Create accountLogin

Recent searches

No recent searches

Search options

Only available when logged in.
mathstodon.xyz is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A Mastodon instance for maths people. We have LaTeX rendering in the web interface!

Administered by:

Server stats:

2.7K
active users

mathstodon.xyz: AboutStatusProfiles directoryPrivacy policy

Mastodon: AboutGet the appKeyboard shortcutsView source codev4.3.7

#learningscience

1 post1 participant1 post today
Public *
Reda Sadki

Cascade training remains widely used in global health.

Cascade training can look great on paper: an expert trains a small group who, in turn, train others, thereby theoretically scaling the knowledge across an organization.

It attempts to combine the advantages of expert coaching and peer learning by passing knowledge down a hierarchy.

However, despite its promise and persistent use, cascade training is plagued by several factors that often lead to its failure.

This is well-documented in the field of learning, but largely unknown (or ignored) in global health.

What are the mechanics of this known inefficacy?

Here are four factors that contribute to the failure of cascade training

1. Information loss

Consider a model where an expert holds a knowledge set K. In each subsequent layer of the cascade, α percentage of the knowledge is lost:

  • Where is the knowledge at the nth level of the cascade. As n grows, exponentially decreases, leading to severe information loss.
  • Each layer in the cascade introduces a potential for misunderstanding the original information, leading to the training equivalent of the ‘telephone game’.

2. Lack of feedback

In a cascade model, only the first layer receives feedback from an actual expert.

  • Subsequent layers have to rely on their immediate ‘trainers,’ who might not have the expertise to correct nuanced mistakes.
  • The hierarchical relationship between trainer and trainee is different from peer learning, in which it is assumed that everyone has something to learn from others, and expertise is produced through collaborative learning.

3. Skill variation

  • Not everyone is equipped to teach others.
  • The people who receive the training first are not necessarily the best at conveying it to the next layer, leading to unequal training quality.

4. Dilution of responsibility

  • As the cascade flows down, the sense of responsibility for the quality and fidelity of the training dilutes.
  • The absence of feedback to drive a quality development process exacerbates this.

Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024

https://redasadki.me/2024/02/26/why-does-cascade-training-fail/

Why does cascade training fail
#cascadeTraining#learningScience#pedagogy
Public
Francis Ho

In a thermodynamic system, the Reservoir acts like the central bank in an economy. But Instead of regulating money, the Reservoir is regulating energy. It sets the rules of the game, such as what forms of energy are allowed to flow.

This post explains how that works, and how that leads to the concept of "free energy" in a battery that is not tied to the Reservoir and therefore available to be charged/discharged:👇

freeenergy.blog/2023/FreeEnerg

Free Energy · Free Energy, Part IIIn Part I of this post, we explained that the word “free” in “free energy” refers to the energy being available to do useful work. Here, we will dig in further to understand the rationale behind two different types of free energy, the Helmholtz free energy \(F\) and the Gibbs free energy \(G\).
#learningScience#physics#thermodynamics
Public
Francis Ho

Here is a post to help me keep track of different types of transformation of tensors (covariant vs. contravariant vs. invariant). The post begins by seeming to show an object that is all 3 simultaneously (obviously wrong), but it all makes sense by the end. See here:👇

freeenergy.blog/2022/Transform

Free Energy · Confusion regarding tensors and transformationsI was really getting confused about tensors and covariant versus contravariant transformations, but I think I understand it now, so I’d like to share this in case it’s helpful for others.
#math#physics#learningscience
Public
Francis Ho

From your chemistry or physics classes, you probably learned about free energy. But you may not have double clicked into why the different types of free energy (e.g., Helmholtz vs. Gibbs) are constructed the way they are and the subtleties relating to regulating pressure vs. using pressure to perform useful work.

Here is a deep dive👇

freeenergy.blog/2023/FreeEnerg

#learningScience
#physics
#thermodynamics
#energy

Free Energy · Free Energy, Part IIIn Part I of this post, we explained that the word “free” in “free energy” refers to the energy being available to do useful work. Here, we will dig in further to understand the rationale behind two different types of free energy, the Helmholtz free energy \(F\) and the Gibbs free energy \(G\).
Public
Francis Ho

Batteries are really important as we transition to more sustainable energy. But batteries are not isolated from the environment, as they are at the same temperature as the environment, which means that energy must be free to flow between the battery and the environment. So how could we "store" the energy if energy is free to flow out of the battery? This is where the thermodynamics concept of "free energy" comes in: 👇

freeenergy.blog/2023/FreeEnerg

Free Energy · Free Energy, Part IThis blog is called Free Energy, so let’s talk about free energy!
#learningScience#physics#thermodynamics
Continued thread
Public
Francis Ho

It's very interesting how watching a video lecture while on an exercise machine is sort of like "synchronous" learning because you're mostly watching the content in real time, versus "asynchronous" learning when you are mostly paused at various key parts of the video.

It's the difference between breadth-first search (BFS) and depth-first search (DFS), and both are needed for learning deep concepts.

#learningScience#openScience#math
Continued thread
Public
Francis Ho

And it turns out that watching a video lecture while exercising (safely) on a rowing machine or a treadmill is a great way to learn, when combined with focused studying done separately. While you're on a rower, it's harder to keep up with the details of the derivation or the algebra, so you're naturally more focused on the big picture ideas while noting which details need to be filled in later.

#learningScience#openScience#math
Public
Francis Ho

We're very fortunate to live in a time when there are so many freely available learning resources from so many experts willing to donate their time and expertise.

Teaching yourself a complex concept usually requires many re-reads of the text, re-watches of the lecture video, or doing the same but with different books or videos teaching the same topic. The latter is especially helpful due to the benefit of insights from different perspectives.

#learningScience#openScience#math
Public *
Francis Ho

Free energy is a universal concept in thermodynamics that governs how all things evolve in the universe. Whether you are developing better batteries, or simulating molecular structures to develop better drugs, you surely are using calculations or algorithm that rely on minimizing some type of free energy (most likely Gibbs). But why is it "free"? See this post: 👇

freeenergy.blog/2023/FreeEnerg

Free Energy · Free Energy, Part IThis blog is called Free Energy, so let’s talk about free energy!
#learningScience#physics#thermodynamics
Public *
rsp

"Retrieval Practice Consistently Benefits Student Learning" but how to get students to do it, do it well, and do it often?

Research has shown that students know it's effective but report not using it

Wang, L., Muenks, K., & Yan, V. (2023). Interventions to Promote Retrieval Practice: Strategy Knowledge Predicts Intent, but Perceived Cost Predicts Usage

1/

link.springer.com/article/10.1

#ScienceOfLearning #RetrievalPractice #ScienceEducation #EdResearch #LearningScience
#EffectiveLearningStrategies

SpringerLinkRetrieval Practice Consistently Benefits Student Learning: a Systematic Review of Applied Research in Schools and Classrooms - Educational Psychology ReviewGiven the growing interest in retrieval practice among educators, it is valuable to know when retrieval practice does and does not improve student learning—particularly for educators who have limited classroom time and resources. In this literature review, we developed a narrow operational definition for “classroom research” compared to previous reviews of the literature. We screened nearly 2000 abstracts and systematically coded 50 experiments to establish a clearer picture of benefits from retrieval practice in real world educational settings. Our review yielded 49 effect sizes and a total n = 5374, the majority of which (57%) revealed medium or large benefits from retrieval practice. We found that retrieval practice improved learning for a variety of education levels, content areas, experimental designs, final test delays, retrieval and final test formats, and timing of retrieval practice and feedback; however, only 6% of experiments were conducted in non-WEIRD countries. Based on our review of the literature, we make eight recommendations for future research and provide educators with a better understanding of the robust benefits of retrieval practice across a range of school and classroom settings.
Public
Francis Ho

In thermodynamics, we have extensive and intensive state variables. This post explores some of the important scaling requirements when we compute the various thermodynamic partial derivatives.

freeenergy.blog/2023/ThermoCal

Free EnergyConfusion about thermodynamics partial derivativesIn thermodynamics, we have extensive and intensive state variables. Extensive variables, such as \(n\), the number of moles of a substance, or \(V\), the volume of a system, scale with the size of the system. Intensive variables, such as \(T\), the temperature, or \(P\), the pressure, describe conditions inside the system that are invariant as you zoom into smaller parts of the system (assuming a homogeneous system at thermal equilibrium).
#entropy#learningScience#physics
Continued thread
Public
Francis Ho

When we first started to study the subject and began with the basics, it was very disconcerting to not understand some of the details. But then as we learned the big picture and how the theories are applied, things began to make more sense, so we grew more comfortable.

But the true experts and greats are those who have a complete understanding of almost all of the "knowledge stack", to better enable them to tackle the unknown frontiers.

#learningScience
Public
Francis Ho

I now realize: For us mere mortals, we "understand" a complex/difficult field (pick any area in physics, math, biology, economics, ...) when we begin to master the big picture concepts, which also causes us to conveniently forget the points of confusion we had about the basic, foundational elements when we first learned them. So this makes us more comfortable so that we feel like we "understand."

#learningScience
Public *
Francis Ho

I have a new post on the second law of thermodynamics and why entropy always increases!

It takes a simple statement of the second law that is easy to comprehend (that all real heat engines are less efficient than an idealized, reversible Carnot heat engine) and shows how this implies a much more abstract statement of the second law that entropy must increase for irreversible or spontaneous processes.

freeenergy.blog/2023/Irreversi

Free Energy · The second law of thermodynamics and why entropy must increase!Sharing ideas and learnings in math, science, and tech
#entropy#learningScience#physics
SearchLive feeds
About