Agricultural education is critical in addressing complex problems around food and agriculture systems. One such method for educating citizens about agriculture is postsecondary agricultural education programming. Specifically, experiential learning is widely used at the post-secondary level to achieve powerful, goal-oriented, academic learning. However, college faculty are often hired for their content expertise, not necessarily their pedagogical skills and experience. In a needs assessment of teaching competencies conducted on college faculty of agricultural and life sciences, some of the highest ranked needs of faculty included getting students engaged in learning, teaching critical thinking, questioning techniques, and active learning strategies, all of which can be accomplished though experiential learning approaches. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to examine the effects of experiential learning approaches when used in a post-secondary agricultural education setting. Specifically, this study will examine the effects of reflection and application methods on students' knowledge gains, knowledge retention, and knowledge transfer. Data were collected from an undergraduate, introductory animal science laboratory course in which 123 students participated. This study employed a 3x2 factorial ANCOVA design which included the independent variables of reflection mode and transfer level and the three dependent variables of students' content knowledge, post-course retention, and transfer skills. A pre-test was given to be used as a covariate to control for students' prior knowledge. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]