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Creating Passionate Users: Crash course in learning theory

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Saved by 103 people (29 private), first by anonymouse user on 2006-03-02


Public Comment

on 2006-07-31 by jaoverla

en utmerket blogg om læring

on 2006-09-12 by marshallk

from rudivs

on 2006-10-25 by vahidm

what is learning? how does it work?

on 2006-11-14 by mikeheth

ABC of interesting instruction.

on 2007-08-31 by dstanford

A great, broad summary of key learning principles used to teach effectively

Public Sticky notes

One formula (of many) for a successful blog is to create a "learning blog". A blog that shares what you know, to help others. Even--or especially--if that means giving away your "secrets". Teaching people to do what you do is one of the best ways we know to grow an audience--an audience of users you want to help.

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So, as promised in an earlier post, here's a crash course on some of our favorite learning techniques gleaned from cognitive science, learning theory, neuroscience, psychology, and entertainment (including game design).

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Talk to the brain first,

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And to the brain, a dry, dull, academic explanation is definitely CRAP (regardless of how much your mind cares about the topic).

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Learners are not "empty vessels"

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co-creation

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your job is to create an environment where the chances of the learner "getting it" in the way that you intend are as high as possible.

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Real-life learning is never terse; it's choas and confusion punctuated with moments of insight ("Ah-ha!") and clarity. It's a wave, not a straight line.

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To find a "meaningful benefit", play the "Why? Who Cares? So What?" game

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evidence that suggests your brain behaves this way even if the "conversation" is between a human (you) and a book or computer screen (or lecture).

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Redundancy doesn't mean repetition--it means "say the same thing again, but differently." And "differently" can mean:
* From a different perspective.
* Using a different information channel (channels include things like Graphics, Examples, Prose explanations, step-by-step instruction/tutorial, case studies, exercises, summaries, bullet points, commentary, devil's advocate, Q & A, personal POV, etc.)

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the more senses you engage, the greater the potential for retention and recall

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he benefit and/or reason why you should learn something needs to come before the actual content.

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Surpriselearning_1

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Picturesandwordschart

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Crash course in learning theory

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Talk to the brain first, mind second.

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the learner's brain will do everything possible to look for something more interesting.

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Talk to the brain first, mind second.Brain_3
Even if a learner is personally motivated to learn a topic, if the learning content itself isn't motivating, the learner's brain will do everything possible to look for something more interesting. This applies to both getting and keeping attention, as well as memory. Remember, you can't do anything until you get past the brain's crap filter! And to the brain, a dry, dull, academic explanation is definitely CRAP (regardless of how much your mind cares about the topic).

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• Provide a meaningful benefit for each topic, in the form of "why you should care about this" scenario.

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Learners are not "empty vessels" waiting to be filled with content pushed into it by an expert, blogger, author, etc. Learning is something that happens between the learner's ears--it's a form of co-creation between the learner and the learning experience. You can't create new pathways in someone's head... your job is to create an environment where the chances of the learner "getting it" in the way that you intend are as high as possible.

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learner's brain knows why what you're about to talk about matters.

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Provide a meaningful benefit for each topic, in the form of "why you should care about this" scenario.
Learning is much more effective if the learner's brain knows why what you're about to talk about matters. The benefit and/or reason why you should learn something needs to come before the actual content. Otherwise, the learner's brain gets to the end of what you're telling them and says, "Oh, NOW you tell me. If you'd said that earlier, I would have paid more attention..." This process of not-paying-attention is not completely within the learner's conscious control so, like I said, even if the person is motivated to learn this thing, their brain can still tune out during specific parts that don't start with a compelling benefit.

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"Why? Who Cares? So What?

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The most compelling and motivating reason/benefit is almost always the thing you say only after you've answered at least three "Yeah, but WHY do I care?" questions.

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The most compelling and motivating reason/benefit is almost always the thing you say only after you've answered at least three "Yeah, but WHY do I care?" questions.

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Use visuals!
Picturesandwordschart
We are all visual creatures, and the brian can process visual information far more efficiently than words. These pictures can come in many forms:
* Info graphic or diagram
* Visual metaphor
* Picture of the thing being described, with annotations
* Picture of the end state
* Picture designed to create attention and recall

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Use conversational language.
Conversationalwords
The brain pays more attention when it thinks it's in a conversation and must "hold up its end." And there's evidence that suggests your brain behaves this way even if the "conversation" is between a human (you) and a book or computer screen (or lecture).

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Take the learner down a garden path where everything makes perfect sense until it explodes.

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Use mistakes, failures, and counter-intuitive WTF?
Wtfgirl
People usually learn much more from failures than from being shown everything working correctly or as expected.
The most memorable learning experiences are usually those where things are going along fine, making sense, etc. when you suddenly slam into something that goes terribly wrong. Describing the things that do NOT work is often more effective than showing how things DO work. (We call this the "WTF learning principle").

But showing is even better than describing. And even better than showing is letting the learner experience. Take the learner down a garden path where everything makes perfect sense until it explodes. They are far more likely to remember than if you simply say, "Oh, and be sure you do it such and such a way."

It's tempting to want to protect the learners from the bumps and scrapes experienced in the real world, but in many cases (with many topics) you aren't doing the learner any favors.

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Use the filmaker (and novelist) principle of SHOW-don't-TELL.
Rather than lecture about the details of how something works, let them experience how it works by walking them through a story or scenario, where they can feel the bumps along the way.

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Use "chunking" to reduce cognitive overhead.

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One of the best ways to find out what newcomers struggle with is to visit online discussion forums for beginners in your topic. This is also a great way to come up with a table-of-contents or topic list, because what you THINK should be a no-brainer might be the one thing everyone gets stuck on, and what you think would be confusing could turn out to be easy for most people.

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by grouping the symbols into a meaningful, memorable pattern, we reduce the number of individual (and potentially arbitrary) things you have to memorize, and increase the chances.

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Those who have taught a topic have a big advantage writing about it--they've fielded the questions and watched people struggle.

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f you're writing reference material (like this post), witholding will just piss people off. But in a learning experience, you want a page-turner.

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YOU are not necessarily the best judge of how your audience will learn the topic. And empathy rarely helps -- you cannot truly put yourself in someone else's shoes unless their brain and background are a very close match for yours. You have to find out what your learners are struggling with, and suspend any judgement about "This should be a no-brainer."

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Use seduction, charm, mystery to build curiosity.

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We're hard-wired to pay attention and pursue things we're attracted to. This isn't about selling them on an idea--it's about helping them stay engaged and learning. Knowing what--and when--to withold is one of the most powerful tools you have. If you're writing reference material (like this post), witholding will just piss people off. But in a learning experience, you want a page-turner. And don't even think about suggesting that "page-turner" doesn't apply to, say, technical material. If the purpose is learning, the learner has to stay engaged. It's up to you to craft an experience that keeps them hooked. This engagement might be within a single post, or you might offer little cliffhangers or teasers to keep them engaged across multiple posts, if that's what it takes to cover a topic.

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Each iteration through the spiral should start with a meaningful, motivating goal, followed by the interaction/activity/reading that moves you toward that goal, followed by a meaningful payoff. Ideally, the "meaningful payoff" leads right into the next motivating goal.

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Use a spiral model to keep users engaged.
Spiralexperiencemodel_2
Game developers know the importance of "The Next Level", and learning experiences must do the same. Each iteration through the spiral should start with a meaningful, motivating goal, followed by the interaction/activity/reading that moves you toward that goal, followed by a meaningful payoff. Ideally, the "meaningful payoff" leads right into the next motivating goal.

For example, in a game the payoff for completing a level might be "You Get A New Weapon". But now that you have that new weapon, here's the cool new thing you can do that you couldn't do before. Learning doesn't need to be any different. "Imagine you want to do X on your website..." is the goal that starts the topic, but when the topic is complete, the learning content can say, "Now that you have THAT new [superpower capability], wouldn't it be cool if you could do Y?" And off they go into the next round of learning.

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Things that encourage deeper thinking are those that cause the learner to categorize, organize, apply, infer, evaluate, etc. Don't be afraid to pose questions that you don't answer right away.

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Be brutal, be brave, be relentless in what you leave out.

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Don't rob the learner of the opportunity to think!
Opportunitytothink
Rather than simply spelling everything out step by step, ask questions, pose multiple and potentially conflicting viewpoints, show the topic from different perspectives, and set up scenarios (and possibly exercises) that allow the learner to use deeper brain processing. Things that encourage deeper thinking are those that cause the learner to categorize, organize, apply, infer, evaluate, etc. Don't be afraid to pose questions that you don't answer right away.

Think back to those teachers you had who would ask a question then immediately answer it, as opposed to those who would answer a question then just sit there... waiting...

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One of the many ways to help tap into emotions (and increase attention and memory) is to use the brain's reaction to faces.

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Use the 80/20 principle to reduce cognitive overload.
8020chartsmall
It's far more important that they nail the key things than be exposed to everything. Be brutal, be brave, be relentless in what you leave out. Knowing what NOT to include is more important in learning design than knowing what TO include.

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Context matters.
Try to place facts, concepts, procedures, examples in a bigger context. Even if you've already discussed the context, don't be afraid to repeat that context again. For example, instead of always showing code snippets, show the code within the larger context of where it usually appears. Highlight the code you're focused on by bolding it, putting it in a box, etc., so that the learner is not overwhelmed by the amount of code, and can focus on just the part you're talking about, but still be able to see how that new code relates to the rest of the code. Our rule of thumb in our books is to show the same code context two or three times before switching to just the snippets (although this rule varies greatly with the type of code).

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Emotion matters!
Shockedface
People learn and remember that which they FEEL. Look back at what you've written and if it's dry and lifeless, try to inject some energy. Dry, academic, formal, lecture-style writing is usually the WORST form of learning content.

One of the many ways to help tap into emotions (and increase attention and memory) is to use the brain's reaction to faces. Almost any kind of face with a strong expression evokes a part of the brain reserved just for processing faces. The ability to accurately recognize faces and read facial expressions is a key element of survival for the brain...
Facesmad
Babypicface


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anything associated with fun has a greater chance of being remembered.

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By varying the pace--and type--of learning content, you give a user's brain the chance to let one part rest while the other part takes over. For example, follow a heavy left-brain technical procedure with a big-picture example/story that covers the same topic.

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Never underestimate the power of FUN to keep people engaged.
Havingfun
The act of having fun is also an emotion, so anything associated with fun has a greater chance of being remembered.

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Use stories.
Humans have been learning from stories for, well, a really really really long time. Millenia longer than we've been learning from lectures on just the data and information. When we say "stories", we don't necessarily mean actual fictional "John's network went down just as he was plugging in the...", although those do work. But a "story" can simply mean that you're asking the learner to imagine herself wanting to do a particular thing, and then offering an experience of what that would be like if she were actually trying to accomplish it, with all the ups, downs, false leads, etc. (but again, with less of the actual pain she might experience in real life). A flight simulator, for example, is a kind of story.You aren't just up there learning the controls; you're actually flying in a particular storyline.

If you're a software developer, another way to think about story-driven learning is to map use-cases to learning stories. Base your learning content around individual use-cases, and put the learner in the center of the use-case. One easy trick for designing story-driven learning is to start each topic with something like, "Imagine you want to do..." and then walk though that experience. It makes the learning organic and real, and helps make sure you get rid of the stuff that doesn't need to be there. If it doesn't show up in a use-case/story, are you so sure you should be teaching it?

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Remember, it's never about you. It's about how the learner feels about himself as a result of the learning experience

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se pacing and vary the parts of the brain you're exercising.
Timingandpacing
Learning--and especially memorization--doesn't happen at an even pace. Brains--or especially parts of brains--get tired and lose focus. By varying the pace--and type--of learning content, you give a user's brain the chance to let one part rest while the other part takes over. For example, follow a heavy left-brain technical procedure with a big-picture example/story that covers the same topic. This helps the learner's memory in two different ways--the redundancy means two different chances to save the information, and the fact that you gave one part of the brain a break while shifting to a different part keeps their brain working longer without fatigue.

Think about it--if you hopped up and down on your right foot repeatedly, that right leg would give up after fewer repetitions than if you kept switching from right to left. Pacing--by frequently switching which parts of your body (or in this case, brain) you're using--lets you stay fresher for a longer period.

Also, recording something to long-term memory is rarely instant (although the stronger the associated emotion, the faster (and more likely) your brain is to record it). Memory is a physical/chemical process that happens after you've been exposed to something, and if anything interrupts the process, the memory is not stored. That's why people with serious head injuries often cannot remember what took place just prior to the injury--the process of recording those things to long-term memory was stopped.

If you want someone to remember something, you must give them a chance to process that memory. Relentlessly presenting new, tough information (like tons of code and complex concepts) without also including chances to reflect, process, think, apply, review, etc. virtually guarantees that much of the learning will be forgotten.

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Remember, it's never about you. It's about how the learner feels about himself as a result of the learning experience.
Notaboutyou
Don't use learning content as a chance to show off your knowledge--that virtually guarantees your content won't be user-friendly. Use it as a chance to help someone's life a little.


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The most compelling and motivating reason/benefit is almost always the thing you say only after you've answered at least three "Yeah, but WHY do I care?" questions.

BAM! I instantly remembered a college-level database course I took last year.

The first day of class was exceedingly boring. The instructor went over getting SQL server to run, some basic syntax and finally got us working with a small database.

It wasn't until five minutes before class ended that she said something like,

Now this is a small database. But imagine if you had 1,000 records, or 100,000 records! You could save yourself hours upon hours of tedious and error prone work!

NOW YOU TELL ME! :)

I had a sneaking suspicion the entire class that she was going about presenting the material the wrong way.

I had like two years worth of SQL experience coming into the class, but there were some beginners in there, and I could tell they were asking themselves, "Why the hell did I sign up for this?"

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- Reverse roles
Let the student be the teacher for some things. Whether its as simple as letting a student answer another student's question on a previously covered topic or letting (making?) the student come up and present on a topic with Q&A afterwards.

- Share the learning
Let the students get together in small groups and share what they've learned. This one can be sort of magical because the student will not only try and recall the information but will recall the learning experience as well. "I really like the way she related pointers to the postal address system." This is why I think seminars are awesome for learning. People sit through various seminars and in the breaks and pauses they will talk about it with the other attendees.

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Recognizing what is and isn't working is the first step, knowing WHY is even better.

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"Why not link to some academic quantitative research to back up your assertions (it would make them more believable)."

Wally, I keep asking myself if that is what makes things believable.We have so much quantitative research. It is coming out of our ears and our kids are still not reading any better. Making a big deal out of learning to read and quantifying it misses the point of reading. Why spend years doing in school what a kid can pick up in a few hours?

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I come from the academic education setting, and maybe because of that I am so skeptical of what mass schooling is capable of. At home I have a "kick ass" nine year old reader who reads way beyond her level, and a five year old just beginning to discover the joy of being able to read on his own. He runs with his book and reads to me in the kitchen, on the couch, and even in the bathroom. Our house is full of books. I will never know what would have happened if I had left the job entirely to school. We have been reading to them since they could sit and hold their heads up.

Maybe the problem is leaving the reading to be taught in school. We break it into measurable discreet units for the comfort of teachers, for school board accountability records, and for bar charts at the Ministry of Education. We teach those discreet units instead of what fires up kids imaginations and gets them emotionally involved. We write boring books with measured words so we can neatly stack them in reading levels which will allow us to do some "credible' quantitative research. While we are limiting the variables and setting ourselves up to be able to conduct better quantitative research, we are impoverishing the child's experience and undermining their intellect. Unfortunately that doesn't do much for the kids. They love complexity and grasping big ideas. We must be kidding if we think we can dissect the bunny and in the process find out what it would have been like to have it as a pet.

Then there are the attitudes to reading. We went to the Nutcracker this Christmas for the first time. I could not help but notice that in the scene with the opening of the presents, Fritz (Marie's brother) got a book. He walked to the front of the stage, threw the book on the floor and stomped on it. I am running into such attitudes to books that are written with the purpose of hooking children on reading.

So yes, we know good teaching when we see it, but then we try to analyze it and quantify it and we make it worse. It is important to approach some things with a sense that we do not have to understand them entirely, even though it may be a worthy exercise trying to.

What do you think?

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in the book Lazerus hasn't learned how to read - in part because of the absolute stress of his home life and his inability to focus in class. However he starts making progress when he is moved to a less stressful environment, his self-confidence is boosted, and he gets a book that interests him. Emotional response and interest took him from stumbling over syllables to reading to writing letters, to starting a whole chain of actions that changed other peoples lives.

I suspect that the reading isn't happening because it isn't interesting and it isn't aimed at the children themselves. I don't know how it is in the UK but in the US there is a lot of "teaching to the test". You really want to teach to the student and the test will take care of itself.

Why was it working before? Perhaps parents were more involved, reading was more essential and/or the books used were more topical to the students.

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It’s amazing how much mental construction a wavy line and some labels can add to a block of text.

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