The general teaching is done through textbooks, papers and other theoretical methods of teaching. However, in order for the subject to be really learned by the students, practical classes are equally necessary. They enable students to experience and observe the practical implications of theoretical concepts.

Still, teaching in practice is still underused, is discredited by the results or the lack of resources to develop these classes.

Continue reading this post and get to know the main reasons for introducing practical activities for the learning of theoretical subjects.

The importance of education in practice

It increases interest

Awakening students’ real interest in a subject (not just getting good grades) is a constant challenge. That is why teaching in practice is useful in this regard.

The practical activities can stimulate this quest for knowledge in students. That’s because they really begin to understand the concepts, formulas and equations, not just memorize for tests.

This increased interest can be decisive in future professional choices and also in the quality of professionals they will be. That is why curiosity is fundamental so that they continue to acquire knowledge throughout life, and not only in school.

Improve the relationship between teacher and students

Teaching in practice can also improve the relationship between teacher and student. The teacher can show as someone who is there to share experiences and promote the individual growth of each student, and not as someone who has the power to give or not good grades.

In addition, work in cooperation is very important in socializing among students as they learn to debate in a healthy way, converging opinions for decision-making, and cooperate in the execution of the experiments.

Critical Thinking

Practical classes stimulate critical thinking in the broadest concept. First by encouraging the student to not accept the theoretical information or the result of an experiment without proper thinking. In the process he learns to use different criteria to evaluate the information received.

The most important criterion is logical thinking. But other criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, relevance and depth of the informations are equally important in the evaluation of theoretical concepts and experimental results.

Argumentation

After the practical classes is usually asked students to make a report of what they observed. But if there are no criteria, students tend to make reports that are too simple, losing the potential to argue and express everything that happened in the experiment.

So it is interesting that the teacher establish the most important requirements that students should observe. The most important are:

• Experiment Objectives
• Methods used
• Resources or materials used
• Results achieved
• Problems encountered
• Conclusion

Stimulate learning rather than simple memorization of subjects

Reading is the main tool for presenting the subjects. However, teaching in practice is an ally in the learning and not mere memorization. In simple memorization students keep the informations only for the period necessary for the tests, and not effectively learning it.

In the experimentation of the practical classes the students have the possibility to have a contextualized learning. Extensive research in neuroscience show that experience, observe or perform experiments improves learning, which is different from simply memorize it.

For example, a student who has studied the magnetic poles will have an easier time remembering the concepts if the teacher does an outside activity using a compass, or even building a homemade compass, as you can see here.

This concept of experiments x theory applies in almost everything. Just think, a person who saw the sea live. This person will remember it better than one that only saw the oceans on television.

In this way teaching in practice becomes important in early childhood education or even college, when students have to deal with more complex concepts.

Now that you know the importance and benefits of education in practice, be sure to encourage him in the classroom. Soon it will be possible to see promising results in students.

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