I Like to Watch – Passive Learning Works
www.public-health.uiowa.edu/icphp/ed_training/ttt/archive/2002/2002_course_materials/Cone_of_Learning.pdf
Adding to a growing body of research in learning that people can acquire new motor skills by watching alone, research at Dartmouth College shows that both viewing and doing are effective in learning new skills. In fact, according to the authors of the study “Human motor skills can be acquired by observation without the benefit of immediate physical practice.” [1] Furthermore, as reported in Science News:
“It’s been established in previous research that there are correlations in behavioral performance between active and passive learning, but in this study we were surprised by the remarkable similarity in brain activation when our research participants observed dance sequences that were actively or passively experienced,” says Emily Cross, the principal investigator and PhD student at Dartmouth.
Cross et al. tested the hypothesis using a video game to teach a series of dance steps after which they compared performances of both actively (rehearsed) and passively (observed) routines. Interestingly,
“We collected fMRI data before and after five days of both visual and physical training,” says Cross, “and there was common AON [Action Observance Network] activity when watching the practiced and observed dance sequences.” [2]
Further information on the study can be gotten here. Correspondence should be directed to researcher Scott T. Grafton.
[1] Cerebral Cortex 2009 19(2):315-326; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn083
[2] Dartmouth College (2008, July 15). Passive Learning Imprints On The Brain Just Like Active Learning. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 29, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/07/080714111425.htm