The effectiveness of a learning method varies from person to person and also from activity to activity. Learning by doing, learning by reading, and learning by listening all have the transfer of information as their goal, but the information is transferred in very different ways in each case. Each has its benefits. In my own opinion, learning by doing is the method that works best for me.
Learning by doing works because it gives a learner first-hand experience. Other methods are more passive; you're either listening to a conversation or trying to pay attention to words on a page. However, learning by doing means actually participating in the activity. Can you imagine learning how to play a musical instrument from a book? As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Frankly, I can't think of a way that better ensures one has truly learned than by seeing and doing.
In contrast, reading makes learning less easy to visualize. Not only that, learning by reading often requires extra research, such as looking up unfamiliar words. Also, you might not be a good reader, or you might be learning in a second language. If so, you might find it hard to concentrate or become frustrated by the slow pace. So while reading is fun and useful for many people, for others it may not be the best way.
Learning by listening can be enjoyable. Lively debate is interesting, and interesting things are usually easier to learn about. Plus, unlike reading, you can ask questions if you don't understand. However, as with reading, it is all too easy to become a passive listener and not truly learn anything. If you get bored, you might even fall asleep while you're listening! When you're actively participating in something, you're more likely to stay alert.
Overall, when it comes to learning, I believe that nothing substitutes for the firsthand experience that physically doing an activity provides.
People have different ways to learn knowledge. Some people learn by doing things; other people learn by reading books; others learn by listening to people talk about things. As far as I am concerned, the first method learning by doing is suitable for me. The reasons are as follows.
In the first place, I normally have a better understanding on the things that I learned by doing them. Ten years ago, after graduated from a university, I began working for an electronic company, which manufactures color televisions. During the first several months, I just sat in my office to read the mechanisms of color television from books. Those theories seemed to be so abstract to me that I can only understand 30% of them. So I decided to go to the production floor to learn about them. After taking part in the procedure of manufacture, I was surprised that getting hold of those theories was no longer difficult to me. I was able to assemble and repair televisions shortly afterwards.
In the second place, I can remember well when I learn things by doing them. People always have such an experience: they can memorize something when picking up a book and forget it when putting down the book. Knowledge cannot become yours by reading until you practice it. Knowledge learned from books is RAM, e.g. erasable memory; while knowledge learned by doing things is written in our ROM, e.g. inerasable memory.
In conclusion, I prefer learning by doing things not only because this method can help me understand things easily, but also because it can help me memorize things longer.
