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Representation, intuition and feedback →

How can you tell a correct answer from understanding?

Ask two people to explain their reasoning, then change the presentation and ask them to reconstruct the answer. Peer instruction and geometric intuition offer different ways to expose gaps.

Questions in this reading · 3
  1. What does explaining an answer to a peer reveal?
  2. Why do experts miss the step a beginner needs?
  3. Does getting the answer mean understanding the concept?

What does explaining an answer to a peer reveal?

Collaborative learning gains a concrete mechanism when students have to explain their reasoning to one another. Agreement on an answer alone tells the teacher less.

Compare original passages and timestamps · 2
most great learning happens in groups the collaboration is the stuff of growth
RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms · ▶ 10:44–11:01
the students who had the right answer pretty quickly convinced those who did not
Confessions of a Converted Lecturer: Eric Mazur · ▶ 50:20–50:31

Why do experts miss the step a beginner needs?

Familiarity can hide prerequisites. Compare the techniques each speaker uses to expose the gap between what a presenter assumes and what a learner can reconstruct.

Compare original passages and timestamps · 2
they will hallucinate that there's material in your presentation that isn't there
How to Speak · ▶ 42:54–42:57
you're no longer aware of the conceptual difficulties of beginning learner
Confessions of a Converted Lecturer: Eric Mazur · ▶ 51:00–51:13

Does getting the answer mean understanding the concept?

Concept questions in physics and geometric intuition in linear algebra reveal gaps that procedural success can hide. Neither approach rules out calculation practice.

Compare original passages and timestamps · 2
good problem solving does not necessarily mean understanding
Confessions of a Converted Lecturer: Eric Mazur · ▶ 62:09–62:17
we almost always get computers to handle that half,
Essence of linear algebra preview · ▶ 3:31–3:45

Try it on your own example

Change a familiar exercise so the usual steps cannot simply be copied. What explanation would you listen for?