Experiential Learning: Using comic strips as ‘reflective tools’ in adult learning

Abstract

This paper critically examines the theory and practice of creatively using newspapers and comics as techniques for personal and group reflection in outdoor education and corporate management development. Comics and newspapers embrace imagery, humour, and storytelling and they can be used to express and convey meaning of selected events through images and scripts. Whilst these media can lend themselves to the process of mirroring back learners' perceptions of dialogue, events and actions, we discovered a number of pitfalls in their application to learning events. This paper describes a process of experiential learning in practice where students and facilitators used a series of experiments to create and test out such reflection tools, either manually or through computer aided techniques. The paper explores the practicalities of these techniques and concludes by making recommendations for good practice in their design and innovative use.