"Our biggest challenge wasn't product related: it was motivating students to want to work on their gaps in understanding."
If someone you were coaching said this, what lesson plan would you create to help them work on their gaps in understanding?
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(I might start with The Inmates Are Running the Asylum… and a noticing session about products whose users seem highly motivated?)
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for me its about paying attention to feelings - understanding is something that feels really comfortable, as if everything is in order...not understanding feels like you are looking for directions and no one speaks your language.
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I would also say that they can't help someone else, if they are not willing to understand for themselves. Trying to help others is motivating!
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Such a tough question! Assuming decent baseline growth mindset, I'd want to introduce them to role models, co-develop rough plans for achieving similar goals, then try to really calibrate challenge levels for the next small gap or two.
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My two cents: understanding gaps often have a cause in fragile understanding from an underlying concept. I usually try to identify which one (not always easy) and start there, somewhere usually considered as a comfort zone. Even if it’s not.
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Are we coaching product folk or teachers here? A probably too direct question for product folk: "How have you ruled out product related issues?"
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Product folk! Yes, I think that question's probably too direct to be effective.
Imagine asking that of a student who's confidently noted "my biggest challenge on this test wasn't understanding-related: it was that the test was too boring!"
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I would base it heavily on Carol S. Dweck's theory of "Mindset".
chronicle.com/article/Carol-
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In other words, students may think they have inherent smarts and are stuck with them. Even if they are have been told they are smart, they are afraid to do anything that might prove it wrong. If they've been told they aren't smart, they may feel like nothing will help.
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