Our 4CE Learning Philosophy

This is about developing the “analyst” and the “designer” in the learner, and not just the passive “receptor” of consumed information. Towards that purpose, our educators will often examine new concepts in a “story line” fashion, with a declared objective, tools to use and obstacles to overcome and ask the learner to "help" them in this endeavour, by connecting the threads of the “story” and opening new horizons and possibilities. In this fashion, both educator and learner have a better chance of transforming the learning experience from a dry memory exercise relying on formulas and “cheat sheets” to a stimulating opportunity to process, analyse, discover, create, and innovate!

the Continuous Learning Activity Pattern (CLAP). With this pattern, additional assessments are spread evenly throughout the semester for the purpose of inducing more learning activities on a more continuous basis. The assessments don't have to be formal; they can take the form of smaller quizzes or "check points". However, their presence is more likely to be associated with a higher rate of knowledge retention (see Figure below). This increased number of assessments during a specific learning period doesn't only help learners retain a higher level of mental readiness at all times, it also comes as a direct response to Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem (mentioned on our section on education research) that calls for a higher sampling/assessment frequency to better estimate the learning knowledge curve.

As such, learners are considered the masters of their own learning; they are encouraged to act as the “players of the game”; pushed to control their learning strategy, each on his/her own pace, and each in his/her own style: some might want to follow their school program, week by week; some others may prefer to get ahead of the rest … everyone is left to manage his/her learning activities as he/she wishes. The main requirement is to identify key targets, i.e. the learning objectives of the course, and to practice the skills of reaching these targets, each using his/her own aptitudes. Towards this end, the "coach" draws the "players'" attention to perceived deficiencies, helps them boost their "assessment frequency" and makes sure their learning loop is always closed by providing them with competent and regular feedback.

This linkage has the potential of providing the learner with an enhanced view of his/her cumulative learning, and equips him/her with a sense of purpose. Connecting concepts together, across several subject areas, can help the learner infer, extrapolate and interpolate ideas, and make more sense of his/her overall education. Based on this tenet, the learner will pay better attention to crucial details and concepts, making sure to retain these details year after year, instead of wiping his/her memory at the end of the current learning period, knowing that these concepts may be needed later on somewhere along the line. This tenet helps the learner widen his/her horizons and gradually builds his/her “knowledge and skill bag” piece by piece, based on similar, complementary not disjoint concepts and ideas.