Monday, 8 February 2016

The Pyramid of Learning - Fact or Fiction

The debate more than efficient teaching techniques has extended beyond conventional educational settings into the globe of coaching and organization improvement. Education is a important duty in all businesses each huge and tiny, and locating the most successful methods is essential.

For decades, managers, supervisors, and trainers in organizations all more than the western industrialized globe were exposed to the Pyramid of Understanding. You can search the World wide web and you will locate it in a wide assortment of fairly colors and impressive graphics. Right here are the descriptors in each level of the pyramid, followed by the percentage of information retention from employing that distinct method of teaching:

  • Lecture - See and Hear - five% Know-how Retention
  • Reading Material - ten% Information Retention
  • Video or Audio-Visual Strategies - 20% Know-how Retention
  • Demonstration - 30% Understanding Retention
  • Discussion Group - 50% Information Retention
  • Practice by Undertaking - 75% Expertise Retention
  • Quick Application/Teaching Other folks - 90% Know-how Retention

Some graphics highlight the initially 4 levels - lecture by way of demonstration - as conventional passive teaching approaches, and the final 3 as examples of active Studying strategies.

At very first glance, the levels in the pyramid look to pass the test of popular sense. It just tends to make sense a student who could teach the content material to an additional has retained the content material. Nevertheless, numerous of the web sites exactly where you will discover the pyramid of Finding out add energy to it by citing either Edgar Dale, author of Audio-Visual Solutions in Teaching, or the National Coaching Laboratories in Bethel, Maine in the United States, as the authoritative supply for the study behind the conclusions about the retention prices of each method. Some web sites truly credit each and go on to claim the investigation is backed up by function at other universities, without having naming them.

Sadly, Those representations of supposed reality look to be in actuality absolutely nothing over fiction. In 1946, Dale Edgar did introduce what he known as the Cone of Mastering, but there had been no numbers anyplace in the cone and Edgar himself saw the model as a common framework not to be taken as well actually.

What is extra, the National Instruction Laboratories claims the analysis proof purported to assistance the pyramid is not theirs. In brief, it would look the expertise retention prices of the pyramid of Studying are tiny over urban legend.

Does that imply the conclusions several had been led to think have been primarily based on tough analysis proof are useless?

The query gets to a tough concern in looking for tips on educational solutions. If an thought passes the old-fashioned test of prevalent sense, why not attempt it for your self and see if it operates? In impact, why not do your own "unscientific" analysis experiment?

These who think in the worth of investigation-primarily based conclusions need to know investigation research involving any social science lack the rigor of research in the physical or "difficult" sciences. In addition, for most research claiming method X is the answer for which we have all been waiting, there is possibly one more study claiming method X fails to do what it purports to do.

Dr Bryan A. West is the owner and manager of Fortress Studying ( http://www.fortresslearning.com.au ), an Australian Registered Instruction Organisation who regularly generates higher than 90% student satisfaction ratings with their selection of Web courses. Learn much more by going to http://www.fortresslearning.com.au.

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