Session 3: Describe how Dale’s

Cone of Experience is
applicable in Mathematics
Teaching and Learning
By: Julius Jan Acala Manguing
 EDGAR DALE
was an American educator who
developed the Cone of Experience, also
known as the Learning Pyramid. He
made several contributions to audio and
visual instruction, including a
methodology for analyzing the content of
motion pictures.
 Dale’s Cone of Experience
is a model that incorporates several theories related to
instructional design and learning processes. 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.
 WHAT IS THE CONE OF
EXPERIENCE?
WHAT ARE THE SENSORY AIDS IN THE
CONE OF EXPERIENCE?

WHAT ARE ITS IMPLICATION IN

TEACHING MATHEMATICS?
 Direct and Purposeful
Experience
• Direct, first hand experience
• Have a direct participation in the outcome
• Use of all senses
 Contrived Experience

• Models and mock-ups

• “editing of reality”
• Necessary when real experience cannot be
used or are too complicated
 Dramatized Experience

• Reconstructed experiences
• Divided into 2 categories
• Acting – actual participation
• Observing – watching a dramatization
takes place
 Demonstration

• Visualized explanation of an important fact,

idea, or process
• Shows how certain things are done
 Field Trips

• Watch people do things in real life

situations
• Observe an event that is unavailable in the
classroom
 Exhibits

• Something seen by a spectator

• Two types:
• Ready made
• home-made
 Educational television and
motion pictures
• Television
• Bring immediate interaction with events from
around the world
• Edit an event to create clearer understanding
than if experience actual event first hand
 Educational television and
motion pictures
• Motion Picture
• Can omit unnecessary or unimportant material
• Used to slow down a fast process
• Viewing, seeing and hearing experience
 Recordings, radio and still
picture
• Can often be understood by those who
cannot read
• Helpful to the students who cannot deal
with the motion or pace of a real event or
television
 Visual Symbols

• No longer involves reproducing real situations

• Chalkboard and overhead projector the most used
media
• Help students see an idea, events, or process
 Verbal Symbol

• Two Types
• Written words – more abstract
• Spoken words – less abstract
 …

People always think differently

 …
Teaching online is a new challenge for every
teacher. Mathematics, in particular, remains a
subject that requires special teaching materials. This
article discusses Edgar Dale’s “Cone of Experience"
and Bruner's Learning Approaches for Synchronous
and Asynchronous Teaching of Mathematics.
 It also describes the most important tools that
combine both asynchronous and synchronous
formats and can be used for online teaching. These
teaching methods are described not only in relation
to digital tools, but also in relation to Jerome He
Bruner's theory of information processing.
It is well-known the Edgar Dale’s “Cone of experience”
(1968) which systematizes Bruner’s three ways of
learning:
Active (learning by doing), Iconic (learning by
observation) and Symbolic Experience (learning by
abstraction). Analyzing the three methods of information
processing, we could describe asynchronous and
synchronous online teaching in Mathematics,
Analyzing the three methods of information processing,
we could describe asynchronous and synchronous
online teaching in Mathematics, i.e. the experience that
students acquire through synchronous and
asynchronous learning in Mathematics can be organized
in Edgar Dale’s “Cone of experience”, which brings a
new contour of the cone in the experience assimilation
in Mathematics.
 The three ways of learning can be classified as follows:

Learning through Abstractions or Symbolic Experience

Method

The symbolic way of asynchronous teaching that stands out for a symbolic
explanation of concepts and expressions, the execution of algorithms and
methods of resolution: a geometry problem can be described in words and
represented in expressions and notations, an exercise can be described by
applying a solving
algorithm, etc.
 Learning through observation or Iconic
experience method
The iconic teaching mode is emphasized during the
blended, involves in fact blended learning and
teaching, it is based on visual aspect, those images:
formulas, mathematical expressions, geometric
figures, geometric bodies, etc. necessary to know
where they can be applied.
 Active Learning - Synchronous Learning or Active Method

The active- synchronous method is learning during

the teaching of new concepts. It is the process in
which we use actively specific mathematical
strategies to develop certain skills and habits, to
discover new methods and problem-solving
techniques.
This is about the exploration -based learning and discovery
learning method, the exercise and algorithm method. This
type of learning requires the teacher to direct the student’s
work.
 Describe how other constructivism
strategies can improve teaching and
enhance learning in Mathematics

What is Constructivist Teaching?

 What is Constructivist
Teaching?
Using the constructivist learning theory in the classroom requires
the teacher to avoid direct guidance of the students. Instead,
she/he sets a learning atmosphere with minimal supervision and
maximum opportunity for the students themselves to visualize,
articulate, express, explain, interpret, and apply new knowledge.
According to Audrey Gray, constructivist teaching should be
characterized by the following:
● the learners are actively involved
● the environment is democratic
● the activities are interactive and student-
centered
● the teacher facilitates a process of
learning in which students are
encouraged to be responsible and
autonomous
Strategies and
Activities
 Role-playing  

By simply letting the students take on the role of

various book characters, famous historical and
current affairs figures, body organs, plant parts,
sports materials, the students shall be better able to
deeply comprehend the depth and importance of
these personalities and entities.
 Hands-on, creative
activities 
One way to initiate these is for the teacher to pose
an open ended question on how to solve a
particular problem. Here, it is important that the
teacher’s modelling and scaffolding will not
dictate a rigid structure that the students might
follow.
Present a wide range of options for the students to
explore without directly stating what those
options are. The key is to make the discussions
refreshingly engaging and at the same time
within the range of their schemata.
After the exchange of ideas, let the students work
on the presentation of solutions by way of
various creative activities, such as choral
recitation, commercials, flyers, multimedia
presentations, conferences or request for
community involvement from the rest of the
student body. 
 Real-life simulations 

Constructivist teaching believes that students

learn best by experience. By simulating real-
life situations and immersing the students in
these setups, the teacher successfully gives a
very practical and useful venue for the
students to do their critical thinking and
exploring.
The key to a successful constructivist approach to
teaching is an interactive relationship between
the learner, the task, and the teacher who will
largely act as a facilitator of learning without
depriving the students of experiencing learning
and discovering knowledge on their own.
 Constructivism strategies can improve teaching and
enhance learning in Mathematics
The impact of the constructivist approach on the
development of mathematical competences in the
context of sustainable development can be seen from
different aspects including critical thinking, problem-
solving approach, analytical skills as well respect for
others, etiquettes and social skills among learners.
There are different methods of approach to
constructivist approaches – problem and project based,
corporative and collaborative methods.
Also, experiential and inquiry learning as well as
research and discovery learning as main methods in
mathematics education in the context of sustainable
development are recommended. Taking into account
empirical study results as well as findings from
reviewing scientific literature and other information
sources in connection with the author’s experience in
teaching mathematics, using constructivist approach
in teaching of mathematics, the competences needed
for sustainable development are boosted.