Learning by doing in practice

1. Some questions to
ask before designing
training
Roger Schank
Chairman, Socratic Arts Corp
Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University

2. What do experts know how to do?

3. How did they learn to do it?

4. How do you teach it?

5. What kind of students do you want?

6. How do your students behave?

7. What is the role of the teacher?

8. What really happens in classrooms?

9. How does the environment
determine what can be taught?

10. What are students thinking?

11. What is the role of hands on
experience?

12. What is the role of the teacher?

13. How do the conditions dictate what
is taught?

14. How does technology influence what
is taught?

15. Does will technology actually help?

16. What is the real role of technology?

17. How did you learn your expertise?

18. What is the role of experience?

19. Immanuel Kant, The Critique
of Pure Reason
That all our
knowledge begins
with experience
there can be no
doubt. ...no
knowledge of ours is
antecedent to
experience, but
begins with it.

20. Descartes: Rule 1
The end of study should
be to direct the mind
towards the enunciation
of sound and correct
judgements on all
matters that come
before it.

21. What is the role of motivation?

22. How do we define success?

23. What does the student want to
learn?

24. Why does the student want to learn
it?

25. New Technology allows us
to create a new model
Where teachers teach as needed
Where students pursue goals they want to pursue
Where learning is just in time
Where practice is key
Where students learn by doing
Where tests are about performance not competence

28. Learning on line is a
“one on many” experience
Mentoring is one on one
Teachers teach Socratically
Teams divide work according to abilities
Designers anticipate where on line help will be found
Learning is “just in time”

31. Yes, very nice…
Can we actually do this?
We have done it at:
Carnegie Mellon West
Trump University
Deloitte, Pfizer, First Union, GE, IBM
Many Government Organizations

32. Some design
suggestions

33. Give students stories to tell

34. Don’t copy school

35. Don’t imagine that
People can learn by being told

36. Think about scenarios

37. Present good examples of doing

38. Enable participation

39. start with an understanding of the
usual student mistakes

40. Create fictional worlds that allow
students to make detailed decisions

41. The story centered curriculum is
a voyage

42. The Voyage depends upon use of
proper feedback methods

43. Things to remember about
learning

44. Learning cannot
take place without
real driving goals

45. Learning should be an
exciting experience

46. Learning cannot take
place in an hour

47. Good learning designs
depend upon “just in
time” mentoring

48. Good learning designs
include teamwork

49. Learning is a one on
one experience

50. Learning requires
interaction

51. Learning begins with good
design

52. consider the experiences you want
your students to have

53. Just say “no”

54. roger@socraticarts.com