What is experiential learning? A practical guide for educators.

The post was updated February 2026.

As educators, you understand the power of learning by doing. Academic theory is critical, but to truly master a skill, students need practice applying their knowledge in real-world situations. That’s where experiential learning comes into play.

What is experiential learning? In this blog, we’ll explain the approach, take a look at how colleges are applying it, and share some strategies for maximizing opportunities for your students.  

What is experiential learning?

Experiential learning is a learner-centered, hands-on approach to education that supplements the knowledge students acquire from readings and classroom lectures. It enables students to become active participants in their learning process. The approach gives them the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in authentic, real-world scenarios and then reflect on their experiences to solidify and deepen their understanding.

This holistic approach offers numerous advantages over traditional learning methodologies, including:

• Enhanced comprehension and practical understanding from the direct application of theoretical concepts to real-world situations.
• Increased engagement in the learning process through hands-on activities.
• The development of pivotal soft skills, such as collaboration, problem-solving, and adaptability.
• Meaningful personal growth, enhanced self-awareness, and a stronger sense of responsibility as learners confront and overcome tasks and challenges.
• Improved critical thinking skills as students actively navigate and analyze real-world scenarios.
• Active reflection and course correction occur as they receive immediate feedback from their actions.
• Better adaptability to encountering diverse challenges, preparing learners for the uncertainties of the real world.
• Increased retention as students remember more because they actively participate and immerse themselves in the content.

4 key stages of experiential learning.

David A. Kolb, an American educational theorist whose research focuses on experiential learning, views learning not as isolated moments of intake, but as a fluid journey where one experience cascades into the next to forge a deeper understanding.

He identified a cyclical process that learners navigate, transforming hands-on experiences into genuine insights. The process includes four key stages:

1. Concrete Experience (CE): This is the initial stage where learners encounter new experiences or reinterpret existing experiences. It's the phase of "doing" – a direct involvement in the experience itself.
2. Reflective Observation (RO): Following the experience, learners reflect on what they have just done. They observe from various angles, analyzing the experience and their feelings toward it.
3. Abstract Conceptualization (AC): Based on their reflections, learners begin to develop theories, concepts, or ideas about their experiences. It's the process of making sense or drawing conclusions from the gathered observations.
4. Active Experimentation (AE): In this stage, learners apply what they've learned, testing their new knowledge in new situations, essentially "trying out" what they've concluded from their reflections.

Experiential learning in higher education.

Professors and instructors have long recognized the importance of providing students with real-world experience, and many academic institutions offer one or more of the following experiential learning programs:  

• Work-based learning: This approach often integrates academic learning with its direct application in a professional environment. For example, a computer science student might work on a coding or web design project for a company, merging their academic curriculum with real-world skill-building tasks and challenges.
• Internships: Internships serve as a bridge between the academic and professional worlds. Business students might intern at financial firms to gain insights into market dynamics, while journalism students could join media companies to learn the intricacies of news reporting and editing.
• Practicums: Common in fields such as education, social work, and healthcare, practicums are supervised, practical experiences. For example, student-teachers, under the guidance of experienced educators, manage and instruct classes, applying their academic learnings directly in the classroom.
• Co-ops: Cooperative education programs, often referred to as "co-ops", blend classroom-based education with practical work experience. Unlike internships, co-ops are typically longer and are often integrated into the student's academic curriculum, allowing students to rotate between classroom studies and full-time employment in their field of study.
  

Strategies for maximizing experiential learning opportunities.

Whether your institution has an existing experiential learning program or is just looking to start one, there are several strategies you can employ to get the most out of these valuable opportunities for your students:    ‍

• Identify learning outcomes and objectives. What do you want to achieve through experiential learning? Your learning outcomes and objectives should be aligned with the goals of your course or program. That will help you determine which hands-on experiences will be most beneficial for your students. For example, many educators utilize Riipen’s experiential learning platform to select real-world projects that align with the skills and knowledge they want their students to develop throughout the experience.
• Develop opportunities that meet your goals. Once you have a clear idea of your goals, you can begin creating experiential learning opportunities to help your students achieve them. Riipen’s platform can help. It encompasses a diverse range of industry projects, stemming from its extensive partnerships with small and large businesses, nonprofits, and other employers worldwide.
• Integrate experiential learning into your curriculum. Given the opportunities, you’ll want to consider how best to integrate experiential learning into your curriculum. For example, you might design a course that incorporates experiential learning activities focused on hands-on, real-world experiences to prepare students for success in their future careers. Riipen makes it easy with built-in tools for remote collaboration, which allow you to seamlessly integrate employer projects into your classes.  
• Train faculty and staff. To successfully integrate experiential learning, it’s essential that your faculty and staff are all on board. They’ll need to be trained in experiential learning pedagogy and best practices, and provided with the necessary resources and support to develop and implement these opportunities. Riipen can help by providing resources and support for developing and implementing experiential learning activities, as well as access to a network of industry partners who can provide guidance and feedback.
• Evaluate and assess experiential learning. To ensure that your experiential learning opportunities are as effective as possible, you’ll want to put a process in place to collect data about student learning and development, as well as feedback from students, faculty, and community partners. Riipen can assist in evaluating and assessing experiential learning programs and activities using tools that track student progress and gather feedback from industry partners, as well as data on the effectiveness of projects completed by students.
  

Incorporating experiential learning into your curriculum doesn’t have to be challenging. If you are an educator interested in learning more about how Riipen can help you leverage experiential learning in your curriculum, schedule a demo with us today.