Learning by Doing

Experience in any sphere of activity cannot come to us without practice. In other words, it's by doing something regularly that one can have the true experience of it, which is, to a large extent, the sum total of exposure, learning and practice. It can be better understood in terms of what education means as a combination of 'learning' and 'doing' of knowledge and performance.

Education has always sought its one goal- that is to say, to educate people. However, the word 'education' has always been a trifle ambiguous. To start with, there has been much debate over what education rally means. The present day general opinion seems to relate education with degrees and scholarships. This view has always regarded education as a means to get a good job and consequently, make money. A handful of people, however, differ with this opinion. According to them, education is not a means to achieve anything but is in itself a goal. The purpose of education is not to get good jobs and earn huge money, but to make a good human being of you. This opinion, though sounds good and true, is fast losing its appeal among students and teaches alike.

The purpose of education is, therefore, to do what you have learnt. But until and unless you learn it the right way, by doing as you are learning, the whole purpose of education will go astray. One can only go as far by actual learning process completes itself only when you perform what you have been taught. Take the simple case of cooking. Going through cookbooks and memorizing recipes may help you to a certain extend but unless it is put to practice, one's theoretical knowledge will be of no avail. The theory part of the education is, no doubt, a necessity in itself, but success can be brewed if one mixes experience with it - the first-hand experience of dealing with whatever he/she has been learning.

Universities and educational institutions all over the world have realized this gospel of truth and have started to introduce more and more practical hours as well as applied courses in their curricula. It is a common knowledge that the human brain loves to be spoon-fed. Give it a book to read or a ready-made recipe to memorize or anything that does not require the thinking part and it will gulp it down like a chocolate. The question arises if such a learning, which only encompasses reading and no thinking, is indeed fruitful and beneficial? The truth is that the brain registers this type of information only for limited time. In the long run, it tends to forget these bits and pieces picked up during reading. On the other hand, if we try out hat we learn it with our hands, the brain starts functioning for itself. It is forced to think and recall all those things it had stored in itself while reading. This thinking is original, which helps to register what it has been learning in a more effective way than anything else. The process may be a bit tedious, but it is far more helpful in the long run.