We used to think that everyone could teach. That if someone is a good professional and expert in her field, she will be a good instructor, teacher, or mentor. And that she will easily transfer her knowledge to others. This view is far from reality and harms. Every time there are new (and not that new) teachers and educators who get into this trap. Teaching is a profession that should be mastered like any other one. At this talk, we will try to answer the following questions. What are the main challenges while teaching adults? How to take into account our cognitive abilities and brain’s behavior while designing a learning experience for your students? How and when does it better to use the ed-tech tools to leverage the study process? This talk was delivered at Engageducate conference from Softserve University

1. Learning for the adult brain
Oleksii Molchanovskyi
Ukrainian Catholic University
#ENGAGEDUCATE
November 10, 2020

2. About myself
● Academic Program Director of
MSc in Data Science at the
Ukrainian Catholic University
● Teach a course on Algorithms
and Data Structures at UCU
● Co-founder of the Ukrainian
MOOC platform Prometheus
● Interests:
○ Higher education
○ Artificial Intelligence
○ Brain studies
● Technoskeptic

3. What is the main difference between
human and modern artificial intelligence?

4. Context is the king
Based on Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust

5. What is the difference between
child and adult brain?

6. “The adult brain does not function like an audio or video recorder…
The brain is suffused with a vast number of networks through which
it sorts out all incoming information.
Any information already stored influences how and what we
understand and eventually learn.
Your brain tries to make connections.”
Source: Active Training: A Handbook of Techniques, Designs, Case Examples, and Tips. 4th edition

7. If the brain could talk, it would say things like:
● Where does this information fit?
● Does it confirm what I already know?
● Does it challenge what I already know?
Source: Active Training: A Handbook of Techniques, Designs, Case Examples, and Tips. 4th edition

8. The traditional stand and delivery
approach is brain antagonistic. The brain
is not very good at absorbing countless
bits of factual information
-- Eric Jensen. Brain-Based Learning

9. Can neuroscience help?

10. Jeff Hawkins
Numenta

11. Neocortex homogeneity
● All areas of the neocortex look the same because they perform
the same basic function
Source: Jeff Hawkins Human Brain Project Summit Keynote: "Location, Location, Location - A Framework for Intelligence and Cortical Computation"

12. Neocortex homogeneity
● All areas of the neocortex look the same because they perform
the same basic function
● What makes one region visual and another auditory is what it is
connected to
● The main conclusion:
a brain stores, seeks, and reveals information in sequences

14. Source: grahamfink.com

15. What are the possible outcomes for
teaching and training?

16. 1. Do not split the sequences

17. 2. Storytelling is important

18. 3. Tell your students about this
knowledge

19. The enlargement consists, not merely in the
passive reception into the mind of a number
of ideas hitherto unknown to it, but in the
mindss energetic and simultaneous action
upon and towards and among those new
ideas, which are rushing in upon it.
-- John Henry Newman. Idea of University

20. It’s not what you give them;
it’s what they take away that counts.
-- Mel Silberman

22. Confucius triad
● What I hear, I forget
● What I see, I remember
● What I do, I understand

23. Active training extension by Mel Silberman
● When I only hear, I forget
● When I hear and see, I remember a little
● When I hear, see, ask questions, and discuss, I begin to
understand
● When I hear, see, question, discuss, and do, I acquire
knowledge and skill
● When I teach someone, I master what I have learned
Source: Active Training: A Handbook of Techniques, Designs, Case Examples, and Tips. 4th edition

24. The act of learning begins with a
question

25. Encourage your students to ask questions

26. Do you able to design your class
so that the students teach each other?
What will you introduce to your class so
that the students teach each other?

27. Technology is not the solution...
...it’s only a tiny part of it.
● When you master the active training principles, you will not
need a specific tool to use active training in your classes
● Active training is not about tools but about teacher/instructor
mindset

28. If you want to become technoskeptic too...
at least in education, try this website:
hackeducation.com

29. my steps for
How to design a good class?

30. 1. Know your audience
their goals and interests,
previous background

31. 2. Clarify your learning outcomes
what will the students take away
from your classes?

32. 3. Design your lesson on a minute scale
introduce breaks, questions, discussions

33. 4. Pay attention to the timing
polish your lesson plan

34. 5. Gather feedbacks
oral or written

35. Resume
● Context is the king
● Sequential nature of the human brain
○ Do not split the sequence
● “It’s not what you give them; it’s what they take away that counts”
○ Give them less but more
● The act of learning begins with a question
○ Stimulate the students to answer and discuss your questions
○ Encourage them to ask their questions
● Technology is not the solution

36. Thank you!
olexiim@ucu.edu.ua