Learning by Doing
I once attended this great school that had a mantra of “Learn by Doing.” Which I thought was pretty cool back in my college days, but as life has progressed I realize more and more each day just how important this mantra is (no matter what age you are). Each of one of us has gone through training that has been better than others, whether it was a driver’s training course when you turned sweet 16 or a training course for your job. Although you may sit through 8 hours of training it’s what you take away from it that counts, not that you were just a warm body filling a seat. It all boils down to Passive vs. Active Learning. So what’s that you might ask? Well the passive type of learning would be reading and hearing words (see graph below to see the low, low percentages of what is actually retained from passive learning). Whereas active learning involves doing the real thing or simulating an experience, just like what can be done when training through simulations. So I will let the graph below sell you more on the idea.
Hi
Sorry to say this (and I too was tempted by this neat graphic many times in the past)but the whole thing is bogus and without proof.
See this graphic debunked (not the original research that had NONE of the percentages on it) at
http://www.willatworklearning.com/2006/05/people_remember.html
Learning by doing “may” be better but the percentages on this graph are not proof of that.
Join me in not using it any more.
Lindy