How Should We Teach Science?

Reflecting on the implications for education of Gunn and Drew.
Original video: http://ve42.co/GunDrew

Did you notice that Gunn and Drew were named that way so they rhyme with one and two, helping reduce any sort of confusion you might have in associating each character with the right system.

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is one of my favourite books (in case you hadn't guessed). I think the findings he summarizes in it really resonated with me and collected a lot of strands (or chunks) of my thinking.

One of the main findings I think we forget is that working memory is limited. This needs to be taken into account in every educational discussion. We can't simply talk philosophically about the purposes of education. We must also discuss the brain's response to different teaching methods, because ultimately that's what we are trying to affect.

To me the psychology of system one and two suggests we need to be careful to give students challenges that are within their 'zone of proximal development' i.e. capable for Drew to Grasp because Gunn has already automated a lot of tasks relevant to this challenge.