Anselm asked:

Can you please explain exactly the following two terms:

didactic teaching

empirical learning

============

The problem with explaining something so general "exactly" is that so many people have theories
about education. Whatever I or anyone says about versions of teaching is bound to be contradicted
by someone else. But here's my take on this issue. "Didactic" refers, usually, to the verbal explication
of some point(s). Thus, didactic teaching includes lecturing, memorizing... anything which is explicitly
verbal, logical, having to do with words and memory. This can of course include mathematics, as
when we learn addition tables, formulas, etc. Butunderstandingwhat is presented requires thinking
(at the least) about it, which requires mental operations corresponding to experimentation, which ties
into the empirical.

"Empirical" refers to the verification of principles or hypotheses through experiment and observation.
So this kind of teaching emphasizes learning by "doing". But what does "doing" refer to? Lab work,
experiments, field observations... yes, but also the attempted solution of problems in math, say, which
werenoton the list of problems in the homework. Merely thinking through problems and situations is
also a form of experimentation, although one which fails to take the unexpected (by definition!) into
account. Also, it is necessary to learnhowto do experiments and observations properly, which ties
into the didactic part.

Which is better? Neither. Thorough education requires both.

Steven Ravett Brown