The research by Dr. David De Jong and Dr. Sara Dexter explores the role of online self-debriefing in experiential learning for educational leadership students. The study analyzed 826 responses from 59 school leadership students who participated in 14 different online leadership simulations and provided self-debriefing reflections afterward. The findings reveal that self-debriefing effectively supports all four phases of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle: Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation.
Key themes emerging from the study show that online simulations provide authentic, equal-access opportunities for leadership practice, allowing aspiring leaders to ground their experiences, reflect on them, integrate new understandings, and test alternative approaches. The research emphasizes the importance of designing self-debriefing questions that align with the experiential learning cycle, highlighting self-debriefing as a critical element of professional development in higher education.