HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?

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HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?

• Contemporary Principles Concepts Applied to
  Medical Education

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The meaning of knowing has shifted from being
able to remember and repeat information to being
able to find and use it

• Herbert Simon, 1966

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LEARNING Past - Present - Future

• Early 20th century
• 3 Rs
• End of 20th century
• Read critically
• Clear self expression
• Solve complex problems
• Early 21st century
• Knowledge management
• Sustainable learning

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OBJECTIVES

• Describe the basic paradigm of how people learn
• Match teaching-learning methods techniques to
  your context learning objectives
• Describe apply 3-4 methods - techniques to
  activate learning

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CYC HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?
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Nobody tells productions when to act they wait
until conditions are ripe and then activate
themselves. By contrast, chefs in the other
kitchens merely follow orders. Turing units are
nominated by their predecessors, von Neurmann
operations are all prescheduled, and LISP
functions are invoked by other functions.
Production system teamwork is more laissez-faire
each production acts on its own, when and where
its private conditions are satisfied. There is
no central control, and individual productions
never directly interact. All communication and
influence is via patterns in the common workspace
like anonymous to whom it may concern notices
on a public bulletin boards (Haugelan
d, 1985 in Schmidt, 1993)
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Memorize this Text

• A newspaper is better than a magazine. A
  seashore is a better place than the street. At
  first, it is better to run than to walk. You may
  have to try several times. It takes some skills
  but its easy to learn. Even young children can
  enjoy it. Once successful, complications are
  minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain,
  however, soaks very fast. Too many people doing
  the same thing can also cause problems. One
  needs lots of room. If there are no
  complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock
  will serve as an anchor. If things break loose
  from it, however, you will not get a second
  change.

Bransford Johnson, 1972 in Schmidt, 1993.
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Knowledge is Decentralized Linked to Stimulus
Context

• Dog Bike
• Bird School
• Chair Flower
• Man House
• Genoa ESME

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Context Remembering Experiment

• Water - Land
• Land - Water
• Water - Water
• Land - Land

Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley (1975)
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Context Remembering
Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley (1975)
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LEARNING WITH UNDERSTANDING

• 1. Read ? text Lecture
• 2. Did not read text, actively compared data
  lecture
• 3. 2x time working with data no lecture

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PRE-EXISTING KNOWLEDGE

• FOCUS ON PROCESS OF KNOWING
• History shapes receptivity to information
• New knowledge merges with pre-existing knowledge
  in multiple networks
• Teachers need to know and activate students
  history (knowing)

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LESSONS FROM COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

• Problem solving is context bound
• Data collection is influenced by questions being
  entertained
• Context influences understanding remembering
• Timely feedback improves transfer of information

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LEARNING WITH UNDERSTANDING

• Expert problem solving requires rich body of
  knowledge
• Beyond memory
• Usable
• Connected
• Organized around concepts

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LEARNING WITH UNDERSTANDING

• Takes time
• Reorganize understanding with new information
• Test for understanding
• Disconnected facts not sufficient

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Memory and Expertise

• Experts command of concepts shapes understanding
  of new information
• Patterns, Relationships, Discrepancies
• Extract meaning better than novices
• Select and remember relevant information better

Possible Position
Bizarre Position
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ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE

• Core concepts and ideas
• Experts use principles
• Novices use surface features
• Effortless recall of information

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A SIMPLE MODEL OF COMPETENCE
Performance or hands on assessment
Does
Shows how
Written, Oral or Computer based assessment
Knows how
Knows
Miller GE. The assessment of clinical
skills/competence/performance. Academic Medicine
(Supplement) 1990 65 S63-S7.
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META COGNITION(REFLECTION)

• META
• Changed in position or form
• Altered -- Transposed
• Going Beyond, higher
• Substitutions in the 1,3 position in a benzene
  ring

• COGNITION
• The process of knowing in the broadest sense,
  including perception, memory, judgment

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REFLECTION (METACOGNITION)(Adaptive Expertise)

• Monitor own understanding
• Identify new information for understanding
• Consistent with what is known?
• Analogies to advance understanding
• Metaphors

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IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS

• Actively inquire into students thinking
• Create situations to reveal thinking
• Build on their understanding

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CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING AND TRANSFER

• All new learning involves connecting to previous
  learning
• Abstractions help simile metaphor
• Learning is an active process

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CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING AND TRANSFER

• Time to learn
• Deliberate practice
• Importance of feedback in learning
• Contrasting cases- what if
• Context
• Active approaches to transfer level jumping

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IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

• Promote reciprocal teaching
• Explicate-Elaborate-Monitor
• Content expertise ? pedagogical expertise

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LEARNING FOR UNDERSTANDING

• Adequate time
• Deliberate practice with metacognition
  (reflection)
• Feedback about understanding
• Compare contrast
• What if
• Elaboration, Variable Iteration

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THREE TECHNIQUES

• Draw out and work with
• pre-existing understanding
• In-depth teaching, multiple examples
• Reflection on and in action (metacognition) in
  specific subject areas

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TEACHING TECHNIQUES(Making Understanding Visible)

• Consult your colleague
• Reciprocal teaching
• Polling the class
• Frequent formative assessments
• Tap into understanding
• In-depth vs. superficial teaching
• Prototypes

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TEACHING TECHNIQUES(Making Understanding Visible)

• Develop expertise in how students learn your
  subject
• Develop pedagogical expertise
• In-depth assessment
• Emphasize metacognition (reflection)

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TEACHING TECHNIQUESFEEDBACK

• Timely
• Constructive
• Mutually agreed
• Results in a plan
• Supportive
• I You messages

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Knowledge is Decentralized Linked to Stimulus
Context

• Dog
• Bird
• Chair
• Man
• Genoa

• Bike
• School
• Flower
• House
• ESME

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WHAT WILL YOU DO?NEXT STEPS
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PLUS DELTA
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Key Concepts ?
Role of pre-existing knowledge
Context learning
Reflection Metacognition
Match methods your context
Teaching techniques
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OBJECTIVES

• Describe the basic paradigm of how people learn
• Match teaching-learning methods techniques to
  your context learning objectives
• Describe apply 3-4 methods - techniques to
  activate learning

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Additional Resources

• http//hsc.unm.edu/som/TED
• www.menninconsulting.com
• How People Learn Brain, Mind, Experience and
  School (2000) http//www.nap.edu/books/0309070368/
  html/
• BEME bibliography http//www.bemecollaboration.org
  /bemebibl.htm

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Additional Resources

• Dent Harden (eds) (2006). A Practical Guide
  for Medical Teachers. Edinburgh, Elsevier.
• L. Dee Fink (2000). Creating Significant
  Learning Experiences an integrated approach to
  designing college courses. San Francisco,
  Jossey-Bass.
• Bransford Johnson (1972) Journal of verbal
  Learning and Verbal Behavior 11 717-726