Skip to main content

Making Sense of Experiential Learning in Management Education

  • Chapter
Real Learning Opportunities at Business School and Beyond

Part of the book series: Advances in Business Education and Training ((ABET,volume 2))

  • 748 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter is about how individual students and groups of students make sense of the experiential exercise they engage in during a classroom training session. It takes as its starting point the wealth of literature on experiential learning, where learning is viewed as a process of experience, reflection, abstraction, and action. Using two cases, it draws on sensemaking theory to place the experiential learning process in a wider context in which individuals and groups author stories which help them to connect themselves to what they consider to be desirable ends, think well of themselves in moral terms, and succeed in their society.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Argyris, C. (2002). Teaching smart people how to learn. Reflections, 4(2), 4–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, A. C., Jensen, P. J., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Conversation asexperiential learning. Management Learning, 36(4), 411–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basu, K., & Palazzo, G. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: A process model of sensemaking. Academy of Management Review, 33(1),122–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennis, W. G., & O’Toole, J. (2005). How business schools lost their way, Harvard Business Review, 88(5):151–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blickensderfer, E. L., Cannon-Bowers, J. A., & Salas, E. (1997). Theoretical bases for team self-correction: Fostering shared mental models. In M. Beyerlein, D. Johnson, & S. Beyerlein (Eds.), Advances in interdisciplinary studies in work teams series. Greenwich, CT: JAI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blickensderfer, E. J. A., Cannon-Bowers, J. A., & Salas, E. (1998). Cross-training and team performance. In J. A. Cannon-Bowers & E. Salas (Eds.), Making decisions under stress: Implications for individual and team training (pp. 299–311). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A. D. (2000). Making sense of inquiry sensemaking. Journal of Management Studies, 37(1), 45–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1896). The reflex arc concepts in psychology. Psychological review, 3, 357–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, L. (2002). Damned by our own theories: Contradictions between theories and management education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1(1), 96–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, S., & Davidi, I. (2005). After-event reviews: Drawing lessons from successful and failed experience. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(5), 857–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellemers, N., De Gilder, D., & Haslam, S. A. (2004). Motivating individuals and groups at work: A social identity perspective on leadership and group performance. Academy of Management Review, 29(3), 459–478.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gephart, R. P., Jr. (1993). The textual approach: Risk and blame in disaster sensemaking. Academy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1465–1514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, R. (1984). Education and thinking, the role of knowledge. American Psychologist, 39(2), 93–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1999). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosling, J., & Mintzberg, H. (2006). Management education as if both matter. Management Learning, 37(4), 419–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hein, G. E. (1991). Constructivist learning theory, CECA (International Committee of Museum Educators) Conference, Jerusalem Israel, 15–22 October 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E. T. (1999). When do self-discrepancies have specific relations to emotions? The second-generation question. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 77(6), 1313–1317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber, G. P. (1991). Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures. Organization Science, 2(1), 88–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kayes, D. C. (2002). Experiential learning and its critics: Preserving the role of experience in management learning and education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1(2), 137–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski, S. W. J. (1998). Training and developing adaptive teams: Theory, principles, and research. In J. A. Cannon-Bowers & E. Salas (Eds.), Making decisions under stress: Implications for individual and team training (pp. 91–114). Washington, DC: APA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewicki, R. J., Barry, B., & Saunders, D. (2007). Negotiation: Readings, exercises, and cases (5th ed.). Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin/McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lingham, T. (2004) Developing a measure for conversational spaces in teams. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mintzberg, H., & Gosling, J. (2002). Educating managers beyond borders. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1(1), 64–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nemeth, C. P., Cook, R. I., O’Connor, M., & Klock, P. A. (2004). Using cognitive artifacts to understand distributed cognition. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man & Cybernetics: Part A, 34(6), 726–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osland, J., Kolb, D. A., Rubin, I. M., & Turner, M. E. (2001). Organizational behavior: An experiential approach (7th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palincsar, A. S. (1998). Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, (1), 345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perriton, L., & Reynolds, M. (2004). Critical management education. Management Learning, 35(1), 61–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfeffer, J. (2007). A modest proposal: How we might change the process and product of managerial research. Academy of Management Journal, 50(6), 1334–1345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension. New York: Double Day.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skoldberg, K. (1994). Tales of change: Public administration, reform and narrative mode. Organization Science, 5(2), 219–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, D. S. (2001). Situated learning and planned training on the job. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 3(4), 415–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, M. J., & Campion, M. A. (1994). The knowledge, skill, and ability requirements for teamwork: Implications for human resource management. Journal of Management, 20(2), 503–530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tannenbaum, S. I., Smith-Jentsch, K. K., & Behson, S. J. T. (1998). Training team leaders to facilitate team learning and performance. In J. A. Cannon-Bowers & E. Salas (Eds.), Making decisions under stress: Implications for individual and team training (pp. 247–270). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Trowler, P. (1996).Angels in marble? Accrediting prior experiential learning in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 21(1), 17–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walton, R. E., & Susman, G. I. (1987). People policies for the new machines. Harvard business review, 65,(2), 98–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weick, K. E., Sutcliffe, K. M., & Obstfeld, D. (2005). Organizing and the process of sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4), 409–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Davar Rezania .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Rezania, D., Blyth, L. (2009). Making Sense of Experiential Learning in Management Education. In: Daly, P., Gijbels, D. (eds) Real Learning Opportunities at Business School and Beyond. Advances in Business Education and Training, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2973-7_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics