CONE OF EXPERIENCE BY EDGAR DALE

·         “The Cone is a visual analogy, and like analogies, it does not bear an exact and detailed relationship to the complex elements it represents “ – Edgar Dale

·         The Cone of Experience is a pictorial device used to show the progression of learning experiences from a direct, first-hand participation to purely abstract verbal symbol.

·         At the same time, it classifies various types of instructional materials according to the relative degree of experiential concreteness that each type provides.

·         It also suggests the most appropriate method a teacher can use to teach abstract concept that will be appropriate to the particular needs and abilities of the learner.

Dale explains that:

·         The individual bands of the Cone of Experience stand for experiences that are fluid, extensive and continually interact.

·         The different kinds of sensory aid often overlap and sometimes blend into one another.

 
Band of Experience in Dale’s Cone

·         Direct Purposeful- these are first hand experiences which serves as the foundation of our learning. This is taken from meaning information and ideas through seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. It is considered as learning by doing,

·         Contrived Experiences- Makes use of representative models or mock ups of reality for practical reasons and make a real-life experiences that are accessible to student’s perceptions and understanding.

·         Dramatized Experiences- By dramatization, students can participate in a constructed experience.

·         Demonstrations – A visualized explanation of an important fact, idea or process by the use of photographs, drawings, films, displays or guided motion. It is showing how things are done.

·         Study Trips- These are excursions and visits conducted to observe an event that is unavailable within the classrooms

·         Exhibits – These are displays to be seen by spectators. They consists of working models arranged meaningfully or photographs with models, charts and posters. It is sometimes called “ for your eyes only”.

·         Television and Motion pictures- This are reconstruction of reality of the past so effectively that we are made to feel we are there. The value of the messages communicated by the films lies in the feeling of realism, emphasis on persons personality, their organized presentations and their ability to select, dramatize, highlight and clarify

·         Still pictures, recordings and radio- these are visual and auditory devices used by an individual or a group. Still pictures lack the sound and motion of a sound film. The radio broadcast of an actual event may often be likened to a televised broadcast minus its visual dimensions

·         Visual Symbols- They are no longer realistic reproduction of physical things for these are highly abstract representations. Examples are charts, graphs, maps and diagrams.

·         Verbal Symbols – They are not like the objects or ideas for which they stand. They usually do not contain visual clues to their meaning. Written words fall under this category. It may be a word for a concrete object (book), an idea (freedom of speech), scientific principle or a formula.

Implications of the Cone of Experience:

·         We do not use only one medium of communication. We use as many IM to help the student conceptualize his experience.

·         For example, in a Science class desiring to study Waste Management, the teacher has a choice of one or a combination of the following media:

o    verbal symbols – textbooks and printed materials and plain lecture

o    visual symbols – graphs, cartoons, comic strip and other visuals

o    recordings/still pictures – recordings of advertisements or procedures in waste management, and still pictures showing activities in waste management

o    television – televised lecture about waste management

o    exhibits – exhibits of products or innovation from waste materials

o    field trip – conducting a field trip to an agency on waste management

o    demonstration – demonstration by an authority about certain activities of the agency

o    dramatization – by some members of the class who have done some research about the activities of the agency

o    simulation – simulating activities on waste management so that experiences come more real

o    direct participation – directly involving the class in the activities or procedures of waste management like recycling.

·         We avoid teaching directly at the symbolic level of thought without adequate foundation of the concrete – rootless experiences.

·         We don’t get stuck in the concrete. Let us strive to bring our students to the symbolic level or abstract to develop their HOTS.