Integrated Problem-Solving
Experiential Learning
"We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect. The judgment of the intellect is only part of the truth."
C. G. Jung
When we think about "learning," most of us think of "cognitive" learning: taking in, sorting, storing, and using information to intellectually understand something. Our "intellect" primarily engages the left frontal lobe of our brains. But there are lots of other ways that we can take in, process, and access information: engaging other parts of our brains as well as the rest of our bodies.
The more ways we can take in information…the more impactful and lasting the lesson.
We are all familiar with "muscle memory." When we learn an athletic skill, a dance step, or a self-defense maneuver we physically repeat it until our body itself remembers and knows what to do. Emotional connections greatly influence the impact of an experience as well. Most of us have also had the experience of an intellectual understanding becoming "gut-level" understanding. We comprehend something in a certain, limited way with our intellect; but when we actually experience it, our understanding somehow becomes much "deeper," and we recognize that "Now I really get it!"
The more ways we can take in information—the more senses we engage and the more ways we can experience it—the more impactful and lasting the lesson.