How an eLearning Platform can Enhance Your Professional Development Program
The traditional learning experience comprises reading and remembering page after page of text. There are text-filled books even for subjects like painting and music! But for a complete learning experience, reading books and sitting through lectures is not enough. Students also need first-hand experience of the concepts, or what is called learning by doing. Also known as experiential learning, this idea is not new to education.
In fact, in 350 BC, Aristotle said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” But it wasn’t until the 1950s that this idea was popularized. This was because of the efforts of psychologists such as Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget and John Dewey.
Why Learning by Doing is Important
This type of education has been found to be great for professional development. Some of the ways learning by doing can improve professional education are:
1. Deeper Understanding
It has been found that students who physically experience the concepts of science and math are able to better understand them. This is extremely important for the professional development of a student. This was found in a University of Chicago-led study. In this study, brain scans were used to check for learning. The scans showed that when students physically learned scientific concepts, such as torque and angular momentum, the associated motor and sensory parts in their brains were activated. The same areas of the brain have been found to be activated in college students who perform better in quizzes. This makes learning by doing a necessity for any professional development course.
In another study, two groups of students were taught about water purification devices. One group of students learned it the traditional way, while the other learned by building a model of the water purification system on their own. It was found that the group that had a more hands-on approach had developed a deeper understanding of the subject.
2. Increased Retention
Passively listening to information has been found to lead to very low retention rates. In fact, most students say that they remember about 10% of the information when reading or sitting through a lecture. But when they have the opportunity to learn by doing, the retention rate has been found to be as high as 75%.
