Satisfying a Hunger for Knowledge Through Experiential Learning

By Vern R. Johnson

Learning can take place in three ways (see also the March 2002 issue of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer):

1. Another person can provide information to you.
2. You can gain information by personal observation or experience.
3. You can pause, reflect and learn from what you already know. Reflective learning has to do with seeking meanings, discovering gaps in your learning, and restructuring your memory to match your future needs better.

This article focuses on gaining information from personal observation and experience. Those who understand the approach described here will be able to mediate their own theories and experiences; they will become “self-reliant learners” — people who listen to others but do not depend on others as their sole source for learning.

Chinese philosopher Kuan Tzu said, “If you give a man a fish, he will have a single meal; if you teach him how to fish, he will eat for the rest of his life.” This concept outlines how learners can progress from the necessities of survival to a focus on endurance, and it is the initial step in the process of taking personal responsibility for one's actions and eventually enjoying the freedom of self-reliance.

Surviving: If you are hungry, ask for a fish — and you can eat for a day.

Engineering students and engineers at the beginning stages of their careers can use this step effectively. Most likely, when they ask for help from instructors, mentors or managers, they will be better able to complete course requirements and job assignments effectively.

Enduring: Seek training in the art of fishing — and you can feed yourself as long as there are fish in the sea.

Those employees who seek training in current techniques will be able to keep their jobs for as long as those technologies remain important. Most professionals do this well — and even become experts in some areas.

Taking responsibility for governing yourself: If you learn the principles of survival, you will be able to feed yourself for a lifetime.

By learning the fundamental science and economic principles upon which your technology is based, you will be able to adapt to change and maintain your career as the world’s needs and resources change. Professionals who learn the fundamentals usually find themselves more comfortable when their employers assign them to new tasks, or positions of responsibility.

Gaining the freedom of self-reliant learning: When you evaluate the results of your experiences, you will be able to learn from them.

When you can create new ideas and evaluate their worth — when you learn to learn — you will be able to be a leader in bringing about technological change. Evaluating experiences is a three-step process that involves:

• Determining exactly what you experienced, possibly by collecting data;
• Reflecting on what you observed, putting it into context and comparing it with what you expected; and
• Articulating what you learned to colleagues.

Everyone can and should consider this challenge, but not everybody realizes its importance. Professionals who learn how will no longer need teachers; they will have gained the freedom of being self-reliant learners.

The natural progression of maturity involves moving from dependency on others toward increasing self-reliance. People become adults when they see themselves as being responsible for their own lives. At that point, they even develop a need for others to see them as being self-directed. Most adults, however, do not perceive themselves as self-reliant learners. They may be self-directed as workers, parents or colleagues, but when they face the need to learn something new, too often they express their dependency on others by saying, “teach me.” But those who learn how to gain knowledge through personal observation and experience will not have to depend on others to fill their hunger for knowledge. They can become self-reliant learners.

A Final Challenge

This article began by identifying the three ways that learning takes place. It then led the reader through the important process of learning from one's own experiences and gaining the freedom of self-reliant learning. Once this second way of learning is mastered, there is a third. The reader is invited to return to the beginning of this article to determine what is involved in the third way. Those who learn to conquer the third way that learning can take place will be able to learn beyond what they are taught and beyond what they experience, they can become intellectual leaders. Doesn't that sound like a challenge worth thinking about — maybe even pondering, meditating, reflecting, or investing a few minutes of introspection?"

 

---

Vern R. Johnson is Associate Dean of Engineering at the University of Arizona in Tucson and is IEEE-USA's Career Activities Editor. This article is adapted from materials in his book, Becoming a Technical Professional (Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, Iowa, 2003).