“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.“
Albert Einstein
Break Down the Goal
In my first year teaching, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry at the entirely vague state standard of “Use linear functions.” I ended up doing neither and instead spent several hours brainstorming all of the concepts and skills that go into linear functions, grouping those into natural clusters and then labeling those with a key concept.
You have to know what you’re trying to accomplish in order to know what steps are needed to get there. In both environments, the goals are often large and take place over a long timeframe. Rather than becoming overwhelmed or jumping in without any plan, it’s important to be able to work backwards from that ultimate endpoint and find the intermediate goals within.
Sequence and Parse the Information
Going back to those linear functions, once I had my clusters of concepts, I then went though and decided what were my key ideas that were critical to convey and what were extensions or supporting details that could be eliminated if needed. Next, I had to sequence the concepts, making sure that they built upon each other in a natural flow.
Information of a technical nature has to be presented in a logical order with enough detail provided at the right time in order to promote understanding. In addition, it is critical to think ahead of time about the level of granularity needed for the situation at hand. There is always more information that can be included, but too much data waters down the concepts that you want to prioritize.
Understand the Audience
Some years when I taught linear functions, my audience was a group of students that had failed the math standardized test the previous year. They not only needed more scaffolding and repetition, I also had to overcome their negative experiences with math. Other years, I taught the same concepts to accelerated students who not only loved math, but could easily process new concepts and became frustrated with repetition.
The audience is just as critical in deciding how to present information as is the content. It is important to have empathy with the audience, to anticipate their motivations, understanding and needs. Presenting technical information is all about establishing a connection between the concepts and the people and in order to create that connection, you have to understand both.
Connect to the Audience
Let’s face it, the average middle schooler is way more interested in their fellow classmates than they are in y=mx+b. So, in order to increase engagement and motivation, I turned basic practice into slope speed dating (with all the proper ground rules established up front). Hilarious? Absolutely. Effective? Totally.
Now, obviously that strategy would not work elsewhere, but that’s exactly the point – the strategy should be tailored to the audience and their profiles and interests. Instead of jumping straight into the big picture details, look for ways to start with something that the audience can relate to. Once they’re hooked, it’s much easier to get them to buy in to the rest.
Manage Pain Points
Whether 14 or 40, nobody likes to be wrong and nobody likes to feel stupid. And when you’re dealing with conveying complex information, it’s important to be prepared for both of those eventualities.
If you know ahead of time what some of the misconceptions are, you can address them up front, “While it may seem that…, the data actually suggest…” and then back that up with a great visualization. Even better, take the audience on a journey of discovery, “When I first started with this data, I expected to find (misconception), but what I actually found was really surprising!” Then, follow this with the surprise and then into the conclusions. When we’re curious and our observations have been validated, our minds are open and we are less likely to be defensive.
Provide Opportunities for the Audience to Feel Smart
I used to design discovery-based math labs to maximize the excitement of the “ah-ha” moments. When done well, learners are unaware of how much they have been led to a certain conclusion, they just focus on the accomplishment they feel for reaching it.
Ask questions – even hypothetical ones – and create a sense of ownership in the process in order to promote engagement and make the audience feel like they are a critical component in making sense of the information.
In addition, it is important to find the balance between building confidence in the audience about your expertise and throwing in material that is over the group’s head just to make yourself look smart.
Watch Out for False Conclusions
I have a little challenge for you. Imagine a multiple choice math test where the test-taker has no idea about a particular question. Which of the following answers will they likely select?
A. 8
B. -5
C. -7.1987
D. 1/2
Most of them will lean towards C because it’s the most complicated and there is often a false belief that complicated = more correct.
There’s another type of incorrect conclusion to watch out for – the human tendency to assign meaning to patterns. The confusion between correlation and causation is widespread and so it’s critical to address any spurious correlations in your information head on with either counterpoints or additional data.
Have Ways to Measure Progress
I always coached my students to view quizzes as information. They are a snapshot in time and the score matters less than what you do with that data. The score allows insight into trends (are they improving over time or getting worse), highlights areas that need attention and, just as importantly, shows what things can be safely set aside.
From the formal KPIs and success metrics to the observational information provided by the inefficient approaches of a confused group, it is critical for your audience to know where things stand. After all, if you don’t know how you’re doing, how can you know what you need to do next?
Present Concisely and Clearly
Confession time. Whenever I’m taking an online course and I come to a video or slideshow, the first thing I do is check to see how long it is. And then, when I’m finished with the material, I decide how long it should have been. And sadly, there is often a disconnect, with extraneous information, poor pacing or pointless repetition slowing down the learning process, impeding comprehension and negatively impacting motivation.
Make sure that everything in your delivery has a purpose (and remember that a hook or connection to the audience is purposeful). Aim to show or illustrate points instead of telling them whenever possible because visuals are often easier to understand than a description. Look for the most straightforward way to show or write something and then make any additional information available for those that are interested.
Have Structure and Surprise
A student once said about my class, “We always know what to expect, but we never know what we’ll be doing.”
It’s important to strike a balance between a predefined and well-marked path and exploration. If you err too far on the side of structure, the audience tunes out because they feel like they know exactly what is coming on the next slide. On the other extreme, you may have everyone’s attention, but it will feel a bit like herding cats because the pathway isn’t clear. In the middle is a space where people are curious about the next point while still remaining clear on the overall trajectory.
Address “So What?”
Let’s go all the way back to those linear functions we started with. Before I ever taught my first lesson on the topic, I had to answer the question of, “Why do we need to know this?” for myself (and just being a state standard was not reason enough). By understanding the “why,” I could connect everything we did towards that goal and keep from being distracted by (sometimes really cool) ideas that didn’t address the reason for learning the concepts.
It’s no different in business. Even when the “why” is not explicitly stated, it needs to be the undercurrent beneath every data decision and every presentation. No matter how fancy the statistics or how amazing the dashboard, if it leaves people saying “So what?”, it’s worthless.
Make the Key Points Memorable
In the classroom, I used stories to help students retain key information. They all remember the linear-function-based story of the tortoise and the hare and how the fox time-traveled, resulting in a vertical ([fo]x = ) line. Stories of a man I saw at the gym attempting squats on an exercise ball remind them what happens when you try to divide by zero (nothing good).
We remember best when information is surrounded by a narrative because it engages more of the brain and gives a place for the new information to anchor. However, it is also important to be cognizant that this can also backfire when the story that is created around the information leads to some false conclusions.
Lesson of the Day
I did some more work with Pyspark and found it better this time around. But it still makes me miss Pandas:)
Frustration of the Day
It’s a struggle to find free tutorials on AWS that don’t feel more like a sales pitch than a lesson.
Win of the Day
Still trusting the process:)
Current Standing on the Imposter Syndrome Scale
2/5
I got this!
From Teaching to Tech 