Undecided Voters are Uninformed and Disengaged

Many commentators have suggested that undecided voters’ opinions are better understood not as deeply held, thought-through beliefs, but as a sort of verbal Muzak. You say, of a candidate who has given many policy specifics already (and whose opponent speaks in word salad), “I need more policy specifics,” because it sounds better than “I don’t know what policies I want.” You say “The candidates just attack each other” because it sounds better than “I don’t actually know wha...

 Students Reliant on Computer Simulations Lack the Technic...

In the 1980s, alternate visions of computers and the future of design were expressed in competing views about programming. Some architects believed that designers needed to learn advanced programming. If designers did not understand how their tools were constructed, they would not only be dependent on computer experts but less likely to challenge screen realities. Other architects disagreed. They argued that, in the future, creativity would not depend on understanding one’s tools but on usi...

 Developing Child's Understanding of Games

During the first stage, beginning around age 5, the child does not yet understand there are fixed rules to the game. Children of this age will play Marbles in an improvisational way, possessing a vague notion of rules but not yet understanding the idea of fixed rules. In the second stage, around ages 8 to 10, the child comes to know that there are rules, and will regard these rules with a near religious reverence. The rules are felt to have their own implicit authority, which cannot be quest...

 Hanlon's Razor Applied to Trump

...journalists come up with overly convoluted explanations for Trump’s behavior (“this seemingly self-destructive emotional outburst is actually a clever political strategy!”) when simpler ones will suffice (“this is a self-destructive emotional outburst.”). In doing so, they violate both Ockham’s razor and Hanlon’s razor — the latter of which can be stated as “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” One can understand why journalists wh...

 Making Standards Transparent Encourages Students

When we make the standards and objectives transparent for students, we empower them to be active in our learning choices as well. I have found that when students know what the previous year’s standard is and where we were headed in our learning, they are eager to co-construct our learning. Students care about being able to demonstrate what they know because they understand the journey. This kind of transparency also makes it much easier for students to advocate for themselves and explain wh...

 Games Use Constant Feedback

Moreover, games use systems of points, scores, leaderboards, achievement walls, and other clever mechanisms to reinforce how well you are playing (or not playing). Feedback should force us to face reality and redirect our efforts where they are needed. Regular, systemic feedback is a rarity in the traditional school; it is, however, de rigueur in even the most poorly designed game. It is this regular, rapid feedback that not only stimulates persistence and self-direction but also gets people ...