1) Active
reviewing as a group norm
Active reviewing techniques should not be regarded as the sole property
of the trainer.
Once a group is familiar with the use of active language and active
conventions, then the mixing of discussion and action can become the
norm - providing everyone with wider opportunities for enlivening,
extending and enriching their reviews.
2)
Holistic experiences need holistic reviews
If the experiences being reviewed are holistic rather than purely
cerebral, then it makes sense to offer reviewing media and methods that
are suitable vehicles for these multifaceted holistic experiences. If
the reviewing vehicles offered are merely discussion-based, then the
less discussible aspects of experience will remain untapped, unreviewed
and unharnessed. Important sources of power, energy and insight will
remain neglected and underused.
3)
It's difficult to find words to express ...
People interviewed after disasters struggle to find words that
adequately express their feelings. Experience-based training should of
course not expose people to such trauma, but the principle is the same:
new and intensive experiences, however traumatic or pleasurable they
might be, challenge us to find adequate ways of expressing ourselves.
Experience-based learning (especially when it is also adventure-based)
creates experiences that can be very rich, extensive, intensive,
confusing or complex. If the quality of the experience is to have
maximum impact for learning, then it must be matched by reviewing
methods that are capable of dealing with the depth, essence and
richness of the original experience.
4)
The reviewer's toolkit
Active and creative reviewing techniques should be seen as basic tools
in a reviewer's toolkit, but they will never replace the need for the
skilful and
imaginative use of verbal techniques, and for facilitating group
discussions. Active reviewing techniques have many purposes. At all
stages of the reviewing cycle there are active techniques that can
assist the reviewing process i.e. for establishing facts, for
expressing feelings, for examining findings and for exploring futures.
ACTIVE LEARNING ON
OTHER WEBSITES
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Science Webquests is an
excellent resource not only for science teachers, but also for links to
sites about active learning strategies. For example: