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Variation theory
- Invariant (constant) - an aspect that does not change
- Variant (variable) - an aspect that change
Step-by-step patterns in variation theory (with the example of learning what the color green is):
- Contrast (vary the critical concept) - showing a picture of a circle that is green, and a circle that is the color blue.
- Generalisation (vary the non-critical aspect) - showing several figures that are green, but has different shapes. Here the green color is the variant, and we have variation on the shape of the figures. Called induction if it comes before the pattern contrast.
- Fusion (vary both critical and non-critical aspect) - show different figures that vary in color and in shape, to fuse the two earlier steps.
One can vary the order of these steps, but it has been found to be more efficient to start with the contrast.
For example: When learning to throw a ball, teach the students in other places than in the testing place.
In coding environment: Teach how to build different programs, but test the students in a new scenario.
Teaching similar concepts within a subject at the same time
Page 167: Teaching the punctuations marks full-stopp, question-mark and exclamation-mark at the same time shows to be more efficient than teaching them separately.
Summary: Students learn more when being taught the differences between similar concepts/methods within a subject, instead of learning the concepts separately.
Page 169: Teaching how to describe an animal by playing a video over and over, where the students are supposed to pay attention to different aspects of the animal in each iteration
Summary: Students can learn better if they focus on one specific attribute of a concept at a time, instead of trying to understand the entire concept in one iteration.