Monday, 23 November 2015

DALE`S CONE OF EXPERIENCE






           ASSIGNMENT
  TOPIC  : Dale`s cone of experience
            

 Submitted By                                           SubmittedTO,                                             
Sruthi suresh                                           Prof. Mumthas S.
 English optional                            Asst.Prof in Education
                                           Peet Memorial Training College
                                                         Mavelikara

                   Dale’s Cone of Experience is a model that incorporates several theories related to instructional design and learning processes. During the 1960s, Edgar Dale theorized that learners retain more information by what they “do” as opposed to what is “heard”, “read” or “observed”. His research led to the development of the Cone of Experience. Today, this “learning by doing” has become known as “experiential learning” or “action learning”. The cone is diagramed and explained in the next sections. During the 1960s, Edgar Dale theorized that learners retain more information by what they “do” as opposed to what is “heard”, “read” or “observed”.  His research led to the development of the Cone of Experience.
The Cone was originally developed in 1946 and was intended as a way to describe various learning experiences. Essentially, the Cone shows the progression of experiences from the most concrete (at the bottom of the cone) to the most abstract (at the top of the cone).When Dale researched learning and teaching methods he found that much of what we found to be true of direct and indirect (and of concrete and abstract) experience could be summarised in a pyramid or ‘pictorial device’. He stated that the cone was not offered as a perfect or mechanically flawless picture to be taken absolutely literally. It was merely designed as a visual aid to help explain the interrelationships of the various types of audio-visual materials, as well as their individual ‘positions’ in the learning process.


 It is important to note that Dale never intended the Cone to depict a value judgment of experiences; in other words, his argument was not that more concrete experiences were better than more abstract ones. Dale believed that any and all of the approaches could and should be used, depending on the needs of the learner.
 Looking at Dale’s cone of Experience, one can realize that there can be numbers of model that can be used by the teacher to reach the learner depending on the learners need. From the top, the models are in their abstract nature although not useless; teachers bring the world to the learner by the use of what they read, hear, view among others. Considering effective teaching in the eyes of what Hughes and Adamson said earlier in this discourse, “the only true education is self education” where the learner is allowed to discover knowledge for themselves with some guide. Self expression propels effective teaching however the models from the top of Dale’s cone of Experience do not allow that.
Dale’s cone of Experience provides teaching and learning models that allows teachers to understand how to increase the retention rate of learners by involving the learner. This means that while the learner participate and get involved in the learning process by expression, they awaken the sensory organs. This cone of Experience goes hand in hand with Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences which says that you can’t reach learners with a style of learning but several. The several styles therefore helps awaken the sensory organs of each learner and helps him or her achieve self education.
This further explains the necessity of education through art. When children are taught by the use of art, they are allowed to express themselves and awaken the sensory organs. With art, most complex theories can be understood by learners since they are involved with the process. Teachers must therefore understand Dale’s cone of experience in order to increase retention and understanding since this means effective teaching.