Barry Westling

Roderick,
People learn from doing. In career classes, by necessity, some degree of theory has to precede practical lab or hands on learning. The therory has to be there, but the more hands on, and the sooner, the better. For practical skills, repetition is very helpful in mastering key skills. So again, early on, more frequently, and an abundance of perfecting skills by doing is better than textbook or lectiure methods of instruction.

Barry Westling

Roderick Dixon

I concur that a good foundation leads the way to effective working success. I have a class that we meet for 5 hours each day for 4 days that absolutely dislikes lecture and learning the theory behind anything. They learn best by doing the tasks. To facilitate their learning style but still get the theory across, I had to come up with a unique mixture. Each day we as a group do hands on work with each person doing a portion of the lab exercises. As we go through each step, I take a moment and explain the theory behind what they are doing and why it works the way it does. I also quiz them on their thoughts as to why things function the way they do or if they can determine other ways to do the same tasks. Once that is complete I allow them to each do similar lab assignments and facilitate questions as we work through which then gives me an additional opportunity to provide the theoretical information that has to come with each lesson.

Barry Westling

Hi Tim,
Theory provides a foundation for critical thinking. In addition, there may be practical application to the theory that needs mastery. A good foundation leads the way to effective working suuccessfuly and effectively in the career area after the student graduates.

Barry Westling