Abstract:

The Learning by Doing (LD) methodology addresses the teaching-learning process in a practical way and is committed to student empowerment. Nowadays, no one doubts the need to focus teaching on the student, giving them greater autonomy and encouraging their participation in the classroom. The proposed methodology focuses on active and sensory learning, addressing specific and enriching experiences that are more meaningful for the person. This initiative, which arose in the 20th century in the USA, has gradually been integrated in schools all over the world, trying to cover the need to find alternatives to the traditional master class. Thus, LD shows a hopeful way to reduce school failure and to integrate the different educational needs existing in the classroom.

This study is developed in an educational centre for adults (CEPA), located in the Community of Madrid (Spain). This type of educational centre is part of the context of lifelong learning. That is, they address the idea that people are prepared to learn throughout their lives and are committed to integration whatever their starting situation. As a consequence, there is a great variety of levels, interests and learning paces intertwined within the same classroom, which makes it difficult to develop traditional classes based on lectures. Thus, the LD methodology proves to be conducive to the development of skills and aptitudes, promoting critical awareness and education for citizenship.

In this way, a practical proposal that can be adapted and which has been carried out in the 2024/25 academic year is presented. This initiative is the result of a collaboration between the CEPA and the Monitoring and Technological Innovation Research Group (MITE) from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The university teaching staff in collaboration with the teachers of the centre have designed a series of activities to understand the concepts linked to energy efficiency in buildings. At the CEPA, the proposal is developed within the academic curriculum corresponding to the third year of compulsory secondary education and applied to the subject of Technology. Thus, it has been possible to approach the subject in a practical way and focused on the future labour needs of the students.

This manuscript presents both the planning and organisation of the activities, as well as their relationship with the contents included in the curriculum. The proposal presented had a duration of three weeks, thus, the timeframe used is included so that it can be taken as a guide in the application of this methodology in other contexts. This shows a practical way of incorporating the LD methodology in the classroom, which has served to develop the syllabus of the subject in a dynamic way and with a high degree of acceptance by the students.

Keywords:

Learning by doing (LD), autonomous learning, adults education, pedagogical innovation, multicultural Inclusion.