Emotional Highs and Experiential Learning - Literature Review

Zeivots, S. (2018). Triggers of emotional highs in experiential learning. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, DOI: 10.1080/14729679.2018.1443482

Zeivots takes a different tactic to study experiential learning, not just emotions themselves, but what triggers the emotional high that many people experience as part of the process. Emotions are considered to be an important part of the learning process; determining how they are triggered can be a helpful guideline in designing or planning the program for the learners to ensure they get the most out of it. Zeivots suggests that emotional highs themselves are the tip of the iceberg, but the triggers themselves are buried more deeply. The study identified eight key areas that acted as triggers for the participants, and ultimately suggests that further research is required.

I found this article to be fascinating, and at first, I admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect. One of the things I’ve found in the past is that studies that look at subjective topics can always be a bit difficult to quantify; self-report bias is always a hard thing to overcome. However, I do agree that learning seems to be more effective when the emotions are involved. I’ve found this from personal experience, both in my own studies, but also in my instruction. It probably seems a bit odd to suggest emotions can be engaged in a subject as dry as technology, but I find that my learners are at their most interested and invested when I can relate personal stories and imbue my own emotion into my subject matter.

Understanding how emotions can be triggered in any kind of experiential learning is a benefit, but I also think there are challenges. The biggest of those is, of course, the learners themselves. Just because something impacts me in one way or another does not mean that the next person in line will feel the same way. I think that if we use emotional triggers as part of our project planning for any experiential learning programs, we should take care that we’re not manipulating the emotions of the learners, because that’s a different topic entirely.

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The portion of the blog post above the line was written ahead of my attendance at an experiential learning seminar. After the fact, I can definitely attest that emotions are a huge part of the experiential learning experience.

Part of the seminar was to take part in the challenge course at Colorado State University's Mountain Campus, and for someone like me, who is the complete opposite of an athlete, there is definitely a lot of challenge involved, and a lot of emotions when it comes to deciding to conquer that wall.

While I wasn't able to climb the wall entirely, I did try, which isn't something I would have done prior to this course session. Even months later, I'm still reaping the benefits of that moment of courage on a very personal level.

Each of the participants, including myself, also facilitated an experiential learning lesson, and the ones that I remember with the most clarity are the ones that had an emotional impact, whether intentional or not.

There is definitely still a lot to study on this topic, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who attended that seminar who would agree that it would be very worthwhile.