Abstract

The National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM) is the youngest public university in Malaysia and it is at a phase of looking for a right combination of teaching and learning strategies for the students. This paper attempts to benchmark the best practice from other military learning institutions that can be adapted at the NDUM. Data are gathered from surveys and semi-structured interviews at the NDUM and the first military academy in the U.S. , the United States Military Academy, West Point , New York . The results from data collection do not conform to the original hypothesis. In practice, the best learning environment for military students uses, in fact, a combination of various pedagogical approaches.

Keywords: The Thayer System, Didactic Teaching, Authoritarianism, Active Learning, Military Learning Environment.