What Is Discovery Learning? And Why Does It Work So Well?

By Author: paradigm learning
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Many companies and organizations use an educational approach called “discovery learning” as a fast and effective way to train employees. Discovery learningis a powerful instructional method that guides and motivates learners to explore information and concepts in order to construct new ideas, identify new relationships and create new models of thinking and behaving.

In corporate training, discovery learning takes on various formats, including business games, business simulations, team building games and Discovery Maps®. These discovery learning formats excite participants and get them actively involved, supporting the research that shows people learn information better, and ...
... retain it longer, when they’re actively involved in their own education.

Paradigm Learning specializes in business games and simulations that address many business issues—business acumen, financial literacy, team performance, project management, leadership accountability, talent management and more.

Well-designed discovery learning educational sessions are highly experiential and interactive — using stories, games, simulations, visual maps and other techniques to grab attention, build interest and lead a journey of discovery toward new thinking, actions and behaviors. They incorporate three key ideas:

• Problem Solving: They motivate learners to find solutions by pulling together information and generalizing knowledge.

• Learner Management: They allow participants, working alone or in small teams, to learn in their own ways and at their own pace.

• Integrating and Connecting: They encourage integration of new knowledge into the learner's existing knowledge base and clearly connect to the real world.

Discovery learning techniques appeal to all demographics and learning styles — Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. Discovery learning works because it ensures learners' brains are engaged at all times. Participants might be manipulating pieces on a game board, working with others to make a decision, or gathering seemingly disconnected pieces of information to solve a problem — but they're actually learning. Discovery learning simply accelerates the educational process, resulting in higher levels of retention than more traditional learning approaches do.

Benefits of discovery learning include condensed training time, highly relevant content, active participation, high retention and customizable sessions. Several discovery learning techniques can engage and educate adult learners, including:

• Stories: Great stories can “hook” learners quickly and keep them involved throughout the learning experience. Stories are also likely to be remembered over time and can help with retention of insights.

• Visuals: Game boards, wall visuals and colorfully illustrated maps make learners want to learn and provide graphically interesting clues and metaphors to speed the discovery process.

• Small-Team Exercises: A team environment gives learners a commitment to learning and encourages active participation.

• Simulations: Simulations replicate a slice of reality from the workplace. They are time-compressed and safe so that learners can make mistakes and learn from them without real-world consequences.

The origins of discovery learning trace to 1916, when American psychologist and educational reformer John Dewey studied the concept of “learning by doing” and determined that developing problem-solving and critical-thinking skills was more important than memorizing facts. Discovery learning found its way into corporate education in the early 1990s when training professionals began incorporating discovery learning techniques into their programs and pioneering suppliers began offering programs and services that used robust discovery learning approaches.