You know XGBoost, but do you know NGBoost? I'd passed over this one, mentioned to me by someone wanting confidence intervals in their classification models. This could be an interesting paper to add to the ML curriculum.

Wu, Prabhumoye, Yeon Min, Bisk, Salakhutdinov, Azaria, Mitchell and Li. "SPRING: GPT-4 Out-performs RL Algorithms byStudying Papers and Reasoning". Arxiv preprint arXiv:2305.15486v2, May, 2023.

Them's fighten' words!

I haven't read it yet, but we're putting it on the list for this fall's reading group. Seriously, a strong result with a very strong implied claim. they are careful to say it's from their empirical results, very worth a look. I suspect that amount of implicit knowledge in the papers, text and DAG are helping to do this.

The Big Question: is their comparison to RL baselines fair, are they being trained from scratch? What does a fair comparison of any from-scratch model (RL or supervised) mean when compared to an LLM approach (or any approach using a foundation model), when that model is not really from scratch.

retention is facilitated by acquisition conditions that prompt people to elaborate information in a way that increases the distinctiveness of their memory representations.” (Stein et al. 1984, 522)

Want to read this paper.

Isn't this a major portion of what many mnemotechniques attempt to do? "increase distinctiveness of memory representations"? And didn't he just wholly dismiss the entirety of mnemotechniques as "tricks" a few paragraphs back? (see: https://hypothes.is/a/dwktfDiuEe2sxaePuVIECg)

How can one build or design this into a pedagogical system? How is this potentially related to Andy Matuschak's mnemonic medium research?

Elaboration has been shown to be the most successful learning approach. (See McDaniel and Donnelly 1996) It is a two step process of being able to write about it and to use it in alternate contexts.

How is the Feynman Technique similar to/different from elaboration? It would seem to be missing the second portion.

This is one of the first times I've come across another word for part of the Feynman technique I've been looking for.

Is the sample size of learning experiments really large enough to account for the differences in potential neurodiversity?

How well do these do for simple lectures which don't add mnemonic design of some sort? How to peel back the subtle differences in presentation, dynamism, design of material, in contrast to neurodiversities?

What are the list of known differences? How well have they been studied across presenters and modalities?

What about methods which require active modality shifts versus the simple watch and regurgitate model mentioned in watching videos. Do people do actively better if they're forced to take notes that cause modality shifts and sensemaking?

Gesturing supplies a visual scaffolding which allows one to affix their budding understanding of new concepts into a more permanent structure.

—Woff-Michael Roth

Actively attempting to express oneself is one of the best methods of evolving one's understanding.

Link this to the ideas related to being forced to actively manufacture the answer to a question is one of the best ways to learn.

https://twitter.com/grabe/status/1493723795281956867

Elaboration is thinking deeply about the meaning of what we've read, how it could inform or answer different questions, and how it can be linked or combined with other knowledge. It is one of the best-researched and most successful learning methods. While it seems to have some subtle differences, it sounds broadly similar to the Feynman technique and is related to the idea of writing questions based on one's notes in the Cornell note taking method.

The Cornell notes practice of writing questions in the empty left column as a means of testing knowledge can be an effective tool after taking notes to ensure that one has actually learned and understood the broad concepts. They can also be used for spaced repetition purposes as well.

Valuable though they may be as teaching and learning tools, they don't figure directly into the idea of permanent notes from a zettelkasten perspective.

Some of the lighter and more passive (and common) forms of reading, highlighting, underlining sentences and hoping to understand or even remember the content and contexts is far less valuable than active reading, progressive summarization, comparing and contrasting, and extracting smart or permanent notes from one's texts.

the key thing (one of them) to understand here is that: class methods are singleton methods

This is a good thing. It allows class methods to be inherited by subclasses.

This article details the methods and results of a research experiment done to determine whether/ how physiological measurement technologies can be used with educational research methods to investigate subjective learning experiences. Describes research methods and data collected. 8/10, very interesting article and a very interesting and well done study but very specific to this one topic. e

Trends in Web 2.0 technologies and various networking modalities are briefly reviewed. Furthermore, advantages and barriers in the use of said technologies are discussed. Implementation of social media as a learning tool can be advantageous, however, it must supplement learning, not replace a structured environment. The educator should still remain present in the learning environment. And, he/she should provide appropriate support and training, as well as model, respective online tools to ensure efficacy. 6/10

The author, Anthony Bates, holds a BA in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration. He holds over 40 years of teaching experience. In this chapter he proposes online learning is a mode of delivery versus a teaching method. In this chapter Bates compares teaching delivery methods, defines which mode students need, and weighs in on the choice between face-to-face and online teaching.

Rating: 10/10

This website from University of Arizona provides a list of trends and issues in learning technologies

Rating 9/10

In this text, authors Kit Kacirek and Michael Miller explore adult learning for mature adults, or those identified as senior citizens. Research into mature adult learning programs centered around leisure activities, reveals situational pedagogy in which some traditional adult learning theory may need to be adapted to suit the cognitive changes in adults with advanced age. A brief description of the research methods reveals that adults in advanced age prefer lecture, use of media, and field trips. The implications for such a study are useful as the population of mature adults grows due to advancements in medicine and thus the demand for learning opportunities increases as well.

The article expresses the design theory elements (goals, values, methods) and how it can assist with defining new tools for online learning. Rating 5/5

Read on July 4, 2019

25 examples of mobile teaching This is a brief page that is cluttered with some irrelevant content that occurs in the form of rather large graphics. It is oriented toward higher education environments though the ideas would be quite easy to implement in other contexts, such as for training adult learners. The text is not in depth enough to be tremendously helpful but this resource does nonetheless make a contribution not made by other resources in that it shows actual teaching techniques. rating 4/5

personalize learning infographic

This is not quite what it sounds like. It is a Pinterest style page with links to assorted articles that relate to personalized learning, most of which are presented in an infographic. It is sufficiently useful if one has the patience to click through to the infographics. Usability is satisfactory although the top half of the page is taken up with graphics that are not directly related to the content. rating 3/5

mobile learning technologies for 21st century classrooms This undated article discusses mobile learning in classrooms in a nonspecific way. One of the sources is Marc Prensky, whose work has been called into question by multiple authors. The type of information provided by this article seems rather basic and a function of common sense. A few apps are discussed. rating 1/5

Edutech wiki This page has a somewhat messy design and does not look very modern but it does offer overviews of many topics related to technologies. Just like wikipedia, it offers a good jumping off point on many topics. Navigation can occur by clicking through categories and drilling down to topics, which is easier for those who already know the topic they are looking for and how it is likely to be characterized. Rating 3/5

This page offers general guidelines for facilitating class discussions. It is written for college environments and in usable in adult learning and training settings also. The presentation is straightforward but the content is not in depth. Part of the value of the page is links on the left side that address other teaching topics related to course design and course management. Rating 2/2

project based learning While project based learning is more frequently used with children than adults, it can be useful for limited-time instruction for adults. This is a user friendly page that provides a decent description of project based learning and also discusses the design elements and teaching practices that should be used. rating 4/5

problem based learning This gives a brief overview of problem based learning. This is a teaching method in which learners receive an ill structured problem that they continue to define and then solve. This web page serves as an overview but if one were teaching with this approach, more information would be needed than is contained on the typical introductory web page. Rating 3/5

This is better than the problem-based learning page I already posted so I will post this one too. it is easy to read and gives the instructional designer or teacher a quick and better-than-average explanation about problem based learning, which is a method of teaching in which learners form teams and learn through solving real problems. rating 4/5

This is one of many pages that describes team based learning. The layout and typeface make this page easy enough to read. The content is rather brief and would suffice for someone who is trying to understand this approach and decide whether it is workable for their own adult learning and training context.

This was an excellent article Chen (2007) in defining and laying out how a blended learning approach of objectivist and constructivist instructional strategies work well in online instruction and the use of an actual online course as a study example.

RATING: 4/5 (rating based upon a score system 1 to 5, 1= lowest 5=highest in terms of content, veracity, easiness of use etc.)