Real life tasks change passive learning experience into active knowledge building. Experiments or handing of materials by the students transforms them into active participants. This is active participation that provokes curiosity and desire to know some scientific explanation or mathematical formula.
Whole body experiences give tangible perception about abstract matters. Measuring the angles physically, reactions observations, and creating shapes creates an instinctive understanding that cannot be reached during lectures. This is sensory input and causes abstractions to become concrete, rooted understanding.
The activities are training scientific practices and mathematical practices. The students make the hypotheses, trouble shoot the set-ups, make interpretations and streamline the methods. The process cultivates developed problem solving techniques, logical analytical thinking, and reasoning required in STEM disciplines.
Learning that is practical lasts longer. Hands-on work is multisensory and this helps build more powerful memory pathways. It is easier to recall an experiment performed or a model that has been constructed in comparison with the memorizing of facts and this enhances long term recall of complex information.
Practicing experiences fill the gap between abstract and practical worlds. The use of math to construct buildings or operating scientific processes in order to test hypotheses is an indication of the applicability and strength of the fields. This relationship supports the value of explaining reality through science and math.
Conclusion:
Physical learning is important to advanced science and mathematics. They incite participation, concretize abstractions through hands-on work, build problem solving and critical thinking skills, guarantee knowledge permanency, and prove to be relevant in the real world. Experiences need to be integrated to develop competent and confident STEM learners.
