faster is often the wrong dimension for me to focus on. Though good optimization does lead to speed, it often feels like a result rather than a direct optimization target. I think something closer to how could I have learned that more easily, more completely. What was extraneous in retrospect? Were there any signs that I could have noticed earlier? What could I have included earlier that was obviously helpful?
One dynamic these questions reveal is often subtle bike-shedding: focusing on those areas that gave quick hits of sense of progress rather than what moves the needle on the original goal the most. A shorthand I have for this is ‘decision leverage’, as in how will what I am doing currently connect to something I do differently in the future?
More generally, the four pedagogical interventions with the largest effect size AFAIK are
deliberate practice
elaboration of context (connection to other areas of knowledge)
faster is often the wrong dimension for me to focus on. Though good optimization does lead to speed, it often feels like a result rather than a direct optimization target. I think something closer to how could I have learned that more easily, more completely. What was extraneous in retrospect? Were there any signs that I could have noticed earlier? What could I have included earlier that was obviously helpful?
One dynamic these questions reveal is often subtle bike-shedding: focusing on those areas that gave quick hits of sense of progress rather than what moves the needle on the original goal the most. A shorthand I have for this is ‘decision leverage’, as in how will what I am doing currently connect to something I do differently in the future?
More generally, the four pedagogical interventions with the largest effect size AFAIK are
deliberate practice
elaboration of context (connection to other areas of knowledge)
frequent low stakes quizzing
teaching the material to others