teaching past the curse of knowledge

Writing a Consumer Behaviour textbook that students will actually learn from (for beginners, defining is not explaining)

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

We do CB intro textbooks wrong

They are written by and for experts who like long lists of concepts; Our strong mental models make these easily digestible and informative

But what beginners need first are those models

I'm writing a textbook which helps students build them

1/3

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

@The_AdProfessor Hi Ad Prof,
I'm trying to send you a quick msg. Could you follow me for a day so I can DM you, or is there an email or such?

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

@jfrickuga Not an issue in the UK.

We are literally not allowed to change student marks once they have been entered, even if we wanted to (unless there has been a verifiable error, etc).

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

Working on persuasion and the ELM. Is this something that practitioners actually use?

It seems like there is some basic truth that people care about a message sometimes more than others, and so will think about it differently... But how much is reasonable to build around that?

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

One data point: I was surprised that my students liked it when I had live lectures and also my recorded ones from covid available... even though they had the exact same content.

So maybe if the material is challenging enough, some real duplication is fine?

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

I got some peer reviews for my text, and more than one said an odd thing:
"don't replace me"

I think I get where they are coming from. My book doesn't just list, it teaches, and that is closer to an instructor's job...

But.. is this legit?

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

Truthfully there are times as an instructor I've felt insecure that I didn't have enough information to teach (especially when younger).

Is that what is going on here? And if it is, then how do you help the instructor (we are people too, and it's a hard job!)

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

So we have to stop ourselves and start with context.

I look at the explanation as I write on it, and it feels patronizingly obvious - and it is... to me, but not to beginners.

This is just the curse of knowledge. This is what I mean by teaching past it.

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

What do beginners need that experts can't see?

Example: Teaching models of behaviour change, the temptation is to launch straight into the key content ("people are guided by attitudes which have X components...").

It makes sense to me, but some beginners are lost
Why?

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

"Behaviour change" is obvious to you and me, but it is jargon to beginners.

We hear it and immediately think of unhealthy eating, products not being bought, climate change, loneliness epidemics, etc

But beginners don't intuit that. Not unless we spell it out.

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

@SEthanMilne I think where I get closest to this idea is week 2, talking about goals. They can be concrete and situational (buy now) vs. chronic and more abstract. There's a nice having/doing/being model for describing those layers

And these goals trigger each other in flows of consciousness

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

What idea is most foundational to CB thinking?

If we want students to 'get it' beyond a surface level, then what SHOULD we teach on day 1?

What insight will best help beginners unlock the rest of the content?

Do you have your answer? 1/4

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

@SEthanMilne Huh. That's interesting. My first reaction is that I like it.

I'm going to have to marinate on that a little now (I love it when that happens).

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

From an academic lens, there is Service Dominant Logic (i.e., you can't make value for consumers, only co-create it with them).

From a strategy lens, there is market Orientation. Lots of data that the whole organization wants to orient around creating consumer value.

4/4

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

What ideas can we teach that are vehicles for this decentering insight?

From a practitioner lens, we can talk about the Kotler core product idea (i.e., knowing what people buy is not the actual product).

3/4

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

@DrMarianMakkar @RMITCoBL Plus a subtle undertone of "well it's ok if rich people do it, but it's a defect in poor young people" which is... maybe true in the way a bank manager would understand it, but not so much for psychological wellbeing and/or social justice...

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

@drpaulburke Or in emails.

"Any EFJ's who are interested in a PDRK should consult their SLQ."

[teaching past the curse of knowledge @AlexanderGunz]

@paulrconnor The replies are fantastic, but it's hard to tell if the original poster is trolling. A look at the rest of their account says they are, but are also into weird covid conspiracy theories.

It's all pure uncut Poe's law