The+Curse

In their wonderful book MADE TO STICK, the Heaths identify an interesting variable in the design process. The refer to it as

I bring this up for two reasons: 1) it's relevant, and 2) it has a direct impact on how material will be presented in this wiki.

The Curse of Knowledge is the descriptor that the Heaths use in their book to describe the problem of trying to remember how something was perceived BEFORE we knew about it. As they put it, "...the Curse of Knowledge kicks in...and we forget what it's like not to know what we know."

This variable in the design process has a profound impact on teachers because it can lead all to easily to our making assumptions. If you've been driving a car for several years, and you suddenly find yourself teaching Driver Education to a 16 year old, the trick is to try and forget everything you know in order to understand how the student perceives the situation. Think about all the things you do when driving that are almost second nature to you now. It comes natural to glance in the mirror and over your shoulder before switching lanes (I hope). Will a kid behind the wheel for the first time know to to this? Will you remember that you didn't know to do it and that it is a critical attribute that should be included in your lesson design?

In order to negate the Curse of Knowledge as much as possible, I plan to use examples removed from the classroom - and thus, hopefully from your familiar frame of reference - as much as possible. Thus, I plan to use examples such as learning a sport or game to illustrate certain lesson design attributes. Advertising and game design plus many business practices have applications we can explore. So if it seems odd to use Eric Clapton to illustrate student engagement and learning theory rather than Mrs. Miller's 5th Grade Science Class, there's a purpose. By hopefully using situations that are familiar but neutral to the classroom setting, design principles will appear independently of existing experiential biases.

One of the designs of this very process is to use the process to teach the process.

Still with me?

Good.

If not, try this - proceed as if you never taught or wrote a lesson plan in your life. Forget what you know to discover what you know.

Hmmmmmm...perhaps I should have named this wiki **__Zen and the Art of Lesson Designs__**.