The Future of the Science of Learning: Learning as an Active Process

If we look back at how far we've come in the last 25 years or so, one can see tremendous leaps forward in terms of both understanding how mind and brain function works and deeper understanding of teaching and learning techniques to improve the educational experience.  The authors of How People Learn cited role of prior knowledge, brain development, early experiences, technology and many others as having a significant impact on the learner's ability to gain and apply knowledge.  Two of these factors - learning as an active process and learning for understanding - caught my attention as being particularly meaningful.  I believe that  the future of learning lies in the ability to fuse the concrete with the abstract.  For this blog post, I will be looking at two examples of that fusion in action:  problem-based learning and service learning.

As a part of my graduate assistantship, I am doing a benchmarking exercise looking at graduate research at other institutions.  One standout theme to me has been the focus on both problem-based and service learning.  Problem-based education, as we have learned, is an instructional approach that promotes the student as problem solver, using real life scenarios in order to take the lessons in the classroom and apply them outside of that realm.  Service Learning, on the other hand, is similar in the real-life problem solving aspect, but it has another component that stresses service and community.  While we have discussed much about K-12 education, I was intrigued to see how many higher education and, more specifically, graduate education programs that are using this approach for a wide variety of purposes.  For instance, two programs at Emory University stood out for their usage of these approaches.  PRISM, for example, is a National Science Foundation funded endeavor that pairs graduate student researchers with middle and high school teachers to help develop lessons utilizing problem-based learning (PBL) and investigative case-based learning (ICBL) for the math and science classroom.  A second community fellows program (akin to Lehigh's Community Fellows Program), partners students with non-profit, service organizations to tackle issues in the community-at-large using lessons learned in the classroom.  In all of these scenarios, students are given the opportunity to see first hand the applicability of their skills, and also to gain a sense of pride and accomplishment in using those skills for the betterment of the society around them.

Furthermore, problem-based and service learning approaches allow for creative ways to reach non-traditional learners and learners with special needs.  Whereas rote memorization and testing can leave out a portion of the population that may experience dyslexia and a variety of other conditions that affect the processing of written information, lessons that have an active component can help reach students beyond the textbook.  Even for students who do not have the challenge of a learning disability, active lessons are more interesting, capture the imagination of students, and engender a sense of teamwork and pride that helps solidify the lesson in a student's mind.  Students who have projects such as these can also find their individual approach to problem solving and lending their specific talents to an organization, thereby individualizing and playing to the strengths of a wide variety of learner types.

More and more, teachers must begin to understand what they are teaching their students in terms of usefulness, understanding, and applicability.  In a society driven by standardized tests and subsidies for success, it seems a tall task to ask teachers to refocus their efforts not on the facts and figures that dominate such tests to the information's practical application and usefulness in their lives.  However, I see this as the challenge of future learning.  If we find ways in which we can engage students in these ways - through active, hands-on, translatable skills - we will be able to reach more students and create more engaged members of society.  What better role of education than to prepare the thinkers, dreamers, and leaders?  If we are not doing that, then we must move from this standardized test culture to one that promotes students ability to think, dream, and lead.