Design for How People Learn (Voices That Matter) (PDF) by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub

WAYS TO ENGAGE THE ELEPHANT

137

Remember the “things that can kill you” chart from Chapter 4? We are wired

to pay attention to urgent things, because we evolved in an environment where

“urgent” was frequently equivalent to “things that can kill you.”

So which approach do you think would be more compelling for the elephant?

I wince now to think of when I was a new teacher, and said things like “This is

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really important stuff” or “You’ll be really glad you know this stuff later on.”

You can’t capture the elephant’s attention by just asserting that a topic is important. The rider may believe you when you say things like that, but the elephant

knows better.

So what elements can you use to create a sense of urgency?

• A compelling story—Use classic storytelling elements to create a compelling scenario. Have a protagonist who is trying to accomplish a goal. Have an

antagonist who is preventing the protagonist from accomplishing that goal.

Have obstacles along the way that the protagonist must overcome. Have an

inciting incident that sets up the drama of the story—a conflict that needs

to be resolved. Make it so the protagonist needs to change and grow to

overcome the obstacles.

• Showing, not telling—The elephant is pretty smart. It’s not just going to take your word for it that something is important. It wants to SEE and FEEL

the importance. This is one of the golden rules of fiction writing and movie-

making: Avoid heavy-handed exposition, and use visuals, action, and

dialogue instead.

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CHAPTER 5 HOW DO YOU GET THEIR ATTENTION?

• Constraint of time or resources—One indisputable way to raise the level of urgency is to create constraints. Give people time constraints or resource

constraints and set them at a problem. Use caution here, however. Your

learners will not appreciate having only five minutes to complete a 20-minute

task. 15-18 minutes to complete a 20-minute task creates a sense of urgency.

Five minutes to complete a 20-minute task creates pissed-off learners.

• Immediacy—In learning environments, we tend to focus on future consequen-

ces and outcomes, but the elephant is a creature of immediacy. Things that

are going to happen in the future, regardless of how dire they are, are less

compelling to the elephant than things that are happening RIGHT NOW.

That’s why “You may need to know these safety evacuation procedures” is

far less compelling than “A fire just broke out on the 8th floor! Quick—what

do you need to do first?”

• Interesting dilemmas—Give your learners interesting choices to make.

Dilemmas capture attention if they are done well. The primary key to this

is to not use right/wrong options. You can’t wring much tension out of a

right/wrong choice. Better options include choices between:

- A good option and a very good option

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- Two bad options

- Good, better, and best options

- Two options that are each a mixture of good and bad, but in different ways.

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