Monkey see, Monkey Do, are we monkey?

Learning by doing refers to a theory of education expounded by American philosopher John Dewey. It’s a hands-on approach to learning, meaning students must interact with their environment in order to adapt and learn^[1]. Dewey implemented this idea by setting up the University of Chicago Laboratory School.^[2] His views have been important in establishing practices of progressive education. For instance, the learn-by-doing theory was adopted by Richard DuFour and applied to the development of professional learning communities^[3].

I believe that the school must represent present life – life as real and vital to the child as that which he carries on in the home, in the neighborhood, or on the playground.

— John Dewey (My Pedagogic Creed)

“… The teachers were to present real life problems to the children and then guide the students to solve the problem by providing them with a hands-on activity to learn the solution … Cooking and sewing was to be taught at school and be a routine. Reading, writing, and math was to be taught in the daily course of these routines. Building, cooking, and sewing had these schooling components in it and these activities also represented everyday life for the students.”^[4]

— Peggy Hickman

In higher education implementation teaching by doing through physical modeling sees increasing use in geotechnical engineering education, there is a need for a strategic approach for integrating this powerful simulation technique into courses in a way that ensures the greatest benefit for students. For this reason, a learning theory approach, which recognizes the natural learning cycle of students, has been developed. The approach is based on amodified version of the learning theorist David Kolb’s “theory of experiential learning.” The approach emphasizes a variety of learning styles and thus is appealing to a broad range of students. The approach is relatively easy to apply to traditional geotechnical engineering coursework and requires only a modest effort to adopt. It is expected that by using this approach when designing course modules,instructors can increase the likelihood that comprehensive learning will take place.