Module 7: Direct, Purposeful Experiences and Beyond

Prerequisite Skills:
Instructor:
Level:
Allotted Time:

Aurelio F. Polonio
Second Year College

Overview
After seeing instructional materials as a whole, let us single out direct, purposeful experiences as instructional
materials. The most real in Dale's Cone of Experience. Let's learn how they can be effectively used for instruction.
Objectives

1. Illustrate direct, and purposeful experiences

2. Identify what direct and purposeful experiences leads the learners to a meaningful learning
Pretest

1. Read the following testimonies, and then answer the questions below.
"The meanings of negative discrimination index and positive discrimination index became crystal clear to
me only when we did an item analysis of our test items."- Grade VI teacher
My husband and children used to do computer job for me who made me totally dependent on them, The
problem was they were not always around to help me with my reports, lecture notes, etc. To redeem myself from my
helplessness, I forced myself to learn, first of all encoding, then sending e-mail and surfing the Internet. What
encouraged me was my seven- year old granddaughter could do what I was not capable of doing. Now I feel
liberated. I can encode and print my lectures, send emails, surf the Internet, and do PowerPoint, lecture presentation,
even when no one is around to help only after I had to do these things myself. - Graduate School Professor
My boss assigned me to put the transparencies on the plate of the overhead projector while he delivered his
lecture on stage. It turned out that the-first transparency was not positioned upright for the audience. I repositioned
the transparency but it was still inverted. I felt nervous and the woman in the audience who was seated nearby
Came to my rescue. I have never forgotten that experience but having been assigned the task repeatedly, I can say I
am now expert at the OHP. - Secretary to the Dean
"It was only when I went to the Manila zoo that I learned that a giraffe is that tall and an elephant is that big." Grade 4 pupil
Discussion Questions:
Do you have a similar experience? Share.

 Think of a. skill you have. How did you acquire it?

Think of a concept. How did you learn it?
How did the four narrators learn their respective skills/ concept? Analyze.
Learning Focus
Whatever skills or concepts we have did not come out of the blue. We spent hours doing the activity by
ourselves in order to acquire the skill. The same thing is through with the four (4) narrators above. They learned the
skills by doing. The Graduate School professor had to do the computer task herself to learn the skill. The Secretary
learned from her mistake and repeatedly doing the task correctly enabled her to master the skill. The Grade IV pupil
got a clear concept of the size o the elephant and height of giraffe after seeing with her eyes the real elephant and
giraffe. For the Grade VI teacher, the statistical concepts of positive and negative discrimination indices became fully
understood only after the actual experience of item analysis. All these experiences point- to the need to use,
whenever we can, direct, purposeful experiences in the teaching-learning process.
What are referred to as direct, purposeful experiences? These are our concrete and firsthand 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 bur lives. (Dale,1969). They are
sensory experiences.
These direct activities may be preparing meals, making a piece of furniture, doing powerpoint presentation,
performing a laboratory experiment, delivering a speech, taking a trip, or making a piece of furniture.
In contrast, indirect experiences are 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 firsthand but rather vicarious experiences.
Climbing a mountain is firsthand, direct experience. Seeing it done in films or reading about it is a vicarious,
substitute experience. It is clear, therefore, that we can approach the world of reality directly through the senses and
indirectly with reduced sensory experience. For example we can make bake black forest cake or see it done in the tv
or read about it.
Why are these direct experiences described to be purposeful? Purposeful because the experiences are
not purely mechanical. They are not a matter of going through the motion. These are not "mere sensory excitation'.
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.
They are also described as purposeful because these experiences are undergone in relation to a purpose, i.e.
learning. Why do we want our students to have a direct experience in conducting an experiment in the laboratory? It
is done in relation to a certain learning objective.
Where should these direct, purposeful experiences lead us to? The title of this Lesson "Direct, Purposeful
Experiences and Beyond" implies that these direct experiences must not be the period or the end. We must be
brought to a higher plane. The higher plane referred to here is the level of generalization and abstraction.

The Grade IV pupil's zoo experience of the elephant and giraffe as given in the ACTIVITY phase of the lesson
enables him to understand clearly and visualize correctly an elephant and a giraffe upon reading or hearing the
words "elephant" and "giraffe". The Cone of Experience implies that we move from the concrete to the abstract (and
from the abstract to the concrete as well.) Direct experiences serve as the foundation of concept formation,
generalization and abstraction. John Dewey (1916) has made this fundamental point succinctly:
An ounce of experience is better than a ton of theory because it is only in experience that any theory
has vital and verifiable significance. An experience, a very humble experience, is capable of generating and
carrying any amount of theory (or intellectual content), but a theory apart from an experience cannot be definitely grasped as a theory. It tends to become a mere verbal formula, a set of catchwords used to render thinking, or genuine theorizing unnecessary and impossible.
If direct, purposeful experiences or firsthand sensory experiences make us learn concepts and
skills effectively, what does this imply to the teaching-learning process? First, let us give our students
opportunities to learn by doing. Let us immerse our students in the world of experience. Second, let us make use of
real things as instructional materials for as long as we can. Third, let us help the students develop the five senses to
the full to heighten their sensitivity to the world. Fourth, let us guide our students so that they can draw meaning from
their firsthand experiences and elevate their level of thinking. As mentioned in Lesson 5, let us not be tempted to get
stuck to the concrete and fail to bring up our students' to the higher level of thinking process
Direct experiences are firsthand 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.
Learning Activities
Activity 1: Here is an approximation of how much persons learn through the five senses.

Connect this graph to sensory experience for maximum learning. Take note of the number of senses

involved starting with the base of the Cone. Does this graph relate to what you learned about direct
purposeful experiences? Do you see any relation or connection?

Any principle you learned from the Principles of Teaching that connects to learning by direct
experience?

Our lack of understanding is often due to our lack of attention. Our lack of attention is usually due to a
failure in the use of our senses. Connect this to firsthand or sensory experience.

Activity 2: Paragraph Interpretation

Emerson wrote:

Seven men went through a field, one after another. One was a farmer, he saw only the grass; the next
was an astronomer, he saw the horizon and the stars; the physician noticed the standing water and suspected
miasma; he was followed by a soldier, who glanced over the ground, found it easy to hold, and saw in a moment
how the troops could be disposed; then came the geologist, who noticed the boulders and the sandy loam; after
him came the real-estate broker, who bethought him how the line of the house lots should run, where would be
the driveway, and the stables. The poet admired the shadows cast by some trees, and still more the music of
some thrushes and a meadow lark.
What does this paragraph imply about peoples' interpretation of the concrete? How can we arrive at a
more accurate interpretation of what we experience?
Posttest

1. Apply the concept of direct experiences to the college courses you have taken. Were there
missed opportunities for direct experiences? If yes, what are they?
2. Go over the Re-structured Basic Education Curriculum (RBEC). Find out which
competencies can be best taught through direct experience.