Hands-on Learning: the Dominant Technique for Future Education?
Why hands on learning will soon replace lectures in academic settings.
Predominately students in today’s day and age learn from being taught in the classroom, listening to teachers lecture, or looking through power points or skimming through textbooks. This monotonous way of learning has become a way to just get by and get the grade without actually maintaining the knowledge that will be used later in life in the career of the student. Some students can maintain this knowledge but most do not. A way to combat this loss of knowledge is teaching by way of hands on learning. Think about it, have you ever seen someone falling asleep during a lab where you actually have to be alert and involved? Now think of how many times you have seen someone sleeping in a lecture. By no means should one abandon the in-class lecture portion of education but hands on experience is more valued by employers and people in your profession in the future.
Learning and Enjoyment
An article that discusses the psychological side of learning gives evidence and reason to the benefits of hands on learning is Ken Bain’s “Managing Yourself in College”. The author, Ken Bain, discusses how we “learn more when we enjoy more” (83). I am very passionate about my major, but just like most everyone I do not particular enjoy lectures, even the ones in my major. When in lab or in the field though, I enjoy doing the work and I learn more because I enjoy it. Students want to get out, learn and actually perform the techniques that they will be using for the rest of their lives, not sit in a classroom with someone telling them what they’ll be doing for the rest of their lives.
A study done by Purdue University involved a group of eighth grade students, one learning by way of lecture and one by way of hands on learning, that were asked to build a water purification system based on the information they were given. It was found that the hands on learning group understood the concepts of the lesson better than the group lecture based group. Memories of information are easier to draw upon if there is something concrete that you can remember.
Requirements, Grades, and Learning
Bain also presents another important observation about grades and students. He writes that “Grades can create extrinsic motivators that reduce intrinsic interests. Students often work for the teacher rather than for themselves” (Bain 83). Both in labs and lectures this concept is true as every student is understandably more concerned with their grades. This statement has more to do with lectures though because students are only concerned with filling the requirement the teacher has put in front of them. They quickly lose the knowledge and material they covered because they fill the requirement, get the grade, and move on often times not holding onto the knowledge. Whereas in labs and hands on exercises students understand more fully the concepts of the lesson and get experience they will use later in life.
If more faculty see the value of hands-on learning lectures would soon become the lesser taught technique and labs and student involved exercises would become the dominant technique that all schools and colleges would adopt.
References
Bain, Ken. “Managing yourself.” What the Best College Students Do. (2012):64–98. Print.
Ash, Katie. “Hands-On Learning Vs. Lecturing.” Education Week. Education Projects in Education, 30 Jan. 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
Rillero, Peter, and David L. Haury. “What Are the Benefits of Hands-on Learning.” Perspectives of Hands-On Science Teaching. North Central Regional Educational Labratory, 1 Jan. 1994. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
