Learning By Doing: What You Need To Know - The Learning ...

​​Learning by doing is the idea that we learn more when we actually “do” the activity. For example, imagine you are a jazz musician looking to ... Skiptocontent Visitoursisterorganization: Home TheCurve Resources Courses LearningStrategies RetrievalPractice Interleaving DualCoding Spacing Elaboration Metacognition Interviews PoojaAgarwal KenKoedinger WinsomeWaite PaulRivas Guides TedXTalks Books About Overview OurTeam OurBoard OurOpenings Programs TheFeedbackPrize TeacherRunExperimentNetwork ImagenetForEducation Contact Menu Home TheCurve Resources Courses LearningStrategies RetrievalPractice Interleaving DualCoding Spacing Elaboration Metacognition Interviews PoojaAgarwal KenKoedinger WinsomeWaite PaulRivas Guides TedXTalks Books About Overview OurTeam OurBoard OurOpenings Programs TheFeedbackPrize TeacherRunExperimentNetwork ImagenetForEducation Contact THELEARNINGCURVE ​AMAGAZINEDEVOTEDTOGAININGSKILLSANDKNOWLEDGE THELEARNINGAGENCYLAB’S LEARNINGCURVECOVERSTHEFIELDOFEDUCATIONANDTHESCIENCEOFLEARNING.READABOUTMETACOGNITIVETHINKINGORDISCOVERHOWTOLEARNBETTERTHROUGHOURARTICLES,MANYOFWHICHHAVEINSIGHTSFROMEXPERTSWHOSTUDYLEARNING.  LearningByDoing:WhatYouNeedToKnow March9,2020 OneComment BacktoTheCurve Ioftengetaskedaboutlearningbydoing.Whatis“learningbydoing”?Doesitwork?Whendoesitwork? ​ Inthiscolumn,Iofferanoverviewoftheprocessandexplainhowyoucanimplementthisyourselftoharnessyourownpotentialasalearner.Forinstance,Ireallyrecommendapproacheslike“braindumps. What’smore,Iflagwhenlearningbydoingdoesnotworkbecausemanytimestheapproachisnotusedinaneffectiveway,andIwouldnotencouragelearningby“doing”ifyou’reatthestartofthelearningprocess.​ ​ Whatislearningbydoing? ​​Learningbydoingistheideathatwelearnmorewhenweactually“do”theactivity. Forexample,imagineyouareajazzmusicianlookingtounderstandhowchordsrelatetooneanother.Traditionally,youmightplaythechordsoverandoveragainaloneinthestudio.Withthelearningbydoingapproach,youwouldgainabasicunderstandingofthechordsandthenhoponstagetoplaythechordsasanimprovisedpiecewithothermusicians–activeengagement,notpassivepractice.Activeengagementfacilitatesdeeplearningandencouragesmistakes–i.e.those‘wrong’chords–andhowtolearnfromthoseaswell. TheAmericanphilosopher,JohnDewey,firstpopularizedlearningbydoing.ForDewey,thismeantaheavyemphasisonstudentengagement.Thisapproachupendedthetraditionalnotionthatlearninghappensthroughlecturesandrotememorization.Deweybecamefamousbyarguingthatwelearnbestwhenwedeeplyengagewiththematerial.Hebelievedthatthebestwaytoachievethatwastocreateapracticalcurriculumthathadrelevancetostudents’livesandexperiences.Dewey’sinsight,alreadynearingacenturyold,isfreshlybecomingrelevantagaintodayasmodernresearchersempiricallyshowtheimportanceoflearningdoing(withsomemajorcaveats.) Theproblemwithshort-termmemoryisthatit’sso,well,short.  Whendoeslearningbydoingwork? ​ ​Forlearningbydoingtowork,youneedtolaysomeinitialgroundwork.Recentresearchshowsthatlearningbydoingworkswhenitcomesattherightpointinthelearningprocess.Whatdoesthismean?First,it’simportanttounderscorethatlearningisaprocess.Learningbuildsonitself,andiflearningbydoingcomestooearly,peoplegetoverwhelmed.Theydon’tlearn. Thismakesintuitivesenseinreallifesituations.Let’sgobacktothejazzmusician.Imaginehoppingonstagewithonlytheslightestknowledgeofthenewchords.Yourfingerswouldn’tfindtherightspotsontheguitar.Thechordswouldn’tringoutandratherthanenjoyingyourtimeimprovisingwithothermusicians,youwouldcomeoffstagedejectedandreelingfromfrustration.Beforeyoucanhoponstage,youneedthebasicabilitytocomfortablyplaythechords.Thesameprincipleholdsintheclassroom. Partofthereasonisshort-termmemory.It holdsthekeytomakinglearningexperiencesproductive. ResearcherslikeJohnSwellerhaveshownthatshort-termmemoryisoftenwherelearninghappens.Ifwewanttosuccessfullyimprovisewithasetofnewchords,thenshort-termmemoryhastoprocessthechords.Onlyaftershort-termmemoryprocessesthechordscantheyarriveinlong-termmemory. Buttheproblemwithshort-termmemoryisthatit’sso,well,short.Thinkaboutthejazzmusician’shands.Eachchordinvolvesmovingupanddowntheguitar’sneck,placingeachfingerontherightstringattherighttime,allowingonlytherightstringstoringout—acomplexfeatofmemoryanddexterity. ​ Learntoomanychordstooquicklyandyourhandswon’tfollowbecauseyourshort-termmemoryhasbeenoverwhelmed. Yourfingersfalloutofplace,eachchordlosesitsshapeandwhatshouldbeabeautifulsoundcomesoutajumbledmessofdissonance.Yourhands,justlikeyourmind,needtimetolearnthebasictechniques.Onlyafterestablishingthisbasicfoundationwillthemusician’shandsfindtheway. Understandingthe‘shortcomings’ofshort-termmemoryhelpsexplainwhylearningbydoingcan’tcometooearly.Tolearn, weneedtobreakdownknowledgeandskillsintodigestiblepartsandconcentrateondiscretebitsofmastery.Inotherwords,youhavetolearnafewchordsatatimebeforeyoucanmastermultiplechordsinmultiplekeysignatures. Iflearningbydoingcomestooearly,thenwecan’tlearn.Hands-onlearningdoesn’tworkinmanyschoolsandcollegespreciselybecauseourshorttermmemoryhasyettobreakdownthematerialintobitesizedchunks. Thesameprincipleholdswithpractice:toooften,peopletrytodeveloptheirskillswithoutknowingwhatexactlythey’redeveloping,withoutanysortofgoalsortargets(thebitesizedchunks)thatleaduptoandcreatethelargerpicture. ​ Whydoeslearningbydoingwork? ​Learningbydoingworksafteryou’vealreadygainedsomefamiliaritywiththecontent.Itworksbecausethetechniquecallsyoutoactivelyengagewiththematerialandgeneratetheknowledgeyourself,bitbybit,chordbychord. Oneeffectivetechniquetofacilitatelearningbydoingiswhat’sknownasthe“generationeffect.” Alsoknownasthetestingeffectorretrievalpracticeorevenlearningbydoing,the“generationeffect”underscoresthatstudentsunderstandandremembermaterialbetterwhentheyhavebeenaskedtogenerateitthemselvesratherthanreviewinganaccountgeneratedbysomeoneelse(e.g.,re-readingasectionofatextbook,sightreadingamusicalpiece). Manyteachersfocusonimpartingknowledgetostudents;theyimaginethemselvesas“puttinginformationintostudents’minds.”But,thescienceoflearningshowsthatstudentsneedtoconstructknowledgeforthemselves,andinmanycases,effectivelearningwouldbebetterdescribedasaprocessof“pullinginformationoutofstudents’minds.” Nexttimeyoureadanewtext,askyourselfthesequestions:What’sthistextabout?Whatpointistheauthortryingtomake?Isthereanythingherethatseemsconfusing?Thesequestionsfocusyourattentiononthesubstanceofthematerialandguideyouintothelearningbydoingtechnique. AlltoooftenI’vefoundmyselfreadingscientificliteratureonlytocomeupblankwhensomeoneposesthesimplequestion,‘what’sthatabout?’Ispentfartoomuchtimepassivelyreadingmaterial. Ilearnedthatonlyafterasking,‘what’sthecentralquestionofthispiece?’‘what’sthepurposeofthisarticle,’doIfullylearnthematerial. Welearnalotmorewhenweconsistentlyaskthesequestionsbeitattheendofeachparagraph—oreventheendofasentence.Sowhilesometextbooksmightoffer“readingcomprehension”questionsatthecloseofeachchapter,you’lltakeawayalotmoreifyouaskyourselvesthesesortsofqueriesmorefrequently. Activeengagementandtechniqueswhichforceyoutoworkhardertorememberthematerialarethemosteffectivewaystolearn. Howtouselearningbydoing? ​Onewaytoincorporate the“learningbydoing”techniqueintotheclassroomistogivestudentsfrequentlow-stakesquizzes.Bydesign,thesequizzesdonotreallyassessperformance.Insteadtheypromptstudentstoengagewiththecontentandgeneratethelearnedinformationfromtheirownminds.  Indeed,researchshowsthattheveryprocessofretrievingsuchinformationitselfimprovesunderstanding,increasesrecall,andpromotesthe“transfer”ofknowledgetonewsettings.Inotherwords,itmakeslearningamatterofdoing,anactive,effortfulprocess. PsychologistRichMayer,anunlikelycrusaderforthelearningbydoingtechnique,hasrecentlywrittenalotaboutlearningasatypeofmentaldoing. Mayer’sgenerallyaprettyavuncularandsoft-spokenmidwesterner.Inconversation,Mayerprefers“somewhatshortofbeingexemplary”tothemorecrude(ifnotequallyaccurate)“someonescrewedup” ForsomeonelikeMayer,peopledon’thavebadintentions,wejustexperiencetheconsequencesofbaddecisions.Mayer’sfavoriteadvice?“Don’tradiatenegativeenergy.” Butontheissueoflearningasaformofdedicatedcognitiveeffort,MayerhasbecomesomethingofafirebrandandhislabatSantaBarbarahasrepeatedlyshownthatwegainexpertisebyactivelyproducingwhatweknow.Ashetoldmeflatly:“Learningisagenerativeactivity.” Mayergivesaprettygooddescriptionofwhatweneedtodoinorderforthetechniquetowork.First,weselectinformationanddecideexactlywhatwe’regoingtolearn—likemaybeabitofSoviethistoryorBuddhistphilosophy.Thenweintegratethatinformationintowhatweknowbycreatingsometypeofmentalconnectionbetweencurrentknowledgeandtheinformationwehopetolearn. SoifsomeoneislearningabouttheSovietdictatorStalin,theyneedtolinkwhattheyknow(thatStalinwasadictator)towhattheywanttolearn(thatStalingrewupinGeorgia,killedmillions,centralizedpowerinRussia,andhelpedwinWorldWarII). Weseethepowerofmentallydoing–ofcreatingvalueinanareaofexpertise–ineventhemostbasicofmemorytasks.WanttoremembertheFrenchwordforhome,“maison,”forinstance?Simplydeletetheletter“o”whenyoureadthewordandyouarefarmorelikelytorecalltheword. Whiledeletingalettertorecallthewordmightseemcounterintuitive,thismakessensewhenyouconsiderwhatthatdeletiondoestohowweprocesstheword. Addingthe“o,”effectivelycompletestheword.You’refinishingthethought—andinthemostbasicofways,you’vedonesomeworktoproducelearning–andit’sthatworkthatmakesitmoremeaningfulandmorelikelytostayinyourlongtermmemory. Thissamebasicideaofworkinghardertomoreeffectivelyproducethelearningextendstomoredifficultcognitivetaskslikereading.Ifwepushourselvestodreamupsomesortofmentalimageofwhatwe’rereading–saybyimaginingthetextinourminds—weretainalotmoreoftheknowledge.Bycreatingatypeof“mindmovie,”we’rebuildingmorecognitiveconnectionswhichmakeslearningmoredurable. Implications ​Recentresearchonlearningasmentaldoinghasshiftedconventionalwisdomaroundhowpeoplegainexpertise.Inalargeandrecentreviewoftheresearch,KentState’sJohnDunloskyandcolleaguesevaluatedvariouslearningtechniquesandfoundthattwoofthemostcommonlearningtechniques,highlightingandrereading,arealsosomeofthemostinefficientwaystolearn.Butthequestionremains,why??Theansweristhatrereadingandhighlightingdonotpushpeopletobuildtheirknowledge. SowhichapproachesdidDunlovsky’slandmarkanalysisfindtobemosteffective?Thosewhichfacilitatedlearningbydoing.Overthephone,Dunlovsklytoldmethatthemosteffectivetechniqueswerethemoreeffortfulactivitieslikeself-quizzingandself-explaining.“Thisisafundamentalfeatureofhowourmindswork,”andasheexplained,whenwelearn, “we’renotjustcopyingtheinformation.Wearemakingsenseoutoffacts.” Themosteffectivetechniqueswerethemoreeffortfulactivitieslikeself-quizzingandself-explaining. Practicaltake-aways ​There’slotsoftalkaboutlearningbydoingbyorganizationsliketheWorldLeadershipInstitute. So,howcanyoufollowtheseleadersandintroducelearningbydoingintotheclassroom?Ratherthanissuingamultiplechoicequiz,askyourstudentstoexplaintheconceptorprocessinquestion. Useaconceptknownaselaborationandaskyourstudentstomakeconnectionsbetweendifferentconceptsandexplainhowtheyareconnected. Indeed,recentresearchledbyMicheleneT.H.Chifoundthatsuccessfulstudentstendtogeneratemanyself-explanationsthatrefineandexpandtheconditionsunderwhichaconceptmaybeapplied.Conversely,less-achievingstudentsrelymoreonisolatedexamples.OtherresearchbyChifoundthatsomethingassimpleassayingexplanationsandelaborationsaloudcanleadtorobustbenefitsforstudents’learning. Anothersimpletoimplementtechniqueiswhat’sknownas“repeatbacks.”Thenexttimesomeonegivesyouasetofdetailedinstructions,takeamomentandrepeattheinstructionsback.Deliberaterepetition forcesyoutogeneratethatknowledgewhichmeansyou’llbefarmorelikelytoremembertheinstructions. Braindumps,ormoreformally“free-recall”arejustthat—jottingdownwhatyourememberaboutagiventopic.Inspiteoftheirsimplicity,braindumpshavebeenshowntobeaveryeffectivelearningtechnique.Becausebraindumpsforceyoutoretrieveandroughlyorganizethematerialyourself(i.e.learningbydoing),theycanbereallyeffectiveinfosteringdeeplearning. Conclusion ​Sowhathavewelearned?Activeengagementandtechniqueswhichforceyoutoworkhardertorememberthematerialarethemosteffectivewaystolearn.Yet,youhavetobemindfulofwhentoimplementthesetechniques.Jumpintoofastwithoutlayingabasicgroundworkforlearning,andthebenefitsoflearningbydoingdissipate. Youhavetogiveyourshorttermmemorybitsizedchunksofinformationbeforeyoucanexpecttogaintheexpertiseinquestion.It’stimetoupdatetheoldadagefrom‘practicemakesperfect’tothemoreaccurate‘activelyengagedpracticemakeslearningmoreeffective.’ -UlrichBoser 1thoughton“LearningByDoing:WhatYouNeedToKnow” IwouldliketobeengagedinMonitoringandEvaluationandalsoinProjectManagementanywhichisavailable. Reply LeaveaCommentCancelReplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*Typehere..Name* Email* Website Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. BacktoTheCurve ©Copyright2022.TheLearningAgencyLAB.AllrightsReserved.