Hands-on Learning in the Digital Age

I attended a fascinating lecture in college in which the professor detailed how different types of learning affected how much information was retained. Simply listening to lectures, for example, resulted in very low information retention. Listening to the lecture and taking notes was more effective, and multi-disciplinary approaches incorporating reading, audio-visual components, and observing demonstrations were even more effective. Actively participating in hands-on demonstration had the highest retention rate — which was bolstered by teaching others.

I thought of this lecture last month as I spoke with Dan Rockhill, Distinguished Professor of Architecture at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, and the founder of Rockhill and Associates, a design-build firm headquartered in nearby Lecompton. Rockhill is also the executive director of Studio 804, a not-for-profit corporation he launched in 1995 that might be the coolest hands-on learning program ever. Students in the Studio 804 program design and build an entire structure in just nine months during their final year of studies for their Master of Architecture degrees. The students recently completed the program’s 16th consecutive LEED Platinum project. (Click here for more details.)

When Rockhill first began teaching the graduate design studio course, he found the students were preoccupied with building their portfolios and starting their careers. One day, he found himself complaining to his students that he couldn’t find enough workers for a roofing project, and they eagerly volunteered to pitch in.

One thing led to another, and soon after that, Studio 804 was born. “These are great kids,” says Rockhill. “I love them, and I love to have them experience what I sort of torture them with. They have the professional design side of it in the design studio experience — and I’m all for studio and design — but they are so desperate to get some real-world experience. They just love it.”

Students design and install every phase of the project, from the foundation the rooftop, and everything in between. At graduation, guests get a guided tour of the building conducted by the students, who end their experience by teaching others the lessons they learned — and will carry out into the field.

In today’s digital age, learning by doing might be even more important than ever, Rockhill notes. Students have a world of knowledge at their fingertips, but time in front of a computer can be at the expense of other activities. “Even in a lecture course, students might forget half of what you’re talking about,” he says. “But the hands-on thing, they never forget. Learning by doing — that’s how we should try to do this.”