Higher education has traditionally taught from theory to practice. Students first learn the underlying principles of a subject, such as the forces that determine bridge load, and then apply those principles to examples. But this is not the only way to teach. Socrates taught in the opposite direction. He would start with a question, such as What is beauty?, and his student would reply with an example. Then Socrates would demonstrate a problem with the example, leading the student to an insight about the topic itself. The student would use this insight to reformulate their answer, with Socrates providing an objection to the new answer, and the process would continue. The teaching model is that students start with applied questions and, in answering those questions, develop an understanding of the deeper principles that underly practice. Instead of an instructor giving them theory to apply in practice, students start with practice and elicit the theory from that practice.
