, even though nowadays almost all young
people in Hong Kong have at least one ICT device with them. In case students in unit 4 or unit
5 have no ICT device, the lecturer should provide a special arrangement to them such as
allowing them to use instructional computer in the classroom or swap the student with
another one in unit 2, unit 3 or unit 6. The assigned problem-solving task can also be changed
to suit for different teaching needs of course. Theoretically, the subject matter of the assigned
problem-solving task can be irrelevant to the course as well. After all, the problem-solving task
and its answer themselves are not important, but the way of organizing, conducting and
debriefing the activity is the keys in this proposed pedagogical approach.
During the problem-solving activity
Unit One Two Three Four Five Six
Number of students 10 11 11 1 1 1
Previous knowledge Yes Mixed Mixed No No No
Usage of ICT U*R*N*URN
Time between the problem-solving activity and
the written assignment
Writing individual assignment
Concrete experience
noitavresboevitcelfeR
Abstract
conceptualization
Active
experimentation
Figure 1. Operationalization of
Kolb’s learning cycle.
* U: unrestricted; R: restricted;
N: not allowed.
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The way of proposed pedagogical approach at a whole in operationalizing Kolb’s learning cycle is
visualized in Figure 1.
7. Findings and discussions
Based on the conversations among students and lecturer and students, results of implement-
ing the proposed pedagogical approach will be presented and discussed below with reference
to four stages of Kolb’s learning cycle, namely, concrete experience, reflective observation,
abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. All names are pseudonymous.
7.1 Concrete experience
This proposed pedagogical approach itself already provided students with concrete experience.
The activity offered them with a special and unique opportunity to really taste various levels of
digital divide and cooperation that, as suggested before, they could rarely experience in their
daily life. By doing so, concrete experience accomplished. Overall speaking, the proposed
pedagogical approach was well received by students. Based on the observations, students
were actively participated in the activity with fun. Some students commented that:
You are a few among other tutors in this university that can really let me taste of what
mean by the tutorial lesson and your activity (the proposed pedagogical approach) make
me learn something. (Herbert)
Frankly, your teaching (the proposed pedagogical approach) is more practical and con-
crete than he did (the lecturer of the course). (Angel)
As suggested, the pedagogy is designed with an aim at creating a relevant and meaningful
experience to students to create knowledge, either individually or cooperatively, under different
levels of digital divide and cooperation. While students in unit 1 experience with free flow of
information and cooperation with others in the society, student in unit 4 experience with
handling information without cooperation and questioning by others. Unit 2 and unit 5 allow
students to experience an environment where the flow of information is limited or restricted
due to, for instance, Internet censorship and desire of authority. Difference between these two
units is the element of cooperation. Under the given environment, students in unit 2 can still
try to experience cooperation in creating knowledge through mutual discussion and challen-
ging, while student in unit 5 cannot. On the contrary, unit 3 and unit 6 allow students to
experience an environment of digital divide where the Internet or even radio cannot be
accessed due to poverty, ICT competencies, geographical locations and the likes. Again, the
difference between these two units is also on cooperation. Therefore, it is critical to remind
students that any forms of discussions, cooperation or assistance between units are not
allowed. Students also have to comply with the given instructions, and their active participa-
tions in the activity are expected. For the sake of providing students with the mentioned
meaningful and relevant experience, the lecturer thus has to deliver the instructions clearly
enough to the students so as to avoid any misunderstandings.
At the end of the activity, each unit had to briefly present their own understandings on the
problem-solving task. Nonetheless, as mentioned, this should be treated as a detonator, and
the lecturer should not spend a lot of time on that. Rather, based on students’presentations,
the lecturer should lead students to further develop and share their reflective observations and
abstract conceptualizations from what they experienced from the activity.
7.2 Reflective observation and abstract conceptualization
Lecturer can help students to achieve reflective observation through asking the difficulties that
they encountered with and the associated feelings generated from the activity. When students
presented their solutions to the problem, the author asked students if they could assert the
correctness of their solutions and what difficulties they encountered in the activity. Through
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asking students with some of these enlightening questions, students could be stimulated to
further review their experience in the activity. For instance, among those units with only one
student, students always replied me by saying that they had no idea whether their answers were
correct, especially for those who could not use ICT devices during the activity. They also related
this to the difficulties that they faced with by expressing that
How can I assert that (the solution is correct)? I do not know Skinner before. I can’t(use)
google (to find the answer) and I can’t ask others. (Sharon)
I (feel) puzzled in the whole activity. I am alone, and no one can help me. (Peter)
The webpage (the assigned online material) is useless to solve the problem ……. I just count
myself (in finding the solution). (Agnes)
It shows that some students developed feelings of loneliness and helplessness in the whole
activity and they may because they could not obtain any help from the Internet, other
classmates or both. Even though the student in unit 4 was allowed to use ICT device and
access any related websites in the activity, the student told me in this way:
I think the solution is correct, if the information that I surf are not fake. (Darwin)
For those units having more than one student, even though they could not assert the correctness of
their solutions to the problem, their responses showed that they had confidence in their solutions.
Some websites also say in this way. (Patrick)
As shown above, in the problem-solving activity, students may generate a feeling of loneliness
and they may also catch into dilemma without knowing the correct answer. Such a feeling or
dilemma did not mark a downside of the suggested pedagogical approach. On the contrary, the
feeling and dilemma symbolized an achievement of reflective observation among students as it
showed their reviews over their experience from the activity.
Meanwhile, students also encountered difficulties in solving the problem. When asked them if
disagreement occurred within the unit and how they reached consensus, some of their
responses are:
some (of my) unit members have their ideas but I don’t agree with them. (John)
At the beginning, I think the answer is this one. But after searching in google and listening
my unit members, I am not sure if I am right. (Amy)
I don’t know the question at all, and I just listen to their (unit members) saying. (William)
it doesn’t matter (when disagreement occur among us). I just give in. (Pauline)
Voting, (by) majority (Sam)
On one hand, the above suggests that some students also experienced certain kind of dispa-
rities over the solutions with others and that may because of the individual difference on
attitudes, perspectives, value judgement and the likes. On the other hand, these conversations
alsoindicatedthatstudentsdidtrytoapplytheknowledgethattheyalreadyacquiredonthe
problem-solving task. Even though their attempts might suffer from many drawbacks and could
not be regarded as a successful one, their efforts in tackling the task already demonstrated
that abstract conceptualization did occur.
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The above questions suggested some measures in helping students to further realize, consolidate
and reflect their reviews towards their experience in the proposed pedagogical approach. The reflec-
tive observations as listed above formed partof the experience of students from the pedagogy. For the
sake of consolidating and reflecting from the experience, the lecturer should also try to help students
to develop their abstract conceptualizations from their experience as well. Without proper channelling,
students may not only miss a chance of transforming their reflective observation into potential
learning opportunities but also, for this case, even turning it into a negative sentiment towards the
lecturer (Sims, 2002, pp. 183–184). The negative relationship between students and lecturer can affect
students’learning motivations (Naude, van Den Bergh, & Kruger, 2014, pp. 222–223).
One of the methods for the lecturer to help students in further developing their abstract
conceptualizations from the proposed pedagogical approach is through debriefing so as to
facilitate students in further associating their reflective observations from the pedagogy with
the knowledge that they learned in the lecture (Cant & Cooper, 2011,p.44;Reed,2012, p. 212;
Zigmont, Kappus, & Sudikoff, 2011, pp. 52, 54). Concerning this proposed pedagogical approach,
the author makes use of students’feeling of loneliness and helplessness generated from the
activity as a way to lead them to associate and apply their reflective observations with the
concept of digital divide and importance of cooperation in knowledge construction which they
already be taught in the lecture before. What is more, together with their experience of
disagreement and way of reaching consensus in the activity, the author further pointing out
the essential legal and social conditions for the successful cooperation in constructing knowl-
edge. By providing students with a relevant and meaningful experience, the concept of digital
divide and the importance of cooperation in knowledge construction no longer become
abstract knowledge to students. On the contrary, after this proposed pedagogical approach,
students found themselves much ready to digest and transform the knowledge that they
learned in the lecture to more meaningful and relevant experience and applied them on
other application. That was unveiled in active experimentation.
7.3 Active experimentation
After consolidating those of knowledge that they experienced and learned from the suggested
pedagogical approach, it is important for the students to apply them. In Kolb’s learning cycle, it
is referred as active experimentation. Kolb (2015) indicated that assignment or project
a possible and appropriate way to attain active experimentation (pp. 281, 303). What is
more, in line with Hawk and Shah (2007), Svinicki and Dixon (1987)andWyndandBozman
(1996), Mobbs (2003) also proposed that one of the strategies in arousing students’active
experimentation from experiential learning is through assignment. As mentioned earlier, stu-
dents had to submit an individual essay a few weeks after the tutorial lesson which required
them to demonstrate their abilities of applying the knowledge that covered in the proposed
pedagogical approach. Before submitting their essays, when the author asked the students if
they had any difficulties in completing the essays, some of them responded in these ways:
Not so much (Eva)
When I starts writing your essay, I have a clear idea on what I need to write by recalling the
game (problem-solving activity). It sounds like I am listening your explanations (of the
concepts). (Alan)
I don’t understand the lecturer’s teaching, but (after participating into the activity)
I understand yours. (Emily)
The above seems to indicate that the proposed pedagogical approach successfully generated
certain experience of digital divide and cooperation among students and that helped them in
preparing their individual essays. Nonetheless, even if it was the case, it did not mean that
students could successfully generate active experimentation from the activity that they
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experienced. In a sense, contents and results of their essays could allow us to have a general
picture on that. As a marker for the essays, the author fully complied with all of the assess-
ment rubrics set by module coordinator in evaluating the essays, and the results of the
assessment were further verified by the lecturer of the course, external reviewer and Board
of Examination. In general, the author found that students’performances in their essays were
up to the standard and could meet the assessment requirement. Especially, most of the
students in their essays demonstrated their understandings on digital divide and were able
to point out with illustrative examples on the importance of cooperation in knowledge con-
struction. About digital divide, students not only able to state its meaning but also able to
pinpoint and discuss the significant role that it played in influencing capability of a person as
a lifelong learner. Concerning cooperation in knowledge construction, the essays reflected
students’realizations on the potential weakness, constraints and limitations when developing
knowledgewithone’s effort only. Based on the above discussions, the author believed that
most of the students successfully achieved active experimentation through transforming and
applying what they experienced and learned from the pedagogical approach on their individual
essays.
As the instructor of the tutorial sessions, the author was able to observe students’reactions
towards the proposed pedagogical approach. In afterwards lessons, every time when the
author reminded students on the problem-solving activity, some students showed their positive
response by showing different forms of apprehending gestures. Some of them enlivened and
immediately recorded my reminders by using their writing instruments or digital devices. In
addition, before submitting individual assignment and sitting for final examination, usually,
some students asked whether the instructions of the problem-solving activity could be
uploaded to the course management system for their preparations and revisions.
Observations from both students’reactions and request sketched a picture which was consis-
tent with the above denotations that the proposed pedagogical approach did constitute Kolb’s
learning cycle of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and
active experimentation among students.
8. Implications for further work
This proposed pedagogical approach as outlined above can be a vital message for higher
education in teaching courses on general education and other fields. Strengths of embedding
Kolb’s learning cycle into this pedagogical approach are as follows. Students can have treas-
ured opportunity to have a certain form of experience and immerse in abstract concepts or
ideas that they can hardly be experienced with under particular context of their social and
cultural settings. Moreover, Kolb’s learning cycle can help students to reflect and consolidate
the knowledge that they learned with greater impression. What is more, through integrating
Kolb’s learning cycle with this pedagogical approach, experiential learning can be implemented
beyond the outdoor environment. This can offer an alternative for institutional concerns on
balancing students’learning needs and the issues of safety and health. However, students
need adequate time transferring experiences to knowledge. Course with intensive schedule and
heavy workloads may have difficulty when adopting Kolb’s learning cycle.
To ensure the proposed pedagogical approach a successful one, certain conditions are
recommended to meet. First, the lecturer should able to identify a problem with its associated
knowledge that able to distinguish the class. Second, students’active participation is expected.
Third, stable Internet connection with floating tables and chairs.
In a sense, it may be difficult for higher education to change the role of general education in
fulfilling graduation requirement as it involves many complicated considerations. However, when
teaching general education, especially for those non-majored students, this proposed pedagogical
approach raised an important message of motivation and engagement to higher education. One of
the methods in arousing students’learning motivation and engagement is to make use of the
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thing that they are connected with and interested in, which is ICT in this case. By doing so, they
are much easy motivated to engage in and draw reflections from different learning experience. For
the sake of students, therefore, educationists should consider how to arouse students’learning
motivation and engagement when designing teaching and learning activities, no matter inside or
outside the classroom context.
9. Significances
Significances of this study stem from its competence of facilitating students’experiential
learning through, first, transforming and empowering experiential learning to mutual beneficial
nature and, second, bridging and extending experiential learning from within to beyond class-
room environment. Brief accounts are as follows.
One of the significances of this study lays on its capability of transforming experiential
learning to mutual beneficial nature through stretching its boundary beyond the personal
level. Usually, experiential learning relies on students’self-reflection. The self-reflection, how-
ever, may be mediated by personality and past experience and can only offer a very limited
personal perspective. In this regard, students’self-reflection mainly serves for personal attain-
ment and is hardly to be challenged. Through encouraging students to share their comments
or responses with other students, this approach provided different perspectives to each student
by offering them non-personal views and even challenges for their reflections and internaliza-
tions. As a result, students’self-reflections over their experience in the approach need not to
be solely relied on their own accounts and incorporation with certain external inspections and
even rectifications become possible. By doing so, this approach transforms and empowers
experiential learning to a more cooperative and mutual beneficial nature.
Another significance of this study is on its endowment of connecting and elongating teaching
and learning activity from within to beyond classroom setting. Students can assimilate the
experience within the classroom and are then able to apply what they experienced from the
approach when they are preparing their assignments after the lesson. Even though other
experiential learning activities may also able to perform a similar role, this approach offers
a feasible and resource-saving way of conducting experiential learning within “classroom-
confined“setting (Georgiou et al., 2008, pp. 808, 810). When comparing with other experiential
learning activities within classroom setting, this approach gains a comparative advantage
through satisfying teaching and even institutional considerations since it can be conducted
by one person within ordinary classroom setting without inducing additional burden of man-
power, resources or even funding. Unlike community-based experiential learning, this approach
avoids administrative work of arranging and bargaining with different internal and external
parties.
10. Limitations
Owing to various constraints, students in the study were formed into different units according
to their previous knowledge on the problem-solving task by treating no difference among their
learning needs, learning desires, learning styles and so on. Educationists may need to take the
individual difference into consideration when practising the approach. Also, participants in this
study were almost all Hong Kong students sharing the same mother tongue. Whether culture
and even language play roles in mediating students to receive the activity deserve further
studies.
11. Conclusion
To sum up, through presenting a pedagogical approach of innovatively and skilfully embedding
ICT with ELT, this study demonstrated a feasible and resource-saving way in conducting
experiential learning within a normal classroom setting. Based on the above denotations, the
approach facilitated students to assimilate and apply the experience under four stages of
Kolb’slearningcycle.Becauseofitsflexibility,thisapproachissuitableforclasseswith
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different sizes. As long as utilizing something like ICT that is already connected with students,
with some modifications, it is possible to apply this approach, practice experiential learning and
enhance students’learning motivation and engagement in other academic disciplinaries.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Dr David K. Herold and
all of the anonymous reviewers for their attentive read-
ings and insightful comments which were very con-
structive in improving this paper.
Funding
The author received no direct funding for this research.
Author details
Shui Kau Chiu
E-mail: ssivan.chiu@connect.polyu.hk
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong
Kong.
Citation information
Cite this article as: Innovative experiential learning
experience: Pedagogical adopting Kolb’s learning cycle at
higher education in Hong Kong, Shui Kau Chiu, Cogent
Education (2019), 6: 1644720.
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