Efficiency Test – Practical V/S Theoretical Education

“An ounce of practice is generally worth more than a ton of theory.”
― E.F. Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered

No wonder the above line is worth a billion dollars! Mind captures more when it visualizes things. No, it’s not just us but several medical researches around the globe have shown that a brain studies and retains more when it actually watches a particular thing in action than just reader hear about it. It becomes clearer when the brain is young.

Going through a paragraph of the recipe for a delicious dish and actually feeling the taste in your mouth does make a big difference isn’t it? That’s the difference between theoretical and practical education. Well, you certainly cannot deny implementing it when it comes to education.

Students and parents have had the trepidation for the longest time now that educational institutes in India lack practical studies and hands on demonstrations or training. The significance of practical knowledge in education cannot be ignored. Today, when a teacher is faced with the challenge of demonstrating certain concepts and theories can we or should we really blame him/her. How does it help the instructors exhibiting it when they themselves have not been facilitated with the same?

Practical knowledge helps one experience the very existence of a subject. Be it the properties of chemicals or concepts of matter and force, be it literature or philosophy, history or geography - it is obviously interesting to see the rules in motion than just keep mugging random data.

It is only through experiments and educational videos that one can have a better and quicker understanding of the context of a subject. Practical knowledge helps one learn better. Theoretical knowledge alone can never meet all these expectations.Hence theory should always be balanced with practical education. It is indeed more effective and helps the students stay stress free.

Surely those with eidetic memories might not mind simply mugging things up and reproducing the same in the exam answer sheets. Those with not-so-great memories suffer because of this existent pattern of education in the country. In both cases, how does that help inculcate originality? Reproducing exact words from textbook; limits the thinking abilities of students and hampers development.

When we simply study a lesson for a test, our brain tends to retain it for a short period. Thus the motive of holistic learning remains un achieved. We all learn theorems in schools but hardly remember them once the exams are over. We mug up different experiments, which should, in reality be a practical experience. The entire purpose of education as a means of enlightenment is lost in the process. The lack of experiential learning makes students lose interest in studies and they try to learn everything by heart only to get good marks in exams!

Practical knowledge is way more communicative than theoretical education. It is as good as teaching irrespective of whether the student is able to perceive the context or not. No doubt, theoretical and practical education goes hand-in-hand; the trick however lies in finding the best balance.