THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

By Edgar Dale
The Cone is a visual analogy and like all
analogies, it does not bear an exact
and detailed relationship to the
complex elements it represents.
• The elements of the Cone of
Experience are the 2 M’s of instruction
namely the media and the material.
• It guides the teachers in choosing the
kind of instructional materials in
teaching.
 EDGAR DALE’S CONE OF EXPERIENCE
Verbal Symbols
Visual Symbols

Recordings, Radio Still

Pictures
Motion Pictures
Cognitive Skills
Educational
Television
Exhibits

Study Trips

Demonstrations

Dramatized
Experiences
Contrived
Experiences
Direct Purposeful
Experiences
 First introduced in Dale’s 1946
book, Audio-Visual Methods in
Teaching.
Designed to “show the progression
of learning experiences” from the
concrete to the abstract.
 Concrete vs. Abstract Learning
Concrete Learning Abstract Learning
• First-hand experiences • Difficulty when not
• Learner has some enough previous
control over the experience or exposure
outcome to a concept
• Incorporates the use of • Every level of the Cone
all five senses uses abstract thinking in
come way
 Influences on the
Cone of Experience
 Hoban, Hoban & Zisman’s Visual Media Graph
 Value of educational technology is based on their
degree of realism
 Jerome Bruner’s Theory of Instruction
 Three levels in the learning process
 Enactive – direct experience
 Iconic – representation of experience
 Symbolic – words or visual symbols
 The process of learning must begin in concrete
experiences and move toward the abstract if mastery
is to be obtained.
 Mis-Conceptions of the Cone
• All teaching/learning must move from the
bottom to the top of the Cone.
• One kind of experience on the Cone is more
useful than another
• More emphasis should be put on the bottom
levels of the Cone
• The upper level of the Cone is for older students
while the lower levels are for younger students
• It overemphasizes the use of instructional media
 Levels of the Cone Verbal Symbols

of Experience Visual Symbols

 Enactive – direct experiences Recordings, Radio Still

 Direct, Purposeful Pictures
 Contrived Motion Pictures
 Dramatized
 Iconic – pictorial experiences Educational
 Demonstrations Television
 Study trips Exhibits
 Exhibits
 Educational television Study Trips
 Motion pictures
 Recordings, radio, still
pictures Demonstratio
 Symbolic – highly abstract ns
experiences Dramatized
 Visual symbols Experiences
 Verbal symbols
Contrived
Experiences
Direct Purpo
Experienc
 Enactive

• Refers to the direct experiences or encounter

with what is.
• This is life on the raw, rich and unedited.
• They form the bases for all other learning
experiences.
• Example: (Actual swimming lesson)
 Direct Purposeful Experiences
• “First hand Experiences”
• Have direct participation in the outcome
• Use of all our senses
Examples:
 Working in a homeless shelter
 Tutoring younger children
At the very bottom of the Cone we find the most
concrete uses of experience.
 Contrived Experiences
 Here, we make use of a representative
models and mock-ups of reality.
 “Edited copies of reality”
 Necessary when real experience cannot be
used or are too complicated.
 Examples
 Conducting election of class and school officers
 Mock up of a clock
 MODELS

GAMES MOCK UPS

CONTRIVED
EXPERIENCES

SIMULATIONS OBJECTS

SPECIMENS
 Dramatized Experiences
 “Reconstructed Experiences”
 Can be used to simplify an event or idea to its most
important parts.
 Divided into two categories
 Acting (Role Playing)– actual participation (more concrete)
 Observing – watching a dramatization take place (more abstract)
Other forms:
1. Plays
2. Puppets
3. Pageant
4. Pantomime
5. Tableu
 Demonstrations
• A visualized explanation of an important fact, idea or process by the
use of:
1. Photographs
2. Drawings
3. Films
4. Displays
5. Guided motions
• Showing how things are done.
– How to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
– How to play the piano
– How to lift a fingerprint
• Visualized explanation of an important fact, idea, or process
• Demonstrations are a great mixture of concrete hands-on
application and more abstract verbal explanation.
 Study Trips
 Watch people do things in real situations
 Observe an event that is unavailable in the
classroom
• These are excursions, educational trips, and
visits conducted o observe an event that is
unavailable within the classroom.
Example: Field Study
• These are displays to be seen by spectators.
• May consist of working models, charts and posters.
• Sometimes are “for your eyes only”. More on visual.
 Two types
 Ready made
○ Museum
○ Career fair
 Home-made
○ Classroom project
○ National History Day competition
 Iconic Experiences on the Cone
Progressively moving toward greater use of
imagination
Successful use in a classroom depends on how
much imaginative involvement the method can
illicit from students
Involves:
Demonstrations
Study trips
Exhibits
Motion pictures
Educational television
Radio, recordings, and still pictures
 Educational Television and
Motion Pictures
Television Motion Pictures
 Bring immediate  Can omit unnecessary
interaction with events or unimportant material
from around the world  Used to slow down a
 Edit an event to create fast process
clearer understanding  Viewing, seeing and
than if experienced hearing experience
actual event first hand  Can re-create events
with simplistic drama
 Example: that even slower
 TV coverage of 9/11 students can grasp
• Television and motion pictures can
reconstruct the reality of the past so
effectively that we are made to feel we
are there.
• The unique value of the messages
communicated by film and television lies
in their feeling of realism, their emphasis
on persons and personality, their
organized presentation, and their ability
to select, dramatize, highlight, and clarify.
 Recordings, Radio
Still Pictures
 Can often be understood by those who cannot
read. Lack auditory dimension.
 Helpful to students who cannot deal with the
motion or pace of a real event or television
 These are visual or auditory devices which
maybe used by an individual or a group.
 Examples:
 Time Life Magazine
 Listening to old radio broadcasts
 Listening to music
 Symbolic
• Refers to the use of words or printed materials
which no longer resemble the object under
study.
• Example the word whale. Upon reading or
hearing the word whale, the learner can form
a mental image about it.
 Visual Symbols
No longer involves reproducing real situations
Chalkboard and overhead projector the most
widely used media
Help students see an idea, event, or process
Examples:
Chalkboard
Flat maps
Diagrams
charts
 STRIP
MAPS DRAWINGS
GRAPHS

DRAWINGS
VISUAL CHARTS
SYMBOLS

CARTOONS
DIAGRAMS
POSTERS
 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), a scientific principle
(the principle of balance), a formula (e=mc2)