Lesson 7

 “Direct Purposeful and Beyond”

·        From the rich experiences that our senses bring, we construct the ideas, the concepts, the generalizations that give meaning and order to our lives.

·        Direct experiences are first hand experiences that serve as the foundation of learning. The opposite of direct experiences are indirect or vicarious experiences.

·        Direct experiences lead us to concept formation and abstraction. We should not end our lessons knowing only the concrete. We go beyond the concrete by reaching the level of abstract concepts.

·        Direct experiences are basically what the students can learn by doing it. This way of teaching is known to be the most effective way of teaching the students because experiences are the best teacher.

What are referred to as direct, purposeful experiences?

·        These are our concrete and first hand experiences that make up the foundation of our learning.

·        These are the rich experiences that our senses bring from which we construct the ideas, the concepts, the generalizations that give meaning and order to our lives (Dale,1969). They are sensory experiences.

·        Examples of direct activities

-         Preparing meals

-         Doing a power point presentation
  

-         Delivering a speech

·        In contrast, indirect experiences of other... people that we observe, read or hear about.

·       They are not our own self-experiences but still experiences in the sense that we see, read and hear about them. They are not first-hand but rather vicarious experiences.

Why are these direct experiences described to be purposeful?

·        They are experiences that are internalized in the sense that these experiences involve the asking of questions that have significance in the life of the person undergoing the direct experience.

·        These experiences are undergone in relation to a purpose, i.e. learning

·        It is done in relation to a certain learning objective.