the most interesting things i've learnt about learning

The most interesting things I’ve learnt about learning

Jason Yip

j.c.yip@computer.orgjcyip@thoughtworks.com

@jchyiphttp://jchyip.blogspot.com

Break up into small groups of 5

• 10 minutes• Identify a skill that you know very

well and design an approach to teach it, including assessment

• Include rationale for choices if you can

Prepare for redesign

1. I will introduce some concepts2. Jot down ideas for improvement for

your teaching approach3. Share with group at end

MASTERY VS GRADES

In Australia, what is a passing grade?

• Letter or %?

Simple availability calculation

50% 50%

0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25 or 25%

Compound skill

A B C

AA BB CC DD

Just passed… Aced it! Did ok… Just passed…

What level of performance do we expect here?

Can do it or can’t

do it; there is no “passing grade”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwjones/2619602001/in/photostream/

Compound skill

A B C

ROUTINE VS ADAPTIVE EXPERTISE

d

d = ½gt2

What is d if…

t = 2 sg = 10 m / s2

Let’s work through it

d = ½gt2

d = ½(10)(2) 2

d = 5 * 4d = 20

But I’m sure you could do this faster…

Speed round

1. I’ll show the question and 3 possible answers

2. Raise 1 finger to choose the first answer, 2 to choose the second, 3 to choose the third

3. Answer as fast as you can4. Ready?

Dropped from the same height, ignoring air resistance, which one hits the ground first?

(1) (2) (3)

Other

Were we learning an equation or an underlying concept?

Speed round 2

1. I’ll show the question and 3 possible answers

2. Raise 1 finger to choose the first answer, 2 to choose the second, 3 to choose the third

3. Answer as fast as you can4. Ready?

(1)

(2)

(3)

You’re about to shoot at an apple when it just starts to fall out of the tree. Where should you aim?

Adaptive Expertise

(survives change in context)

Routine Expertise

(context-specific)Indistinguishable without change in context

Superficial

Semantic

Qualitative

What equation do I use?

The equation indicates that d is independent of mass

Just shoot the apple, the arrow will fall at the same rate

Necessary for Adaptive Expertise

Routine expertise comes from mastering visible behaviour; adaptive

expertise comes from mastering invisible concepts

MISCONCEPTIONS

Did you know this?

• The success of Toyota comes from the cumulative impact of daily kaizen from every employee

How many people agree with this?

Actually that’s wrong

• Most impact of improvements come from project kaizen and strategic kaizen. Daily kaizen is not about impact so much as learning and values

http://kaizeninstituteindia.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/kaizen-flag-its-all-about-people-people-people/

How did you feel when I said “Actually, that’s wrong”?

This is not learning

• “blah blah blah A”• “Yeah, I already knew about B”

This is learning

• “blah blah blah B”• “Yeah, I already knew about B”• “Actually, B is wrong. Blah blah blah

A.”• “Huh?”

“Yeah, I already knew that” = not learning

“Huh?” = learning

If it feels comfortable, you’re probably not learning anything

Learning starts with unlearning misconceptions

SIMULATIONS VS DELIBERATE PRACTICE

How many people have played an Agile game / simulation?

Try to think back to what was happening and how you felt. How many people when playing the game, were playing to win?

How many people were playing the game, intentionally focusing on exercising their weaknesses and thus probably losing the

game?

What stage is best for performance?

1. Unconscious incompetence2. Conscious incompetence3. Conscious competence4. Unconscious competence

What stage is best for learning?

1. Unconscious incompetence2. Conscious incompetence3. Conscious competence4. Unconscious competence

There is no learning when you are in flow

Staying conscious and out of flow during practice is a deliberate act, hence “deliberate practice”

In simulations and games people tend to exercise their strengths; deliberate practice needs to address weaknesses

TEACH ONE CONCEPT AT A TIME

What’s the better delivery approach?

Why?

What’s the better learning approach?

We only have so much working memory (7+/-2)

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_load

One-point lessons

• “…create lessons based on a single point, typically on a single piece of paper, which is then reviewed during the daily meeting.”

http://jchyip.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/instead-of-teaching-whole-bunch-of.html

THEORY VS PRACTICE

If someone understands all the theoretical concepts behind a skill, but never practices, will

they master the skill?

If someone practices but has no real understanding about theory and rationale, will they master the skill?

Theory without practice means no skill; practice without theory means

wasted effort

So, what’s the role of a teacher?

Effective teaching is not about conveying facts so

much as enabling effective practice and exploration

Share your insights

To learn more

• http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html

• http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA413046

• http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/super/theses/PhD(Muller).pdf