Description
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) delivers Professional Military Education (PME) alongside military training in an integrated approach. The year-long programme is demanding and intensive and includes both physical and mental pressures. Officer Cadets are exposed to wide-ranging activities throughout the day, leaving little time to internalise learning and incorporate reflection. In addition, Officer Cadets are often extremely tired, which means traditional pedagogical approaches such as stand-and-deliver lectures might be less effective than active learning methods. This article explores the value that experiential learning can have at RMAS, to enhance the likelihood of internalisation and reflection. It argues that educational activities labelled as experiential learning, such as mediation exercises, group research projects, visualisation, problem-based learning, and war games can help maximise the learning of Officer Cadets and enhance the knowledge and skills they obtain throughout the programme.
