To illustrate the application of this technique to a real environment, I am going to share my experience of 7 years of work. My name is Miguel Ángel Salguero Monago and I am a Vocational Training teacher specialising in Electrotechnical Installations.

When did you first hear about this technique?

Actually, this technique is older than formal vocational training itself. Years ago, skillswere learned through apprenticeships, where the student was an apprentice and assisted the professionals, observing their techniques and preparing for what would become its daily work in the future.

What problems/conflicts/shortcomings did you have in the class that leads you to investigate and starting to apply Experimental learning with your students?

In some cases, mostly in less advanced students, I noticed a lack of engagement of the learners with the contents shown. As a result, I even got, in some cases, an indifference brought about by the lack of applicability of the learning with their immediate future professional environment. Specially in master classes, part of the group dropped the class, and they ended up generating distractions that  I had to solve using discipline.

How did you learn this technique, and is there a website or book that you have used as a reference?

I learnt this technique from my teachers, who occasionally applied it with us, taking us out of the boring theoretical sessions, which were so difficult to endure. I am presenting some bibliography in this regard.

https://idus.us.es/bitstream/handle/11441/64614/Fomentando%20el%20desarrollo%20de%20competencias%20en%20el%20alumnado….pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0257-43142020000300012

What were the problems you encountered when implementing the technique in class?

Mainly the lack of time, which limits all the educational innovation activities we could perform in class. Also, some students show a lack of interest in these techniques, as they are more used to a more traditional and rigid education.

What were the benefits you found when implementing the technique in the classroom?

The first and most obvious one is incresing the level of motivation and attention among students. The contents take on an emotional component, as they are directly linked to what they will soon be doing in their training work experience or even in their first jobs. They also learn to be organised in the workplace and to use tools safely, cross-cutting content that is very difficult to absorb without putting it into practice.

Has this technique become recurrent in the classroom? Did you use it with the same objectives as at the beginning? For how long have you been using it?

I have been using the experiential learning technique since I started working, and it is one of the main educational tools in vocational training. Most colleagues also use it successfully, with the same objectives as the first time.

With which subject/levels/courses/modules/VET degrees… do you use it? Are there any adaptations of the technique for students of different ages or even with different educational needs?

I have used this technique with all levels of vocational training. From basic vocational training to higher vocational training, in several different VET degrees within areas  as varied as Robotics, Telecommunications and Electricity. The lower the level, the greater the effectiveness of the technique because it helps more to retain the students’ attention.

Are there any factors to take into account when applying this technique with different classes? (also, more appropriate number of students, appropriate space and age).

As in all kind of training, it is necessary to adapt the educational technique to the students, but in this case, because of its transversality, it can be applied to students of all ages with almost no especial adaptation required. In my experience, it works best with students beyond 15 or 16 years of age, who already see themselves as future professionals. The appropriate number of students is between 10 and 12, although it can be increased up to 20, reducing individualised attention. Regarding the space, a workshop equipped with tools and devices related to the contents will work like a charm.

How do you evaluate the results of this technique in class?

Comparison with other teaching units shows that it is highly effective. The results obtained by the students are better, even though they nedd to spend less time at home on reinforcement exercises.

What advantages do you think this technique brings to students’ professional lives?

It gives them a better understanding of the skills they need to master in order to properly perform in the workplace, plus they become emotionally attached to knowledge that will become familiar to them in the near future. In contrast, a more theoretical training leaves a gap that they will have to fill with extra effort to adapt what they know to the problems that will arise.

In order to put this technique into practice, it is positive:

• To generate immersion in the students. Make the environment as similar as possible to a real workplace, even using company names, putting up signs, etc.
• To share information about the situation in the professional sector with the students, making them aware of everything that is going on.
• To Bring external professionals into the classroom, even if it is just to give a short talk.
• To make them reflect about the work they have done, in order to reinforce the knowledge they have learnt.
• To make them face new problems, for which they do not have all the information, thus, encouraging research and creativity, and combating the previously learned helplessness from which they may suffer.

In order to implement this technique successfully, it is necessary to avoid:

• Working groups within the class too unequal or too rigid. It is important to encourage dynamism.
• Students being too competitive, which sometimes crushes the motivation of the less able, although sometimes, it might favour stronger implication from the students side.
• Students getting stuck for too long, leading to frustration.
• Neglecting some groups, which can lead to poorer results.
• Not giving importance to assessment or not sharing feedback with them, which may lead them to believe that the work done will not be revised.

What do you think it brings to your students? What feedback do you get from them when applying the technique in class?

This technique provides motivation and increased attention in class, as well as the emotional bonding of the students, who see themselves working in a real company, improving their performance. Students appreciate and demand this type of learning because it is also much more enjoyable and requires less intellectual effort on their part.

Have any students told you how they have used or benefited from this technique in their professional career?

Many students, over the years, have said that they have done work in their companies that is very similar to what they did in class, making them stand out from their colleagues, generating a very positive feeling in their employer.

Mention a personal anecdote, a very positive experience, a comment from a student, or something you have seen, something inspiring to encourage other teachers to try.

One student, coming from a general education background, was highly disruptive in class. At that point he had just started a Basic Vocational Training Program in Electricity, which has hardly any theoretical sessions and 90% of learning is experiential or practical. After a short period, he became one of the best students of the class, competing with the more advantaged ones, resulting in a specialized technician who finished his higher education.

In basic vocational training, during a whole course, two students would miss classes as long as they knew that there were no practical sessions that day. By contrast, if there was experiential learning, they would attend and work.

In higher vocational training, one student reported that he was working with the same automated systems used in class, so that, his boss was impressed by his capabilities in his first days at the company.