Design for How People Learn summary

Introduction

Designed for how people learn by Julie Dirksen Effective teaching requires understanding how people learn. Contrary to popular belief, education does not just end once you leave the classroom. Technology, innovation, and knowledge are all progressing rapidly. To keep up and stay competitive, we all need to be lifelong learners.

Have you ever dozed off over a tedious textbook or found yourself checking social media during an online module? Then you know that not all learning experiences are well designed. Luckily, this summary will help you avoid the trap of creating dull, ineffective lessons. This summary will help you understand how students learn.

You will also learn how memory works and how good lesson design creates memorable learning experiences.

Understanding Your Audience

Understanding Your Audience. Great teachers know their students as well as their topic. Let us first meet a designer named Sven. He is head of graphic design at a fancy startup.

He is about to lead a group of new hires into a typography workshop. He has done a lot of preparation. If anything, he is over prepared. He is excited to share what he knows.

So, when he gets started, he does not even bother with introductions. Instead, he decides to launch right into the exciting stuff. He talks about the difference between a typeface and a font. He discusses the merits of serif versus sans serif, and he explains exactly what kerning is.

But therein lies the main problem. Sven knows a lot about typography. However, he does not know anything about his students. Before Sven began teaching, he should have gouged how much his students already knew.

That way, he might have found out that Juanita in the front row is a typesetting nerd. She has strong feelings about Helvetica. Liam in the back does not know anything past this. He used Time's New Roman for his college essays.

Learning about your students allows you to pitch your course content to their skill level. It also helps you tailor it to their motivations. So, before you start teaching, here are a few initial steps to get to know your audience better. First, try to establish whether you are dealing with a skills gap or a knowledge gap or both.

Let us say your class is on hiking the Appalachian Trail. A practiced hiker already has the skills to tackle the trail. They simply lack specific knowledge. For instance, what is the best route?

What weather conditions should they prepare for? But a novice hiker will lack skills as well as knowledge. You will need to teach them the basics, like how to lace up their hiking boots before you move on to anything specific. You should lead them through a few basic short hikes.

Then you move on to multi-day hikes, before you let them attempt a 2,000-mile-plus rote. Next, check in on the learner's motivation. A motivated learner is more likely to excel than an unmotivated one. Teaching French to a Francophile means they are already excited and engaged.

But what if you are teaching French to someone with a passion for bassoon? Well, you can always direct them to the nearest bassoon class. Then again, they might have to learn French, say for dealing with French clients at work. Sometimes, that is motivation enough.

But in case it is not, tying your course material to your learner's interests is a useful strategy. It might mean you stay up all night preparing a lesson. This lesson is about the 18th century French bassoonist Adolphe Blaise. Yes, he is indeed a real person.

But you will probably see a payoff in the classroom. The point is, keep learning about your students long after the initial round of introductions. In particular, aim for a two-way flow of information throughout the course. Ask them to explain concepts and demonstrate skills.

You will easily be able to see who has grasped the material. You will see who needs some more help and who has misunderstood and needs correction quickly. Finally, give your students input into the course wherever possible. Ask them to vote on how the course is paced or structured.

This creates a sense of ownership. If you have experts and beginners, allow experienced students to opt out. They can skip sessions teaching something they already know. The best teachers are not the ones that know their topic inside out.

They are the ones who know their students inside out, too.