Learning by Doing (a University of Wollongong standpoint)

If we articulate some of our basic assumptions about learning and teaching [at] university:

• most learning takes place outside the classroom
• university students are adults
• students learn in different ways
• action focuses the mind

then we may find that we are not using instructional techniques that foster the best learning environment.

Some of us also work in disciplines where the academic award is also a qualification for professional practice. In those disciplines the learning objectives students have are likely to include the ability to apply knowledge, as well as simply to analyse, synthesise and evaluate propositions. They desire not only to know and understand, but also to be able to solve problems and communicate the solutions they find.

There is now a substantial body of literature dealing with ways students learn different things. Donald Schön (1987) documented how professionals learn by reflecting on what they actually do. To some extent, this can be incorporated into learning at university; students can be set tasks which involve them in the sort of activity in which relevant professionals engage. Because they are required to do these tasks, they are forced to learn both substantive knowledge, and how to determine what they need to know, how to find it, how to apply it and how to communicate it. Such techniques have been incorporated into a number of successful university-level programs.

Refer to CSD for further information.

• Extracted from Goldring, J., Lamb, A. & Tapsell, L. (1996). Learning by Doing - Problem-based and Experiential Learning Workshop. Overview, 3(1), p.25.