Applying knowledge or a skill to real life (or a real-life situation) is a great way to achieve deeper learning. You’re building on prior knowledge and you’re making connections between the skills / knowledge and your goals / problem at hand.

The process is what learning theorists call “situated learning,” and it’s a great way to build confidence as you move forward in your personal career and knowledge development plan.

I like the structure of many of the courses at AAPG because they are problem-based. They do give you a theoretical foundation, but the focus is on application. Take the courses we offer that include seismic. Chances are, you’ll be bringing together your knowledge of geology and geological processes and applying them to seismic interpretation.

Our shale / resource play series works with the concept of analogue. What you learn from studying one shale play may be transferable to other shale plays. This is particularly applicable as we move forward into new resource play frontiers, such as Quebec (Shale Gas in Quebec’s Sedimentary Basins) and other parts of Northeast North America (don’t miss our GTW in Baltimore, May 23-25, 2011).

A case study approach is another perfect example of situated learning. Case studies will form the core of the presentations at the Deepwater Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico event in January 18-19 in Houston.