Comments on: Blunt and Clear

By: Isegoria

Isegoria — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:32:28 +0000

There's some evidence, as odd as it sounds, that simply making things harder to learn improves learning. For instance, using a hard-to-read font improves readers' retention. Similarly, easy-to-follow science videos fail to teach anything. That said, I love that example from Rory Miller that you cited. I suspect the challenge is matching the assignment to the students — who are not at all on the same level.

By: Johnny Abacus

Johnny Abacus — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 23:23:44 +0000

There is a difference between making things hard just to make things hard (or because the teacher is bad at teaching), and making things hard as a byproduct of another goal (for example, expecting independent discovery of fundamental principles, as in the article). This is the best example of a good "hard" teacher that I've come across. Not for everyone, but I'd love to take classes from him.

By: Alrenous

Alrenous — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:59:10 +0000

One of my profs openly espoused and practised the make-it-hard strategy.

He ‘taught’ quantum mechanics. Cuz you know what QM really lacks is a dose of artificial difficulty. He was widely hated. Though one guy ‘rose’ to the challenge — I’m told his eyes actually bled a little in one class.

Look, if you want people to learn discovery, then teach discovery. Don’t expect pupils to discover discovery on their own. The tiny bandwidth of speaking and writing makes teaching difficult enough without intentionally making it harder.

By: Doctor Pat

Doctor Pat — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:17:06 +0000

On the other hand, I’ve never found Tyler Cowen to be difficult to follow at all.

By: Doctor Pat

Doctor Pat — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:01:46 +0000

If I had a teacher who tried to make everything difficult and wouldn’t even be clear about what a good paper was… I would hate him.

Now that I think about it, maybe I did…