Experiential Learning and Mental Health in Sports:

As I discusses the different instructional approaches, I reflected on the different types used throughout my instructional years. This doesn’t just include school, but other activities, including sports. Before completing the readings, I mostly thought of experiential learning as hands-on activity. While yeah, its definitely apart of it the learning mostly comes from multiple stages:

1. Concrete Evidence – Engaging and hands on activity
2. Reflective Observation – Reflecting the experience and connecting ideas
3. Abstract Conceptualization – Elaborating on the reflection and reaching conclusions
4. Active Experimentation – Testing and feedback of conclusions.

Parry and Allison (2020) discuss how experiential learning is often misunderstood as just any form of activity-based learning. They argue that experiences alone do not guarantee the student to learn, but instead, it happens when experiences are combined with reflection and feedback. This perspective stood out to me because of the importance of learners to critically think and reflect experiences rather than simply finishing assignments.

I think experiential learning aligns well with my topic of mental health in sports. Mental health is not something that can be fully understood by just memorizing definitions or textbooks, but first hand experience. Athletes face challenges such as performance anxiety, burnout, injuries, and pressure from others. Understanding these issues requires empathy and the ability to reflect on how mental health affects people.

If we were to use an experiential learning approach in our Interactive Learning Resource, learners could work through realistic scenarios involving athletes experiencing mental health challenges. For example, learners might analyze a case study about an athlete showing signs of body insecurities, than decide how they would respond from different perspectives. They could then reflect on their decisions and compare them with evidence-based strategies for supporting mental well-being. 

Another aspect of experiential learning that I found interesting was its potential to develop social awareness and empathy though hands-on work.. Wieselmann et al. (2025) found that students involved in experiential learning developed deeper understandings of other people’s experiences. This seems especially relevant to mental health in sports, where supporting others requires understanding perspectives and experiences that may differ from our own.

After comparing the different instructional approaches discussed within our learning pod, I believe experiential learning provides the strongest support to our topic. By encouraging learners to reflect, apply knowledge, and engage with situations, it has the potential to create a deeper understanding of mental health in sport than traditional information-based approaches alone.

References.

Institution of Experiential Learning. (2023, October 14). What is experiential learning? https://experientiallearninginstitute.org/what-is-experiential-learning/

Parry, J., & Allison, P. (Eds.). (2019). Experiential learning and outdoor education: Traditions of practice and philosophical perspectives (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.4324/9780429298806

Wieselmann, J. R., Sager, M. T., Scott, C. C., & Brown, S. M. (2025). STEM, sports, and service-learning: Exploring undergraduates’ experiential learning and social consciousness as summer program volunteers. Journal of Experiential Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/10538259251331584

JD1000 Blog 2

Hi JD,

I think you explained your experiences with Khan Academy very well, as well as the shift of relevance the further advanced classes became. Your point about motivation decreasing when the material no longer matches your more advanced needs makes lots of sense. I thought your idea about the platform spreading itself thin instead of fully developing certain subjects is a really thoughtful critique.

Blogpost 4: Manveen Kaur

Hi Manveen!

I really liked how clearly you explained the purpose of the probability video and how it fits into your ILR. Your point about using the video as an introduction before hands‑on activities came through really well, especially when you connected it to empirical vs. theoretical probability .

I also appreciated how you highlighted the thinking work students naturally do while watching, like making predictions and connecting examples to prior knowledge ! That’s such an important part of interaction that often gets overlooked.

Your “Heads or Tails: Is it 50:50?” activity is a great follow‑up. I liked how you emphasized that real‑world results don’t always match expectations

Post 3 – Bryan Soetjipto

Hi Bryan,

I really liked how you used your CIVE 299 example to show why designing for an “average learner” doesn’t actually work in real classrooms. Your point about the gorilla video was also super effective. It really highlights how differently people process the same form of content.

Your suggestions for breaking activities into smaller sections and adding quick check‑ins felt practical and learner‑friendly.

Motivation When Confined Online:

As long as I can remember, dance has been a center point in my life. The studio was my second home, and harboured my passion, my friends, and my creative outlet. I was attending classes five days a week, for at the least four hours a day, it was everything. That was until 2019 when the pandemic caused everything to become online.

I was very happy even though I couldn’t physically be in the dance studio, I could still take my classes. Grateful was an understatement, but the longer it went on, the more difficult it became. Dancing though zoom was hard, for how much I loved it, my mom was pulling teeth for me to attend my online classes.

 I complained – “I have no room to move” or “the computer is too small to see.” It hadn’t even been a month before I found every excuse in the book to not log in.

I couldn’t learn the same. When I’m able to see things and try and try again, that’s when it really sticks in my brain. Only having audible aid and instructions really affected my cognitive and motivational abilities. Discussed in the self-determination theory, my competence and relatedness were not being met. 

The environment was a much bigger factor than I had originally anticipated, and many of my peers felt the same. Girls I had danced with since I was three quit during 2019-2021, and never touched the art again. Factors, like environments, play a big role in learning cognitively, and being able to fully engage in materials/experiences (Ertmer, P. A. & Newby, T. 2018). Of course, this was not the studios fault, as they did everything to keep classes engaging and uplifting in the damning time, it was hard to feel connected.

If I could redesign that experience, I’d include more interactive elements like breakout rooms for small‑group choreography, feedback sessions, and ways to share progress visually. That would have supported autonomy and relatedness, helping us feel part of something again. This experience taught me that motivation isn’t just about passion, but how the passion is kept alive. It’s about how learning environments meet our human needs to connect, grow, and belong.

EdTech Admin. (2023). Motivation and learning – EDCI 335. University of Victoria.https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/motivation 

Ertmer, P. A. & Newby, T. (2018). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. EdTech Books. (pp. 133-151). https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/behaviorism_cognitivism_constructivism