Learning — Podcast — Beautiful Illusions

Darron and Jeff discuss Darron's recent diagnosis and early experience with Celiac disease. They talk about what led to the diagnosis, how it impacts his identity as a bread baker both personally and socially, and how he views his personal medical needs in relation to others and the rest of the world at large. They use the example of quitting drinking as an analogue to explore the social reality of these types of life changes, whether we choose them or have them thrust upon us. Finally they talk about how amazing modern science is, the role of learning and the importance of love of learning when we suddenly find ourselves in new contexts, and how we might instill this love in young learners.

Notes:

2:05 - See “What is Celiac Disease?” and “What is Gluten?” (Celiac Disease Foundation)
9:24 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 16 - Partisan Pizza from July 2021
17:45 - See “Confirmation Bias And the Power of Disconfirming Evidence” (Farnam Street Blog)
21:42 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 21 - The Myth of the Desert Island Self from January 2022
21:46 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 19 - How We Learn Like A Scout: Critically Thinking About Critical Thinking from October 2021, where we discuss The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't by Julia Galef
29:58 - See “Celiac Disease vs. Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity vs. Food Allergy” (Cleveland Clinic)
31:22 - The Hidden Spring by Mark Solms
33:45 - See “Fred Rogers on Education and Teaching” (YouTube) - “The best teacher in the world is someone who loves what he or she does and just loves it in front of you.”

Darron and Jeff discuss what it means to teach critical thinking in the classroom. They begin with a few concerns they share about how this is currently done, then move into an exploration of how ideas from two books, “The Scout Mindset” by Julia Galef, and “How We Learn” by Stanislas Dehaene, might be used to develop a more useful conception of critical thinking and provide insight into how it, or anything else, might be taught and learned more successfully. They conclude with a brainstorming session geared towards the development of a new unit that Jeff can implement in his English classes during the upcoming school year using the ideas they previously discussed.

Notes:

2:15 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 18 - Making Progress Better from September 2021
8:36 - AP English Language and Composition (College Board)
12:23 - The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't by Julia Galef
12:26 - How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine...for Now by Stanislas Dehaene
12:53 - See an outline of The Scout Mindset (Effective Altruism Forum)
13:41 - See the “hyperreality” Wikipedia entry and read “On Exactitude in Science” by Jorge Luis Borges
14:27 - See “Soldier Mindset / Scout Mindset” comparison table
21:08 - See “Carol Dweck: A Summary of Growth and Fixed Mindsets” (fs Blog)
21:58 - See the “testing effect” Wikipedia entry and “The Ultimate Learning Machine”, a summary of an interview with Stanislas Dehaene: “One of the most surprising insights coming from current research is that we learn more from regular testing than we do from extra lesson time. Testing doesn’t necessarily entail doing a formal exam, it’s more about brief, daily testing during class and can involve doing an exercise, using flashcards or having the teacher ask questions after introducing a new concept. The best is to alternate teaching and testing, even within a single lesson. “Teachers think that evaluation is for them to get an idea of what the kids are doing, but according to the recent science, testing is really for the learner,” Dehaene says. “It’s an essential part of the learning algorithm. You learn when you test yourself.” In this sense, testing and evaluation are misunderstood by teachers, he believes.”
22:58 - See “Bloom’s Taxonomy” (Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching) and the “Bloom’s taxonomy” Wikipdedia entry
34:58 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 06 - What We Talk About When We Talk About Politics from November 2020
35:10 - Difficult Conversations by by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen
39:09 - For a nice summary of Dehaene’s 4 pillars see ”Did neuroscience find the secrets of learning?” (Article by Stanislas Dehaene, Paris Innovation Review, 2013) and “Science: These are the 4 Pillars of Learning” (Daniel Gogek)
40:59 - See an outline of The Scout Mindset (Effective Altruism Forum)
41:00 - Watch Julia Galef’s TED Talk “Why you think you're right — even if you're wrong”
43:51 - See “What are Book Clubs?” (Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Blog)
57:36 - Listen to Brain Science Episode 167 - Stanislas Dehaene on “How We Learn” from February 2020
1:02:50 - See Metacognition (Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching) and the “Metacognition” Wikipdedia entry