Abstract:

In the academia of Higher education, there is a big trust in lecturing and lessons including well-prepared exercises solved by teaching assistants and/or professors. Distance studies condenses the concept of mere storytelling and direct information even more, although there are active elements as seminars and group discussions offered. The problem with this kind of learning environment is that it almost completely lacks any activity or brainteaser for the students other than listening and transcription of the proposed solutions and information of the course content. The core of the course, the conceptual understanding, is therefore set aside, and promotes studying old exam problems and their specific solutions. A development of active learning in a different environment than the lecture hall will automatically focus more on the concepts that promotes deep learning. The proposed approach, Practice and Experience Based Learning (PEBL), widens the concept of teacher and classroom to a learning facility involving experts, tutors, facilitators and collaboration with the community (far) away from the boundaries of the lecture hall. The classroom shapes around the environment where the presented learning is best suited, preferably in a context where it appears in real life and in a context where experts are available besides the designated teacher. The learning goals are always parts of a whole perspective enlightening the purpose of the wanted knowledge and experience to learn. The proposed method is explained from studies in rural areas far away from the Physical learning institution, but is applicable in all learning communities.

Keywords:

Activity-based learning, conceptual knowledge, deep learning, real life learning, learning in the rural.