HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?
•Contemporary Principles & Concepts
Applied to Medical Education
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
The meaning of knowing has
shifted from being able to
remember and repeat information
to being able to find and use it
Herbert Simon, 1966
LEARNING:
Past - Present - Future
•Early 20th century
•3 Rs
•End of 20th century
•Read critically
•Clear self expression
•Solve complex problems
•Early 21st century
•Knowledge management
•Sustainable learning
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
OBJECTIVES
• Describe the basic paradigm of how
people learn
• Match teaching-learning methods &
techniques to your context & learning
objectives
• Describe & apply 3-4 methods techniques to activate learning
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
CYC: HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN?
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
“Nobody tells productions when to act; they wait until
conditions are ripe and then activate themselves. By
contrast, chefs in the other kitchens merely follow orders.
Turing units are nominated by their predecessors, von
Neurmann operations are all prescheduled, and LISP
functions are invoked by other functions. Production
system teamwork is more laissez-faire: each production
acts on its own, when and where its private conditions
are satisfied. There is no central control, and individual
productions never directly interact. All communication
and influence is via patterns in the common workspace –
like anonymous “to whom it may concern” notices on a
public bulletin boards”
(Haugeland, 1985 in Schmidt, 1993)
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Memorize this Text
A newspaper is better than a magazine. A
seashore is a better place than the street. At first,
it is better to run than to walk. You may have to
try several times. It takes some skills but it’s easy
to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once
successful, complications are minimal. Birds
seldom get too close. Rain, however, soaks very
fast. Too many people doing the same thing can
also cause problems. One needs lots of room. If
there are no complications, it can be very
peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things
break loose from it, however, you will not get a
second change.
Bransford & Johnson, 1972 in Schmidt, 1993.
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Knowledge is Decentralized & Linked to
Stimulus & Context
•
•
•
•
•
Dog
Bird
Chair
Man
Genoa
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Bike
School
Flower
House
ESME
Context & Remembering Experiment
•Water - Land
•Land - Water
•Water - Water
•Land - Land
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley (1975)
Context & Remembering
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley (1975)
LEARNING WITH UNDERSTANDING
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Possible
Predictions
%
1 2 3
Groups
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
1. Read &  text + Lecture
2. Did not read text, actively
compared data + lecture
3. 2x time working with data
+ no lecture
PRE-EXISTING KNOWLEDGE
FOCUS ON PROCESS OF KNOWING
• History shapes receptivity to information
• New knowledge merges with pre-existing
knowledge in multiple networks
• Teachers need to know and activate
students’ history (knowing)
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
LESSONS FROM COGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
• Problem solving is context bound
• Data collection is influenced by questions
being entertained
• Context influences understanding &
remembering
• Timely feedback improves transfer of
information
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
LEARNING WITH UNDERSTANDING
•Expert problem solving
requires rich body of
knowledge
•Beyond memory
•Usable
•Connected
•Organized around
concepts
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
LEARNING WITH UNDERSTANDING
• Takes time
• Reorganize understanding with new
information
• Test for understanding
• Disconnected facts not sufficient
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Memory and Expertise
8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Possible Position Bizarre Position
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
•Experts’ command of
concepts shapes
understanding of new
information
•Patterns, Relationships,
Discrepancies
•Extract meaning better
than novices
•Select and remember
relevant information better
ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
•
•
•
•
Core concepts and ideas
Experts – use principles
Novices – use surface features
Effortless recall of information
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Professional authenticity
A SIMPLE MODEL OF COMPETENCE
Does
Shows how
Knows how
Knows
Miller GE. The assessment of clinical skills/competence/performance.
Academic Medicine (Supplement) 1990; 65: S63-S7.
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Performance
or hands on
assessment
Written,
Oral or
Computer
based
assessment
META ~ COGNITION
(REFLECTION)
META
•Changed in position or
form
•Altered -- Transposed
•Going Beyond, higher
•Substitutions in the 1,3
position in a benzene
ring
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
COGNITION
•The process of
knowing in the
broadest sense,
including perception,
memory, & judgment
REFLECTION (METACOGNITION)
(Adaptive Expertise)
•Monitor own understanding
•Identify new information for
understanding
•Consistent with what is
known?
•Analogies to advance
understanding
•Metaphors
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS
•Actively inquire into
students’ thinking
•Create situations to
reveal thinking
•Build on their
understanding
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING AND
TRANSFER
• All new learning involves connecting to
previous learning
• Abstractions help – simile; metaphor
• Learning is an active process
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING AND
TRANSFER
• Time to learn
• Deliberate practice
• Importance of feedback in learning
• Contrasting cases- “what if…”
• Context
• Active approaches to ‘transfer’ ‘level
jumping’
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING
• Promote reciprocal teaching
• Explicate-Elaborate-Monitor
• Content expertise  pedagogical expertise
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
LEARNING FOR UNDERSTANDING
• Adequate time
• Deliberate practice with metacognition
(reflection)
• Feedback about understanding
• Compare & contrast
• What if…
• Elaboration, Variable Iteration
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
THREE TECHNIQUES
• Draw out and work with
pre-existing understanding
• In-depth teaching, multiple examples
• Reflection on and in action (metacognition)
in specific subject areas
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
TEACHING TECHNIQUES
(Making Understanding Visible)
•
•
•
•
Consult your colleague
Reciprocal teaching
Polling the class
Frequent formative assessments
• Tap into understanding
• In-depth vs. superficial teaching
• Prototypes
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
TEACHING TECHNIQUES
(Making Understanding Visible)
• Develop expertise in how students learn
your subject
• Develop pedagogical expertise
• In-depth assessment
• Emphasize metacognition (reflection)
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
TEACHING TECHNIQUES
FEEDBACK
•
•
•
•
•
•
Timely
Constructive
Mutually agreed
Results in a plan
Supportive
“I” & “You” messages
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Knowledge is Decentralized & Linked to
Stimulus & Context
•Dog
•Bird
•Chair
•Man
•Genoa
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
•Bike
•School
•Flower
•House
•ESME
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
NEXT STEPS
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
PLUS
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
DELTA
Key Concepts
Role of preexisting
knowledge
Context &
learning
Reflection
Metacognition
Match methods
your context
Teaching
techniques
+

OBJECTIVES
• Describe the basic paradigm of how
people learn
• Match teaching-learning methods &
techniques to your context &
learning objectives
• Describe & apply 3-4 methods techniques to activate learning
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Additional Resources
• http://hsc.unm.edu/som/TED
• www.menninconsulting.com
• How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and
School (2000)
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309070368/html/
• BEME bibliography
http://www.bemecollaboration.org/bemebibl.ht
m
 Mennin Consulting, 2006
Additional Resources
• Dent & Harden (eds) (2006). A Practical Guide
for Medical Teachers. Edinburgh, Elsevier.
• L. Dee Fink (2000). Creating Significant
Learning Experiences: an integrated approach
to designing college courses. San Francisco,
Jossey-Bass.
• Bransford & Johnson (1972) Journal of verbal
Learning and Verbal Behavior 11: 717-726
 Mennin Consulting, 2006