Does theoretical knowledge matter?

       As students, we are always told by the industry experts that, “The work that you will be doing in the industry is different from that thought in your textbooks.”

So readers, in this article let me share my thoughts/viewpoints about significance of theoretical knowledge. I believe that Theory is as important as Practical Knowledge.

        Most of the college students believe that practical knowledge is the only necessity to survive in the industry. So they begin to run in order to gain practical knowledge. This results in loss of interest for theoretical knowledge. Even I too ran in the same path once. And suddenly a question arose in my mind that, “if practical knowledge is enough to survive in the industry. Then why does college syllabus give importance to theory rather than practical?” In search of answers, I turned to Google.

Knowledge is same, be it theory or practical. Is there a difference? Yes, the theory teaches you through the experience of others; on the other hand in practical, you learn through your own experience with a particular task. In theory, you get the answers for “WHY” and in practical you get the answers for “HOW”.

Importance of theoretical knowledge:

• It helps you to understand the concept behind the techniques which helps us to do differentiate why one technique works and other fails.
• Theoretical knowledge makes the way easier to practically apply things, because theory teaches you from the broader experiences of other.
•  It also helps to learn ins and outs of your field or specialization.·        
• Theoretical knowledge  also  helps to provide some ideas to solve the real world problems

Tips to gain/increase theoretical knowledge

Ø Theoretical knowledge  also  helps to provide some ideas to solve the real world problems

Ø I strongly believe that “Reading books” would enhance the theoretical knowledge.

[Note for Petroleum Engineers: I would like to suggest a book “Nontechnical guide to petroleum geology, exploration, drilling, and production” which explains the overall concepts of petroleum engineering in a nontechnical fashion.]

Ø If you are lazy to read, then “watch videos” which explains the theories based on your fields of interest. There are so many YouTube channels; free courses platforms are available online.

[Note for Petroleum Engineers: I suggest you to YouTube channel, “llau13” for understanding the important concepts of Petroleum Engineering]

Ø Here I recommend some website which are offering courses:

¨     Udemy

¨     Coursera

¨     edx

¨     MIT OpenCourseWare

Ø Finally, this will help you acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge.

¨     Doing internships: This provides a platform to putting theory in to practice.

¨     Attending workshops: Most of the workshops  explain the theory by applying them into practical

In conclusion, let me tell you that, if you do not know the concept/theory behind a machine, the practical work seems impossible. Similarly, if you do not try to see how the theoretical concepts work in real-time, then you are cramming concepts. So you need to give equal importance to both, in order to benefit maximum in the least possible time. Thus, focus on both Theoretical and Practical Knowledge.

 

By: Mohammed Zubair Ahmed M