Eyler gets it Joshua Eyler

January 17, 2025 -- No discussion of education would be complete without mentioning the groundbreaking work of Joshua Eyler, of whom I must sheepishly admit I learned for the first time at this nursing education conference (see previous blogs).

In How Humans Learn he excoriates (as have I) the way most post-secondary teaching is done, as continuous lecturing. So much is wrong with that!

For one thing, the "sponge model" (as I have termed it) in which the instructor exudes wisdom and knowledge and the students are there to passively absorb it, is not how people learn. Rather, learning is an active process; the learner must apply and work with the new information. How? Please see my Techniques of Instruction training materials (it's all about that light bulb!)

For another, the evaluation cycle (the instructor puts out the information and then checks to make sure it's been received) is far too long, typically a half-semester (the midterm exam) and after the second half-semester (the final). By then it's far too late to resolve any problems. Rather, the natural learning cycle is minutes not months.

He also observes (as I, too, have done) that "good teaching is constructed, not ordained" or, as I put it, good teachers are not born; we must teach them to teach. But that's a discussion for another time. Here at the conference in Las Vegas I am seeing how others, too, have effectively tackled these issues. I am pleased to be in good company!