THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

• The Cone of Experience consist of bands,

which arrange media used in learning
experiences from the most concrete to the
most abstract. The scheme contends that
learning could be the solid foundation of
effective conceptualization and abstraction
of learning experiences.
 Examples of appropriate
media/medium
• Verbal Symbols – includes textbooks and
other printed materials and plain lecture
• Visual Symbols – Contains graphs,
cartoons, comic strips and other symbols
• Recording, Radio, Still Pictures –
involves recordings of folk songs or
conversations.
• Motion Pictures – It is about movies or
films on a certain group.
• Educational Televisions – televised lecture
or show about the group is an excellent to
raise awareness and shared
understanding
• Exhibits – exhibits of artifacts, tools,
costumes, and other materials aspects of
culture is a good type of educational
media
• Study trips – conducting a field trip to a
local community is a tools towards
experiential learning
• Demonstrations – Demos by a resource
person about certain activities or rituals of
a group if a form of actual learning
• Dramatized Experiences – Dramatization
by some member of a class who may have
done research is a result of participatory
learning.
• Contrived Experiences – Simulating
certain activities or physical aspects of the
local culture so that experiences become
more real is a valuable way to learn and
express one’s learning
• Direct, Purposeful Experiences – directly
involving the class in certain activities of
the group both experiential and
participatory.
 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

• This was introduced by Edgar Dale(1946)

in his textbook on audio visual methods in
teaching.
• Father of Modern Audiovisual Education
• Dale made minor modifications of the
visual in the second edition (1954)
changing Dramatic Participation to
Dramatized Experience and adding
Television.
 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

• 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 OF EXPERIENCE

• How can Instructors Use the Cone of

Experience?
• According to Dale’s research, the least
effective method at the top, involves
learning from information presented
through verbal symbols, i.e., listening to
spoken words.
 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

• How can Instructors Use the Cone of

Experience?
• The most effective methods at the bottom,
involves direct, purposeful learning
experiences, such as hands-on or field
experience.
• Direct purposeful experiences represents
reality or the closest to real, everyday life.
 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

• How can Instructors Use the Cone of

Experience?
• The chart rates the average retention rate for
various methods of teaching. The further ones
progresses down the cone, the greater the
learning and the more information is likely to be
retained.
• It also suggests that when choosing an
instructional method it is important to remember
that involving students in the process
strengthens knowledge retention.
 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

• How can Instructors Use the Cone of

Experience?
• It reveals that “action learning” techniques result
in up to 90% retention. People learn best when
they use perceptual learning styles. Perceptual
learning styles are sensory based. The more
sensory channels possible in interacting with a
resource, the better chance that many students
can learn from it.
 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

• How can Instructors Use the Cone of

Experience?
• According to Dale, instructors should
design instructional activities that build
upon more real-life experiences.
 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

Dale’s cone of experience is a

tool to help instructors make
decisions about resources and
activities.
 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

The instructor can ask the following:

• Where will student’s experience with this instructional
resource fit on the cone? How far is it removed from real-
life?
• What kind of learning experience do you want to provide
in the classroom?
• How does this instructional resource augment the
information supplied by the textbook?
• What and how many senses can students use to learn
this instructional material?
• Does the instructional material enhance learning?
Tell Me and I Forget;

Show and I Remember;

Involve me and I Understand.

 THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

References:
Dale’s Cone of Experience
By Anderson, Heidi M.
University of Kentucky

Cone of Experience
By Molenda, Michael
Indiana University
 Activity 1
• Classify the instructional • Books . Models
media written in the box • Flashcards .Real objects
accdg. to: • Tv
• Newspapers
1. Sense modality • Dioramas
2. Projection • Flat pictures
3. Accessibility • Study trips
4. Dimensions • Bulletin boards
5. Pacing of media content • Audio recordings
6. Literacy requirement • Language laboratories
7. Cost electronic requirement • Computer aided materials
• Puppets
• Cartoons