The Application of Knowledge

A recent article in Time Magazine describes a new development at Harvard, Yale, Rutgers and the universities of Pennsylvania and Texas--the implementation of curricula emphasizing the application of knowledge, rather than just the acquisition of knowledge for knowledge's sake. The article asserts:

. . . the new approach emphasizes the kind of active learning that gets students thinking and applying knowledge. "Just as one doesn't become a marathon runner by reading about the Boston Marathon," says the committee report, "so, too, one doesn't become a good problem solver by listening to lectures or reading about statistics." Acknowledging how important extracurricular activities have become on campus, the report calls for a stronger link between the endeavors students pursue inside and outside the classroom. Those studying poverty, for example, absorb more if they also volunteer at a homeless shelter, suggests Bok, whose 2005 book, Our Underachieving Colleges, cites a finding that students remember just 20% of the content of class lectures a week later.

Thinking back to college, one thing that stands out is the multitude of hours spent sitting in a classroom listening to lectures. At the time, I wasn't particularly dissatisfied with this--it certainly didn't require one to go much beyond one's comfort zone and I felt like I was learning a fair amount, albeit in a quite passive manner. That, I think, is part of the beauty of the greater emphasis that these universities are beginning to place on the application of what is being learned in the classroom and on being more fully engaged in extracurricular activities. In my experience, significant advances in learning require that one move beyond their comfort zone into new and unfamiliar settings. It also is evident that the development of knowledge cannot adequately take place in isolation from the ultimate goal of the acquisition of knowledge--service to humanity.

Baha'u'llah, the Prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith, in the midst of His imprisonment in the most dismal of conditions, extolled knowledge and described its ultimate goal in the following beautiful terms:

Knowledge is as wings to man's life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. The knowledge of such sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the peoples of the earth, and not those which begin with words and end with words. Great indeed is the claim of scientists and craftsmen on the peoples of the world. . . . In truth, knowledge is a veritable treasure for man, and source of glory, of bounty, of joy, of exaltation, of cheer and gladness unto him. Thus hath the Tongue of Grandeur spoken in this Most Great Prison.

Let's hope that this trend continues!