The WTF learning principle

The best learning happens when you're surprised... when you don't get what you expect. (I talked about this earlier in getting what you expect is boring.)

The brain is a prediction machine. It's constantly scanning to make sure that nothing fails to meet its predictions. And as long as everything is just as the brain expected, there's no need to wake up and pay attention.

Think about it... you come home from work, you throw your keys in the bowl on the little table beside the door (where you always put them) without looking. But then your keys fall straight to the floor! Someone moved the little table 6 inches to the right. NOW you notice the keys, bowl, table, and all your attention is on who moved your table and why. But had that not happened, you wouldn't have spent a synapse thinking about that table or your keys or the bowl. Your brain would have gotten exactly what it expected.

Think about the times you've done something that made intuitive or logical sense, but turned out to be SO wrong. The times where you've said, "Whoa--I'll never do that again." Those are the memorable moments where you really learned something.

This is where so many teachers (and books) go wrong. In trying to make the learning smooth, and in a well-intentioned attempt to save the learner from having to learn the hard way, they simply tell you in advance what to do and what not to do. If there's a surprise lurking, they just tell you up front and spare you the trouble.

But they just robbed you of the chance to remember. To have that thing seared into your brain. What's worse, is that after they tell you how things really work, then they give you a lab exercise that simply demonstrates exactly what they told you. No surprises there, and your brain never really wakes up. At least not until someone really hot walks into the room. (Remember, at that point your brain is thinking... "UDP socket programming or survival of the species...")

If you're designing learning of any kind -- whether it's user documentation, training courses, or something to get your users excited... be surprising. If there's a gotcha, or anything that might be surprising in either a good OR bad way, for gosh sakes don't just spit it out. Give them a chance to experience it either for real, or at the least -- as we do in our books -- by weaving a story that leads them right into the trap, springing it on them when they least expect it.

Put a post-it note on your computer that says "Surprise!" Practice surprising your friends or co-workers. Do something unexpected every day until it becomes a habit to look for the opportunity to surprise. (This does not mean that everyone will appreciate your surprises, of course. After all, you really did look better as a blonde...) Valentine's day is coming, so you might as well start prepping now : )