Great Minds on Learning

Darwin's discoveries and the growth of mass education in the 19th Century set the stage for a quest to measure and assess human intelligence. But that quest has often seemed quixotic: marred by poor or non-existent science, skewed by commercial and political agendas, and marred, time and again, in Donald's view, by essentialism.   From eugenicist Sir Francis Galton to Daniel Goleman, who popularized emotional intelligence testing, this episode covers the theorists who cast a statistical and sytematizing eye on human differences.     0:00 - Intro 1:04 - The Assessors 4:29 - Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) 13:02 - Alfred Binet (1857 – 1911) & Theodore Simon (1873 – 1961) 23:18 - Sir Cyril Lodowic Burt (1883-1971) 31:08 - Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) 39:48 - Howard Gardner (1943- ) 51:80 - Katherine Cook Briggs (1875-1968) & Isabel Briggs Myers (1897-1980) 59:01 - Daniel Goleman (1946- ) 1:08:31 - Summing up The Blog that started it all: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-learning-theorists-2500-years-of.html Galton bit.ly/3FQ1eWv Binet (&Simon) bit.ly/3oiYavg Burt bit.ly/3HbqxnL Eysenck bit.ly/2wXYA35 Gardner bit.ly/2ILjO73 Myers-Briggs bit.ly/2IRcnve Goleman bit.ly/3cUHML7   Contact Donald Twitter: @DonaldClark LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-clark-04553022/ Blog: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/   Read Donald's latest book, Learning Experience Design https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Experience-Design-Create-Effective/dp/1398602620/ref=asc_df_1398602620/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=500792593882&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8463523561401709872&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006565&hvtargid=pla-1245069293197&psc=1&th=1&psc=1 Contact John Helmer Twitter: @johnhelmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/ Website: http://johnhelmerconsulting.com/

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its thinkers believed in individual liberty, religious tolerance, opposition to absolute monarchy and the dogmas of the Church, and an emphasis on the scientific method and the primacy of reason.   The Enlightenment overturned many then traditional ideas about politics, science, arts, law, economics and many other fields – but at the centre of their project was a slew of revolutionary ideas about learning. Donald pinpoints a group of enlightenment thinkers who had particularly interesting things to say about how we learn and how we ought to learn, many of which speak to central issues of our own time.   ---------- The Enlightenment & Learning – 1:02 John Locke (1632-1704) – 10:26 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) – 19:33 Adam Smith (1723-1790) – 34:02 Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) – 43:15 Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817) & Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) – 1:00:58 Summing up – 1:09:48 ----------   The Blog that started it all: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-learning-theorists-2500-years-of.html   Locke bit.ly/2tDzFAR Rousseau bit.ly/37rHEzq Smith bit.ly/2RvBM2F Wollstonecraft bit.ly/2tTi4Vq Edgeworths (2) bit.ly/2S1FM9Y   Contact Donald Twitter: @DonaldClark LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-clark-04553022/ Blog: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/ Read Donald's latest book, Learning Experience Design https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Experience-Design-Create-Effective/dp/1398602620/ref=asc_df_1398602620/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=500792593882&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8463523561401709872&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006565&hvtargid=pla-1245069293197&psc=1&th=1&psc=1   Contact John Helmer Twitter: @johnhelmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/ Website: http://johnhelmerconsulting.com/   Download the new white paper from Learning Pool written by John Helmer & Ben Betts – Suite Dreams: The Past, Present and Future of Learning Systems https://learningpool.com/suite-dreams/

From blackboards to interactive whiteboards, learning has always made use of technology. But with the advent of computers and then the internet, learning theory entered a new phase from the late 20th Century onwards – as thinkers grappled with the challenges of designing systems and content that could help people learn online. How could making programmable robots stimulate children to learn? What was the best way to combine media for learning – and how could you teach online without distracting or overloading learners? What were the rules for creating optimal learner experiences? These were the questions our online educators asked themselves.   ---------- 0:00 - Intro 1:07 - Introducing The Online Educators 8:43 - Seymour Aubrey Papert (1928 - 2016) 14:33 - Richard E. Mayer (1947 -) 24:32 - Clifford Nass (1958 - 2013) & Byron Reeves 35:10 Donald Norman (1935 - ) 44:53 - Jakob Neilsen (1957 - ) 58:06 - Summing up   The Blog that started it all: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-learning-theorists-2500-years-of.html   Papert bit.ly/3c1oH8J Mayer bit.ly/34oKmF6 Nass & Reeves bit.ly/39UTXoo Norman bit.ly/2RBJ8Bk Nielsen bit.ly/3bggI7K   Contact Donald Twitter: @DonaldClark LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-clark-04553022/ Blog: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/   Read Donald's latest book, Learning Experience Design https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Experience-Design-Create-Effective/dp/1398602620/ref=asc_df_1398602620/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=500792593882&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8463523561401709872&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006565&hvtargid=pla-1245069293197&psc=1&th=1&psc=1   Contact John Helmer Twitter: @johnhelmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/ Website: http://johnhelmerconsulting.com/   Download the new white paper from Learning Pool written by John Helmer & Ben Betts – Suite Dreams: The Past, Present and Future of Learning Systems https://learningpool.com/suite-dreams/

Learning has always had a moral dimension. In pre-enlightenment times religion played a big role in deciding what and how people should learn, but by the 20th Century much of that influence had waned, and thinkers began to explore the ethical bases of learning in different ways. This episode covers a group of thinkers who explored the moral dimension of learning within different cultural contexts, and the increasing role of communications technology in those debates. 00:58 - Introducing the Moralists 6:52 - Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) 16:54 - Lawrence Kohlberg (1927 - 1987) 27:51 - Mamie and Kenneth Clark (1917 - 1983) 35:05 - Jane Roland Martin (1929- ) 40:19 - Herbert Marshall McLuhan (1911 - 1980) 50:46 - Neil Postman (1931-2003) 59:26 - Summing up The Blog that started it all: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-learning-theorists-2500-years-of.html Maslow bit.ly/2TAzb8z Kohlberg bit.ly/2wOWEK8 Clarks bit.ly/3xupR75 Martin bit.ly/38F18jN McLuhan bit.ly/2IGJamx Postman bit.ly/33g9Kg0 Contact Donald Twitter: @DonaldClark LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-clark-04553022/ Blog: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/ Contact John Helmer Twitter: @johnhelmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/ Website: http://johnhelmerconsulting.com/ Download the new white paper from Learning Pool written by John Helmer & Ben Betts – Suite Dreams: The Past, Present and Future of Learning Systems https://learningpool.com/suite-dreams/

'We're now beginning to unpack what is really good for learners and teaching' says Donald Clark, 'and it's not what we thought it was.'   Learning Theory over the ages has concentrated largely on the 'front end' of the process: learning as an event and an experience. Less attention has been given to the back end, how one makes it stick. This episode concentrates on the people who explored these questions of practice and transfer, from William James to the present day.   What they discovered was a quite startling, counter-intuitive truth – one which has largely ignored by the educational establishment to date.   ---------- 00:56 - Introducing pragmatism & practice 04:51 - What’s the timeline? 05:47 - William James (1842 - 1910) 16:39 - John Dewey (1859-1952) 26:32 - K. Anders Ericsson (1947-2020) 36:37 - Robert A. Bjork (1939- ) & Elizabeth L. Bjork 43:41 - Henry L. Roediger III (1947-) and Jeffrey D. Karpicke 49:00 - Summing up ----------   Books mentioned in the discussion   Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning By Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger (III), Mark A. McDaniel · 2014 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Make_It_Stick/oneWAwAAQBAJ?hl=en   Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise By Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool · 2016 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Peak/eHfkCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0   The Blog that started it all: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-learning-theorists-2500-years-of.html   James bit.ly/2T2GntN Dewey bit.ly/37Z35ra Ericsson bit.ly/2PBrvR3 Bjork bit.ly/2PA9UZZ Karpicke & Roediger bit.ly/3uPhumZ   Contact Donald Twitter: @DonaldClark LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-clark-04553022/ Blog: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/   Contact John Helmer Twitter: @johnhelmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/ Website: http://johnhelmerconsulting.com/   Download the new white paper from Learning Pool written by John Helmer & Ben Betts – Suite Dreams: The Past, Present and Future of Learning Systems https://learningpool.com/suite-dreams/

In this episode, Donald and John discuss a group of theorists who mostly focused directly on instructional design, and who between them created a body of work which is canonical to the practice of learning design.   Although their most famous maxims feature prominently on PowerPoints and blogs about learning design to this day, their ideas are often cherry-picked and misrepresented – as in the strange case of Benjamin Bloom and his eponymous Taxonomy. Donald calls for a revaluation, arguing passionately for their continued relevance and far-sightedness.   00:56 Introducing the Instructionalists 06:52 Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) 12:51 Benjamin Bloom (1913-1999) 26:29 Robert M. Gagné (1916-2002) 38:43 Robert F. Mager (1923-2020) 50:09 M. David Merrill (1937 -) 59:41 Summary   The Blog that started it all: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-learning-theorists-2500-years-of.html   Taylor bit.ly/2Qmi6g4 Bloom bit.ly/32QB3NL Gagne bit.ly/38iITR0 Mager bit.ly/38gyGVl Merrill bit.ly/2wtTyeo     Contact Donald Twitter: @DonaldClark LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-clark-04553022/ Blog: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/   Contact John Helmer Twitter: @johnhelmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/ Website: http://johnhelmerconsulting.com/ Download the new white paper from Learning Pool written by John Helmer & Ben Betts – Suite Dreams: The Past, Present and Future of Learning Systems https://learningpool.com/suite-dreams/

In this first episode of the first season of Great Minds on Learning, Donald Clark discusses the Behaviorists, a group of theorists who, starting with Pavlov in the early part of the 20th Century, did much to put psychology and the psychology of learning on an experimental, empirical basis.   He argues that the Behaviorists have been much misunderstood. In particular, the myths surrounding B.F. Skinner, which have turned him into something of a hate-figure, have helped to spread the notion that behaviorist ideas were wrong-headed and have been superseded by cognitive psychology. In fact, their ideas, though still controversial, are probably more pervasive than ever.   ---------- 00:56 - What is Behaviorism, and why do people hate it so much? 06:09 - What is the timeline? 07:50 - Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) 14:50 - John B. Watson (1878 - 1958) 23:31 - B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) 31:17 - Edward L. Thorndike (1874 – 1949) 36:56 - Edward C. Tolman (1886-1959) 41:31 - Albert Bandura (1925-2021) 49:36 - Behaviorism: the legacy ----------   The Blog that started it all: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-learning-theorists-2500-years-of.html   Pavlov bit.ly/2V2cbQV Watson bit.ly/3lj33mD Skinner bit.ly/39Rlw2f Thorndike bit.ly/3bRXuWP Tolman bit.ly/3CqImwE Bandura bit.ly/32frFTg   Contact Donald Twitter: @DonaldClark LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-clark-04553022/ Blog: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/   Contact John Helmer Twitter: @johnhelmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/ Website: http://johnhelmerconsulting.com/ Download the new white paper from Learning Pool written by John Helmer & Ben Betts – Suite Dreams: The Past, Present and Future of Learning Systems https://learningpool.com/suite-dreams/

Another chance to hear the inaugural episode of Great Minds on Learning, which was originally aired back in March 2021 to considerable acclaim.   In this series, Donald Clark – the internationally famous author, blogger and entrepreneur, joins John Helmer to discuss the history of thought and theorising about learning.   This particular episode is about The Cognitivists, a group of theorists who made a vital contribution to what we now know about the mechanics of memory and learning.   ---------- 00:47 Why is memory such an important focus for the cognitivists? 02:27 Introducing the Cognitivists 04:07 Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) 13:49 George A. MIller (1920-2012) 19:25 Richard C. Atkinson (1929- ) & Richard Shiffrin (1942- ) 24:09 Alan Baddeley (1934- ) 28:49 Endel Tulving (1927- ) 37:57 John Sweller (1946- ) 47:04 Summing up: the Cognitivists and Behaviourism ----------   The Blog that started it all: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-learning-theorists-2500-years-of.html   Ebbinhaus bit.ly/2VvoxkX Miller bit.ly/37OaB85 Atkinson & Shiffrin bit.ly/37SEKTK Baddeley bit.ly/37WfFHq Tulving bit.ly/2VmFKNw Sweller bit.ly/2I7Pt2t   Contact Donald Twitter: @DonaldClark LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-clark-04553022/ Blog: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/   Contact John Helmer Twitter: @johnhelmer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/ Website: http://johnhelmerconsulting.com/   Download the new white paper from Learning Pool written by John Helmer & Ben Betts – Suite Dreams: The Past, Present and Future of Learning Systems https://learningpool.com/suite-dreams/

Internationally respected author, blogger and learning expert, Donald Clark joins John Helmer of the Learning Hack podcast to discuss the history of thought and theorising about learning.   From the Greeks to the Geeks, they cover 2,500 years of thought and science on learning. The inspired, the enduring, the wacked-out weird and the just plain wrong, from Socrates to the present day.   Starting with a repeat of the popular pilot episode The Cognitivists on 30 August, the series proper kicks off on 13 September and runs fortnightly.   Here's Season One: * The Behaviorists * Instructionalists * Practice * Holists * Online Educators * The Enlightenment   Don't miss a single episode: subscribe now.