A collection of learning concepts that I thought most people would find interesting and unexpected

1. The most interesting things
I’ve learnt about learning
Jason Yip
j.c.yip@computer.org
jcyip@thoughtworks.com
@jchyip
http://jchyip.blogspot.com

2. 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

3. Prepare for redesign
1. I will introduce some concepts
2. Jot down ideas for improvement for your
teaching approach
3. Share with group at end

4. MASTERY VS GRADES

5. In Australia, what is a passing
grade?
• Letter or %?

6. Simple availability calculation
50%
50%
0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25 or 25%

7. What level of performance
do we expect here?
Compound
skill
A
Just passed…
AA
B
C
Did ok…
Aced it!
BB
CC
Just passed…
DD

8. Can do it or
can’t do it;
there is no
“passing
grade”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwjones/2619602001/in/photostream/

9. Compound
skill
A
B
C

10. ROUTINE VS ADAPTIVE EXPERTISE

11. d = ½gt2
d
What is d if…
t=2s
g = 10 m / s2

12. Let’s work through it
d=
d=
d=
d=
½gt2
½(10)(2) 2
5*4
20
But I’m sure you could do this faster…

13. 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 can
4. Ready?

14. Dropped from the same height,
ignoring air resistance, which one
hits the ground first?
Other
(1)
(2)
(3)

15. Were we learning an equation or
an underlying concept?

16. 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 can
4. Ready?

17. You’re about to shoot at an apple when it just
starts to fall out of the tree. Where should you aim?
(1)
(2)
(3)

18. Routine Expertise
(context-specific)
Adaptive Expertise
(survives change in context)
Indistinguishable
without change in
context

19. 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

20. Routine expertise comes from
mastering visible behaviour;
adaptive expertise comes from
mastering invisible concepts

21. MISCONCEPTIONS

22. Did you know this?
• The success of Toyota comes from the
cumulative impact of daily kaizen from
every employee

23. How many people agree with this?

24. 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/

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

26. This is not learning
• “blah blah blah A”
• “Yeah, I already knew about B”

27. This is learning
•
•
•
•
“blah blah blah B”
“Yeah, I already knew about B”
“Actually, B is wrong. Blah blah blah A.”
“Huh?”

28. “Yeah, I already knew that” = not
learning
“Huh?” = learning

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

30. Learning starts with unlearning
misconceptions

31. SIMULATIONS VS DELIBERATE
PRACTICE

32. How many people have played an
Agile game / simulation?

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

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

35. What stage is best for
performance?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Unconscious incompetence
Conscious incompetence
Conscious competence
Unconscious competence

36. What stage is best for learning?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Unconscious incompetence
Conscious incompetence
Conscious competence
Unconscious competence

37. There is no learning when you are
in flow

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

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

40. TEACH ONE CONCEPT AT A TIME

41. What’s the better delivery
approach?

42. Why?

43. What’s the better learning
approach?

44. We only have so much working
memory (7+/-2)
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_load

45. 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

46. THEORY VS PRACTICE

47. If someone understands all the
theoretical concepts behind a
skill, but never practices, will
they master the skill?

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

49. Theory without practice means
no skill; practice without
theory means wasted effort

50. So, what’s the role of a teacher?

51. Effective teaching is not about
conveying facts so much as
enabling effective practice and
exploration

52. Share your insights

53. To learn more
• http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_le
t_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html
• http://www.dtic.mil/cgibin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.
pdf&AD=ADA413046
• http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/super/thes
es/PhD(Muller).pdf