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> Is Bloom's "Two Sigma" phenomenon real? ... one-on-one tutoring using mastery learning led to a two sigma(!) improvement in student performance. When I tutor

> Is Bloom's "Two Sigma" phenomenon real? ... one-on-one tutoring using mastery learning led to a two sigma(!) improvement in student performance. When I tutored, I found students often had some misunderstanding, somewhere. So my task was to listen, to find that misunderstanding, so I could correct it. This "teaching" is listening, more than talking. The idea is they are lost, but to know what direction they need, I first must know where they are. To correct misunderstanding without this guidance can be very difficult, and might only happen serendipitiously, years later... assuming they continue with study. Which an unidentified misunderstanding can prevent. Recently, I'm seeing the other side, while self-learning some maths. I can see how much one-on-one tutoring would help clear up misunderstandings. Instead, I'm using the strategy of insisting on starting from the basics, chasing down each detail as much as I can, using online resources, and working out proofs for myself. Each step is a journey in itself... Luckily, I have enough skill, confidence, motivation and time. By working it out myself, I think I'm also gaining a depth of understanding I could not get from a tutor's guidance. But it sure would be a lot more efficient! [ PS I haven't yet read the two pdf's in the question ]

JepZ 8y ago
I think the One-on-One Tutoring things is something the AI current movement could make a difference. Everybody seems to be obsessed with building really cool stuff, but our teaching system is quite obsolete and could get better by adding smart systems. That said I must to add, that I am referring to teaching humans who are 12 years and older (IMHO young kids require physical interaction if you want to avoid psychological conditions).
- ai_ia 8y ago
  I am working to solve this by creating a conversation bot based interface that can make personalized learning viable. If you are interested for updates you can sign up here: https://tinyletter.com/primerlabs/ https://tinyletter.com/primerlabs/ P.S: I was supposed launch a month back. But a lot of rewrites made it difficult. For now, I can say I will be launching soon.
- germinalphrase 8y ago
  I agree, generally; however, I believe the lownhanging fruit is in assistive tools for teachers. The commenter above made a good point about the value of removing barriers to learning as a primary asset of a good teacher. People tend to focus on content knowledge/curriculum as the mark of good teaching, but removing barriers is the real, difficult work. Tools that assist the instructor in understanding their students’, their students’ knowledge, and their learning behaviors would be valuable. Don’t focus on content delivery. Focus on making in-class assessment more frequent and trustable. Focus on tools that assist an instructor understand thirty students as they might understand five.
- monk_e_boy 8y ago
  As a teacher -- yes! More of a life coach, someone who rewards you for good decisions, eating well, homework, being kind etc
mikekchar 8y ago
I tend to believe in some of Stephen Krashen's notions of language acquisition. Specifically that there is a difference between learning (being able to remember and repeat something) and acquisition (being able to use it fluently). Also that acquisition comes from comprehension. I also believe that language acquisition is no different than any the acquisition of any other skill. Many people don't agree with these ideas, but I'm laying it out as my assumptions before I start :-) With that in mind, one of the interesting findings in language acquisition studies is that when free reading (reading things for pleasure), it takes 95% comprehension of the text in order to acquire new grammar and vocabulary in context (quite a bit higher than most people imagine -- which is one of the reason people advance a lot more slowly than they might otherwise). With that, just like your experience, the key to teaching is to ensure that the student comprehends at least 95% of what you are saying. The only way to ensure this is by constantly testing their comprehension with a two way dialog. Once a very high level of comprehension is reached, and once enough repetition happens to remember the thing, you will acquire the knowledge. It is incredibly difficult to do this unless you are teaching 1:1. There is a special technique called "circling" that you can use to teach language to a larger number of students and it worked extremely well for me. I still can't effectively do it for more than about 10 or 15 though. If you think in a 45 minute class, if I have 15 students, then each student gets 3 minutes of my time. It's not actually surprising that classes of 30 or 40 basically impossible. Quick note: I'm no longer teaching, in case it is unclear from the above.
- singularity2001 8y ago
  > it takes 95% comprehension of the text in order to acquire new grammar and vocabulary strongly disagree. learning chinese by youtube. I comprehend 15% but I pick up new patterns and words all the time.
  - pchristensen 8y ago
    Any good sources you recommend for learning Chinese on YouTube? I’m just getting started with HelloChinese and Fluent Forever - watching video seems too deep for now.
decasteve 8y ago
> Recently, I'm seeing the other side, while self-learning some maths. I can see how much one-on-one tutoring would help clear up misunderstandings. Instead, I'm using the strategy of insisting on starting from the basics, chasing down each detail as much as I can, using online resources, and working out proofs for myself. Each step is a journey in itself... I did this for a while and gave up the self-learning aspect and went to university to study math part-time. I have the utmost respect for anyone who has the patience to push through it on their own. Some things I can learn on my own but higher maths I couldn't--at least with any degree of efficiency.
_hardwaregeek 8y ago
Tutoring is often the only time that a student will sit down for a dedicated amount of time and study without distractions. As much as I want to believe in my own value as a tutor (and I do think there is some value), I will admit that a fair portion of the benefit is just having someone force the student to study.
posterboy 8y ago
I think listening is also valuable because verbalizing a problem often brings up misconceptions or helps internalizing the idea and thus leads to a solution, maybe with a nudge in the right direction if that's expected in a dialog, thus not going the full way. I had that experience sometimes when preparing a question to ask on-line. Sometimes it becomes clear when trying to see it from the other direction of the listener, or researching the problem space to phrase the question properly yields unexpected results.

JepZ 8y ago

I think the One-on-One Tutoring things is something the AI current movement could make a difference. Everybody seems to be obsessed with building really cool stuff, but our teaching system is quite obsolete and could get better by adding smart systems. That said I must to add, that I am referring to teaching humans who are 12 years and older (IMHO young kids require physical interaction if you want to avoid psychological conditions).

ai_ia 8y ago
I am working to solve this by creating a conversation bot based interface that can make personalized learning viable. If you are interested for updates you can sign up here: https://tinyletter.com/primerlabs/ https://tinyletter.com/primerlabs/ P.S: I was supposed launch a month back. But a lot of rewrites made it difficult. For now, I can say I will be launching soon.
germinalphrase 8y ago
I agree, generally; however, I believe the lownhanging fruit is in assistive tools for teachers. The commenter above made a good point about the value of removing barriers to learning as a primary asset of a good teacher. People tend to focus on content knowledge/curriculum as the mark of good teaching, but removing barriers is the real, difficult work. Tools that assist the instructor in understanding their students’, their students’ knowledge, and their learning behaviors would be valuable. Don’t focus on content delivery. Focus on making in-class assessment more frequent and trustable. Focus on tools that assist an instructor understand thirty students as they might understand five.
monk_e_boy 8y ago
As a teacher -- yes! More of a life coach, someone who rewards you for good decisions, eating well, homework, being kind etc

mikekchar 8y ago

I tend to believe in some of Stephen Krashen's notions of language acquisition. Specifically that there is a difference between learning (being able to remember and repeat something) and acquisition (being able to use it fluently). Also that acquisition comes from comprehension. I also believe that language acquisition is no different than any the acquisition of any other skill. Many people don't agree with these ideas, but I'm laying it out as my assumptions before I start :-) With that in mind, one of the interesting findings in language acquisition studies is that when free reading (reading things for pleasure), it takes 95% comprehension of the text in order to acquire new grammar and vocabulary in context (quite a bit higher than most people imagine -- which is one of the reason people advance a lot more slowly than they might otherwise). With that, just like your experience, the key to teaching is to ensure that the student comprehends at least 95% of what you are saying. The only way to ensure this is by constantly testing their comprehension with a two way dialog. Once a very high level of comprehension is reached, and once enough repetition happens to remember the thing, you will acquire the knowledge. It is incredibly difficult to do this unless you are teaching 1:1. There is a special technique called "circling" that you can use to teach language to a larger number of students and it worked extremely well for me. I still can't effectively do it for more than about 10 or 15 though. If you think in a 45 minute class, if I have 15 students, then each student gets 3 minutes of my time. It's not actually surprising that classes of 30 or 40 basically impossible. Quick note: I'm no longer teaching, in case it is unclear from the above.

singularity2001 8y ago
> it takes 95% comprehension of the text in order to acquire new grammar and vocabulary strongly disagree. learning chinese by youtube. I comprehend 15% but I pick up new patterns and words all the time.
- pchristensen 8y ago
  Any good sources you recommend for learning Chinese on YouTube? I’m just getting started with HelloChinese and Fluent Forever - watching video seems too deep for now.

decasteve 8y ago

> Recently, I'm seeing the other side, while self-learning some maths. I can see how much one-on-one tutoring would help clear up misunderstandings. Instead, I'm using the strategy of insisting on starting from the basics, chasing down each detail as much as I can, using online resources, and working out proofs for myself. Each step is a journey in itself... I did this for a while and gave up the self-learning aspect and went to university to study math part-time. I have the utmost respect for anyone who has the patience to push through it on their own. Some things I can learn on my own but higher maths I couldn't--at least with any degree of efficiency.

_hardwaregeek 8y ago

Tutoring is often the only time that a student will sit down for a dedicated amount of time and study without distractions. As much as I want to believe in my own value as a tutor (and I do think there is some value), I will admit that a fair portion of the benefit is just having someone force the student to study.

posterboy 8y ago

I think listening is also valuable because verbalizing a problem often brings up misconceptions or helps internalizing the idea and thus leads to a solution, maybe with a nudge in the right direction if that's expected in a dialog, thus not going the full way. I had that experience sometimes when preparing a question to ask on-line. Sometimes it becomes clear when trying to see it from the other direction of the listener, or researching the problem space to phrase the question properly yields unexpected results.