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Most tutorial writers are not aware of how to create educational materials. They don't think deeply about the learning objectives (what the reader should be abl
by tedyoung 8y ago
Most tutorial writers are not aware of how to create educational materials. They don't think deeply about the learning objectives (what the reader should be able to do or understand at the end), don't understand how to provide concise working examples, how to "scaffold" learning, and so on. It's often just a dump of the things they learned and maybe how they learned it, but that doesn't mean it'll work for anyone else.
Creating teaching materials (tutorials, documentation, etc.) is hard, and few tutorial writers are getting feedback from actual students/readers. If you're never watched how novices work (and struggle!) with the materials that you've created, you don't really know what's missing or confusing or overwhelming. Even though I've been creating training courses for a long time, I still never know whether I'm making too many assumptions about what the student knows -- this is the "curse of expertise" -- and where they'll get stuck or lost.
(btw, I talk about some of the theory of learning with examples in my "Human Learning" presentation that you can find on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBHctPrH7Z2-BcpRWJ0uFanCbTHqdJ_1T https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBHctPrH7Z2-BcpRWJ0uF...)
- nicobn 8y agoTeaching is a skill and like any other skill, it needs practice. I have immense respect for teachers who have dedicated their lives to perfecting their craft.
- gdubs 8y agoI had this realization after we found a solid preschool for my kid, after having been at one that was just ok. Same with piano lessons. There was this moment where I just went, “oh, that’s how you do it.” Even as someone with the flexibility and time to be a part of my kids’ educational experience, I now have an enormous appreciation for what a good teacher is capable of. They’re almost always several steps ahead of me, introducing concepts I hadn’t thought to introduce, in ways I hadn’t thought of doing it.
- tedyoung 8y agoBut also like learning any skill correctly, one needs knowledge. Feedback during the practice helps a lot to make sure what's being practiced is correct. Teaching, instructional design, curriculum development, etc., these are knowledge-based skills just like programming, but without the automatic corrective feedback that a compiler or automated test gives you.
- scns 8y agoIt is called "the experts blind spot"
- tedyoung 8y agoYes, also known as the "Curse of Expertise" or the "Curse of Knowledge", is a big part of it, but being aware of it is just the start. Understanding how to break down the skill into the pieces that the learner can absorb is one of the hardest things to do.
- cygned 8y agoI think, many teachers either lack important knowledge or they simply don't know that what they know is important to understand the bigger picture. Others include unnecessary information. I teach different courses (database architectures, programming and cloud computing) at universities and the most challenging part is to figure out what questions students might have and how they think differently about contents. I update my course materials and exams every semester based on their feedbacks and based on solutions provided. And you are right, that is not something that one just can do, it's a skill to be learned and needs constant practice.