A - another piece of paper, please
Nathan Shedroff’s article made me realize something I haven’t been able to put my finger on for some time. I like the cognitive model. I understand it. Not just on a conceptual level, but I get it. It is something I can relate to really understand how it feels to understand things from that model of learning. I get the step-by-stepness of it. I realize that wasn’t a technical term. Shedroff says that the cognitive model is the “artful setting of context that allows people to know what to expect, what to do, what they can do, and even, to some extent, how to do it.” (http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/recipe/info.html) I learn best when the steps are laid out. I never follow the steps, but when I get lost I NEED to know where to look. I NEED to have a resource that has all of the information ordered nicely, searchable, clear, not with bad links.
I guess I had always thought I wasn’t a thinker along these terms. Since I never follow the steps it must not be ‘my’ model. But it is my model. I learn by finding something I can’t do and then reading the instructions. I like the ones that tell me: this is what’s going to happen, this is what’s happening, this is what happened. Like the 5 paragraph essays you had to write in high school, one paragraph telling people what you’re going to tell them, three paragraphs telling people, one paragraph telling them what you told them. It may seem old standby-ish (again not a technical term), but it works.
I guess I had always thought I wasn’t a thinker along these terms. Since I never follow the steps it must not be ‘my’ model. But it is my model. I learn by finding something I can’t do and then reading the instructions. I like the ones that tell me: this is what’s going to happen, this is what’s happening, this is what happened. Like the 5 paragraph essays you had to write in high school, one paragraph telling people what you’re going to tell them, three paragraphs telling people, one paragraph telling them what you told them. It may seem old standby-ish (again not a technical term), but it works.
posted by evelynne at 9:59 AM
2 Comments:
I am much like you...when I get stuck, I need to know where to go. I like to try to figure it out on my own, BEFORE I need the directions, but I like to know that they are there when I need them. I suppose its somewhat like scaffolding, as we learned in earlier readings.
And thank goodness for Jim's cheatsheets...those are a lifesaver!
You make a really good point about providing your users with step-by-step instruction. Even if the instructions seem obvious (maybe to some users they aren't) or if the user doesn't want to use them, at least you've provided them anyway (so you can say I told you so). That way, if your users do get lost or confused, they can look to the step-by-step instructions to figure out where they got lost. It seems like a simple idea but I think, in many instances, it can be easily overlooked.
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