Sentience and Experiential: Learning the Role of the Senses in Learning investigates the centrality of sentience — the capacity for immersive, subjective experience—within Experiential Learning Theory (ELT), emphasizing the dynamic interplay between sensory engagement and cognitive processes. It examines how our eight senses, categorized as distal (vision, hearing), proximal (touch, taste, smell), and embodied (intuition, movement, body awareness), interact to create a holistic learning experience.

Critiquing education’s overemphasis on conceptual knowledge, this work advocates for a balanced integration of perceptual and cognitive approaches to nurture creativity, empathy, and holistic understanding. Amid the rise of artificial intelligence, fostering sentience is positioned as essential to preserving uniquely human capacities — moral reasoning, social connection, and the ability to learn through richly embodied experiences. This synthesis bridges theory and practice, urging educators and institutions to reimagine learning paradigms that honor the full spectrum of sensory, emotional, and intellectual engagement in an increasingly digitized world.