Learning Science Gets Real

But it’s not. At least, not entirely.

Learning scientists talk a lot about deep conceptual understanding, the ability to adapt knowledge to use in novel situations, and the ability to reason through complex problems. In practice, the focus is usually on increasing student achievement — that is, making students perform better on the various tests they take. The main reason to have these skills, however, is to get better at solving actual, complex, unforeseen problems.

This is especially important when the cost of mistakes is high. We want the people managing a nuclear reactor to have a conceptual understanding of how the system works — not just to be applying fixed procedure without any idea of what to do if something goes wrong. We want pilots who can notice, diagnose, and address anomalies before it’s too late to do anything about them. And we want medical practitioners to make sound decisions about diagnosis and care, especially when the situation is life-or-death. Learning science studies how to develop the kind of deep expertise that enables sound decision-making.

What we have now is a society-wide shift: non-ICU medical staff are now treating ICU patients. People without any healthcare background whatsoever are monitoring and treating people at home. And it’s possible that many more medical volunteers may be managing makeshift field hospitals as healthcare systems become overwhelmed. Meanwhile, uncertainty is high, misinformation is rampant, and the medical community is still learning much about how best to treat COVID-19 patients.

Ventilators, for instance are life-saving and complex machines. Non-ICU medical practitioners have likely never used ventilators and don’t know much about them. And even those that have sat through lectures about how to manage a patient on a ventilator don’t necessarily have the experience to make sound decisions…

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