"experiential" query

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

   Today a senior colleague pointed to a sign on a campus van which said: "Student Design & Experiential Learning Center" and
 asked if I ever heard "experiential" before.  I hadn't, and neither had he.  The word is based on "experience" and refers to learning by doing.

    I later checked Google, and there were quite a few references to "experiential (learning/education)," e.g. in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiential_education
But is this word a natural part of the vocabulary of people other than a very limited portion of the education establishment?

Gerald Cohen
University of Missouri-Rolla

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