From: The Washington Post
What’s the most ‘natural’ way to learn? It might surprise you
The Washington Post:
Here is a counterintuitive piece on what we consider the “natural” way to learn, from cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham. He is a professor and director of graduate studies in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” His latest book is “When Can You Trust The Experts? How to tell good science from bad in education.” This appeared on his Science and Education blog.
Which of these learning situations strikes you as the most natural, the most authentic?
1) A child learns to play a video game by exploring it on his own.
2) A child learns to play a video game by watching a more experienced player.
3) A child learns to play a video game by being taught by a more experienced player.
In my experience, a lot people of take the first of these scenarios to be the most natural type of learning—we explore on our own. The third scenario has its place, but direct instruction from someone is a bit contrived compared to our own experience.
Read the whole story: The Washington Post
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