How do you learn now, as an adult? Really learn and absorb and retain something new that adds to your wisdom?
There’s a good chance that you “do” it. You have a real challenge, real choices, real outcomes and real deliverables, and real stakes. And you step up to the challenge.
You’re not learning for the sake of learning. You have to learn, research, question, experiment, revise all along the way because you have a real goal.
You likely learn from experts, collaborate with peers, and spend lots of time thinking and figuring things out.
And you probably don’t even consider the fact that you’re “learning”. But that’s exactly what you’re doing.
And you never ask “when will I ever use this?” because you are in fact using it right now, in the real world.
So if that’s how people actually learn, why not just let our students learn that way too?