What Is Learning?
I love to read books. Mostly religious doctrine books by BYU authors and/or General Authorities. My undergraduate work was in History with an emphasis on World War II. I took any class I could that based itself around that time period. So a good WWII book held my deep interest as well. One particular class focused on military warfare and weaponry of all the major wars. I remember one professor (breaking school policies, I am sure) bringing in a civil war gun and a WWII gun used by the Japanese. He passed them around class and allowed each one of us to heft the piece in our hands. Experience-wise, that was way better than anything I had ever read on any war. Hands-on learning rocks. That being said...
How Can Teachers Best Effectuate Learning?
Any time I can plan workshops, group work, classes that have an apprenticeship training feel to it allows students to do the work and get the most out of it. The lecture method or stand and deliver method still has its place and appropriateness at certain times, but hands-on beats it hands-down.
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Your gun story made me think of one particular activity in my classroom and the reactions from many of the kids in my class. We dissected cow hearts. Every student was allowed to touch, examine, and trace the blood flow through the heart with their fingers. I could watch the "light" go on in their heads as they realized how the parts all worked together. There is nothing I could of said or they could read that would have meant as much as that experience. I agree, Hands-on learning rocks! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHands on learning is great. We can discover and feel and make the learning become real. I try to do this in math but struggle. Good Idea
ReplyDeleteBJ