Experiential learning

 Experiential learning is the instructional approach that I wanted to research into whether or not it is useful for our topic. This approach aims to allow people to learn from the environment they are put in, this way, you gain more skills and experience directly, allowing for more growth since you must rely on yourself. David A. Kolb would bring this learning theory forward, with the belief that learning continuously helps in progressing through all forms of obstacles life might present. Going further into the steps of experiential learning, David Kolb describes it as a cycle. The first is experiencing; this is where the learner starts to engage with material presented with their own skill set. Second is reflecting; this is where the learner will conclude what the experience they have just had was like. Third is thinking; this is where the learner starts to expand their experiences and thinking to form ideas, concepts, and theories that could be tested. The last step is acting. The best way to learn is to apply your learning and ideas and receive feedback on them while also creating a new environment to learn from. 

Overall, I feel this instructional approach would resonate with our project’s goals. We want to create a plan to help individuals learn more about mental health, types of disorders, contributing factors, and strategies on how to tackle them. In implementing this instructional approach because experiential learning is all about actual hands-on experience, some of the ways to achieve this are workshops, volunteering, case studies, simulations, and tying it all together with group discussion and personal reflections. Workshops and volunteering would allow students to experience activities relating to mental health and ways to navigate it while also building a base of understanding. Additionally, being paired with experts in the mental health fields or people who have experienced mental health disorders can be a way to gain more knowledge that a program itself might not be able to cover on its own. Experience with mental health when teaching others can give students valuable information that could be used in their lives. For example, exercises and methods on how to deal with, reach out to, or help others regarding mental health. Case studies and simulations help create scenarios in which students would have to use their previous knowledge gained and their real-life experience to really push them to think about how to deal with mental disorders. Providing hands-on experiences and knowledge is valuable, but also being able to apply your learning to other scenarios can be useful in their learning. After this is done, reflections and discussion groups can help in further clearing up misunderstandings and questions and, overall, help in becoming more understanding of this topic.