Experiential learning is the process of learning by doing.
Teaching Music
I find music theory makes a lot more sense to students when they are able to connect the knowledge to their music. I call this a music first approach, I teach them songs and then use those songs to talk about the theory found in it; the type of scales used, intervals, harmonies, etc. I find this way to be much more impactful than teaching them the theory isolated. They are more likely to remember the information because it is directly useful for them and is helpful for many different learning styles. On occasion I will teach theory, first but it will be in combination, not instead of, music first.
It has been very helpful to see how UNBC’s education program uses experiential learning and has given me many ways to incorporate it in my classrooms. There were a lot of examples of activities and projects that the group would try together. this above picture is an example of this. This was a flip cup activity that we could incorporate in physical health and wellness classes.