Experiential learning theory (ELT) has been widely used in management learning research and practice for over thirty-five years. Building on the foundational works of Kurt Lewin, John Dewey and others, experiential learning theory offers a dynamic theory based on a learning cycle driven by the resolution of the dual dialectics of action/reflection and experience/abstraction. These two dimensions define a holistic learning space wherein learning transactions take place between individuals and the environment. The learning space is multi-level and can describe learning and development in commensurate ways at the level of the individual, the group, and the organization. This approach is illustrated by reviewing current research on individual learning styles and managerial problem solving/decision making, the process of team learning and organizational learning. We describe how ELT can serve as a useful framework to design and implement management education programs in higher education and management training and development.

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People working in the Software Engineering field must solve problems every day to get their work done. For successful problem solving, they need to find others with specific experience. To help individuals with this, we created an `Experience Broker' role in the organization. The broker must be officially recognized, and function as a facilitator for the internal human network in the organization. Our approach to the `Experience Factory', what we call the `Experience Engine', focuses on mediating referrals to sources holding the correct expertise----usually human sources.

People must solve problems every day to get their work done. For successful problem solving, they need to find others with specific experience. To help individuals with this, we created an `Experience Broker' role in the organization. The broker must be officially recognized, and function as a facilitator for the internal human network in the organization. Our approach to the `Experience Factory', what we call the `Experience Engine', focuses on mediating referrals to sources holding the correct expertise---- that are usually human sources.

through inquiry based learning

Please do not quote or reference this manuscript. An updated version of this manuscript was published as Kayes, D. C. 2002. Experiential learning and its critics: Preserving the role of experience in management learning and education. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 1, 2, 137-149. Experiential learning critics 2 This paper considers John Dewey’s dual reformist-preservationist agenda for education in the context of current debates about the role of experience in management learning. The paper argues for preserving experience-based approaches to management learning by revising the concept of experience to more clearly account for the relationship between personal and social (i.e., tacit/explicit) knowledge. By reviewing, comparing and extending critiques of Kolb’s experiential learning theory and reconceptualizing the learning process based on post-structural analysis of psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan, the paper defines experience within the context of language and social action. This perspective is contrasted to action, cognition, critical reflection and other experience-based approaches to management learning. Implications for management theory, pedagogy and practice suggest greater emphasis on language and conversation in the learning process. Future directions for research are explored.

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