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welcome back to the education track of

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pike online 2021 and i am joined by the

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fabulous tom kuntz and he's going to be

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telling us about 10 tips for teaching

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technical topics

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uh which will be a fantastic talk um

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i've never felt quite so lacking in a

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pop filter as i do right now

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um

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tom a quick introduction to tom he's

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been teaching programming professionally

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for four years at the university of new

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south wales he's a course administrator

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for comp 1511 the programming

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fundamentals course in unsw school of

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computer science uh in that course he's

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taught more than 200 students of varying

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programmabilities the c language so i

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can ask him all about c and python and

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all of that stuff later in the questions

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yes this is a subtle plug to write your

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questions in the question um uh but

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outside of teaching tom's an avid python

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programmer having worked worked

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professionally as a python software

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development developer

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uh and using it to make tools for

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teaching uh as user-friendly debugging

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systems and assignment marking and all

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sorts of things

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um now i have threatened an outrageous

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amount of interpretive dance um but

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rather than rather than fulfill that

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promise threat now i'm gonna leave you

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with tom uh for this fabulous talk thank

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you so much

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thank you very much um i'm very excited

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to be here so yeah my talk is 10 tips

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for teaching technical topics with tom

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because i thought that a bit of

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alliteration in the afternoon would be

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acceptable

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so

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what do i want to get out of this talk

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let's go to the first slide there we go

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which is i have sort of three aims for

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three different groups of people if

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you're new to teaching coding i'm hoping

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that this will just be a bunch of tips

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that will help you

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this talk was originally written for new

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tutors at the school of computer science

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at unsw

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so the hope was you know just giving

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people tips that are useful but i

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realized coming to a conference like

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pycon where in the education track

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some of you may also already be very

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experienced teachers in which case i

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hope what this talk gives you is easier

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ways to communicate what are important

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things about teaching programming to

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other people and maybe as a sort of

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reference or something like that that

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other people can use and even if you're

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not a teacher at all i still think that

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this talk is useful because anything

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that you're doing involving technology

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is really communication and hopefully

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some of these tips will help you do

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things like bring on a new hire at work

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or work on um

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any sort uh any sort of project um and

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communicate during that project so let's

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go through

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my first tip is just a really simple one

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which is like what is it to be a teacher

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um i think that teaching breaks down

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into two different parts the first part

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is transferring a mental model from your

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head into another person's head and the

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second part is figuring out where

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somebody else's mental model diverges

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from yours but your question might be

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what's a mental model it's a way of

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explaining the world so for instance you

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might think of a variable and say well a

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variable is just a thing inside of a box

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that you can change out it's got a name

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that you can refer to and that's going

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to explain how python or any other

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language works as far as it goes now

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obviously if you're then going into the

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internals of python and you're making

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some you know deep changes to the

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semantics of things that might not be

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enough but the idea is it's an

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appropriate level of understanding that

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will explain the behaviors that you see

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and so my thesis is that probably for

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the first 10 minutes of when you're

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teaching something what you're doing is

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you're trying to construct a mental

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model and transfer it to somebody else

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but unfortunately the process from going

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from your brain to your mouth to the

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other person's ears and then into their

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brain is a lossy one and so i've had

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this image here of just like the sort of

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compare the pair almost between two

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different images and you can see there

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are all these little changes and so most

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of our work as teachers in my experience

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is finding those little differences and

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bringing them to light and explaining

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them away so that you and your student

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eventually end up with the same model of

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how the world works i've got a few

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examples here of what that looks like so

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the first one is an exercise that we do

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in com151 in our very first week and i

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think this works for any any uh

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programming language what we ask people

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to do is to make a peanut well give

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instructions to that tutor to make a

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peanut butter sandwich you might think

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this has nothing to do with programming

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at all but the idea is by asking

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students to make a peanut butter

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sandwich just with instructions and then

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by really messing up their instructions

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so you know they'll tell you to get a

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piece of bread and you'll just like grab

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a whole

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loaf or something like that

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you you teach them this idea that your

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programming has very specific

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instructions that there is you know you

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need to be precise in what you're doing

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and also that you need to break things

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down into smaller steps and we're giving

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them a taste of that frustration that

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i'm sure we've all felt if you know i'm

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trying to teach this thing uh teach this

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computer how to do what i want but i'm

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trying to communicate it in a way that

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it doesn't understand

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so

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this is an exercise that is one way of

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transferring a mental model from your

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brain to your student's brain um but

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then a little bit later on in the course

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another example that we might have

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is this piece of python code so we teach

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in c but i'll give my examples in python

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here is an example of having two

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variables one set to one and the other

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one is set to an input string and so

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students will try and add those two

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things together and they'll say why

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can't i add one plus three and so here

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their understanding of variables is

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perfect their understanding of printing

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is perfect but clearly what they don't

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understand here is

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that adding a string and an integer

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isn't possible or maybe it's you know

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they don't understand the difference

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between integers and strings and then

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there's actually a distinction there and

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so a lot of our job then will be finding

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out that place where their understanding

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differs and giving them a good mental

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model of why the world works the way

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that it works so make this error not

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only to fix this error but to make it

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make sense

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and so the first tip here is just

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always ask yourself what is different

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about the person's mental model to yours

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or alternatively like what mental model

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do you want to communicate to them

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so that's tip number one no more tips to

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go uh but i'll mention as well

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practically try not to just be a code

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fixer when you're giving

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when you're helping a student you don't

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just want to like go in and fix the code

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that's there you actually want to

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understand why they thought that that

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code was correct and to make it better

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and to make their understanding better

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as well

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um so tip number two is then creating an

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environment for learning so if we're all

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agreed that the the important thing here

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is uh you know creating a mental model

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and transferring it to someone else

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that's not going to work if you're not

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in in an environment where you can

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actually learn and so there's this great

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idea of psychological safety and

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google's teams study which was a study

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they did of different high-performing

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teams said that psychological safety was

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the number one thing for high

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performance and it's just as important

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in education so what is psychological

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safety here's like a textbook definition

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but really what it means is just that

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feeling when you're with people and you

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know that it's okay to mess up you can

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make a mistake and that's not a problem

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you're not going to get judged for it

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you're not going to feel belittled and

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your peers aren't going to you know

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ridicule you in some way and so

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um this is this is a concept that's

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that's so important in teaching because

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if you don't have psychological safety

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somebody's not going to show you the

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reasons why they didn't understand

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something they're not going to let you

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into their problems and and allow you to

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correct the misunderstandings that have

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grown into this incorrect program that

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they've shown you

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so here's an example of this maybe so

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you know a student gives you a program

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where my number equals two and you're

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saying well if my number is is less than

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zero print out positive this program is

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supposed to print out positive if it's a

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positive number but it's only printing

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out

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negative numbers as positive i believe

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so you know if a student came to you

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with this code i'm hoping most people

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here wouldn't say well this is just an

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incorrect program here's how you fix it

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what's probably better is to say this

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this is a great program it's doing

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almost exactly what you want and if you

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changed positive to negative it would

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work perfectly and hopefully students

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will almost by themselves figure out you

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know okay so maybe i've gotten the the

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positioning of the of the

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less than sign wrong or something like

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that and so if you work through this

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example you don't just say no this is

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wrong but you

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know make them feel like they've gotten

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somewhere and they've just got a little

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bit further to go that's when you're

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going to get that sort of

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psychologically safe feeling and that's

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when you're going to be able to get that

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student to learn something

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so again tip number two here is

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practically it's just that sort of

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psychological safety but i think another

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way of talking about it is that like

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students remember the way that they feel

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so it's not just about you know exactly

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what you're doing and what you're

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teaching them but it's also about

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uh the feeling that they come away with

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you know if you remember your best

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teachers they're almost certainly the

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ones who you felt comfortable with them

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who you could bring your problems to

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them it's not just you know that they

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taught you calculus well um and so as a

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practical sort of uh corollary from that

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basically just never say no that's a

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that's a rule that we pretty much teach

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most of our tutors at unsw is you don't

279
00:08:43,279 --> 00:08:46,560
just say no to something don't just say

280
00:08:44,959 --> 00:08:48,320
like this incorrect you can almost

281
00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:49,839
always find a way in which this is the

282
00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,440
correct answer to a slightly different

283
00:08:49,839 --> 00:08:52,880
problem that if you just make a slight

284
00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,040
shift in how you understand things it's

285
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,880
all going to become clear

286
00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,480
so that's tip number two tip number

287
00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,320
three is well okay we've created a

288
00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,080
psychologically safe space and we've

289
00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,560
also understood that you know our job is

290
00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:07,279
to transfer a mental model so how do you

291
00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:09,200
actually find the mental model and to me

292
00:09:07,279 --> 00:09:10,399
this requires sort of three steps the

293
00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,000
first thing is you're never going to

294
00:09:10,399 --> 00:09:13,760
find a mental model without interacting

295
00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,959
with the student in some way so you

296
00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,040
don't just want to look at their code

297
00:09:14,959 --> 00:09:18,399
and make a guess as to what went wrong

298
00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,320
you probably want to have a chat with

299
00:09:18,399 --> 00:09:22,480
them as well and say okay so

300
00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,399
you know what why is this why did this

301
00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,080
error come up what were you trying to do

302
00:09:24,399 --> 00:09:27,279
all those sorts of questions

303
00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,360
when you're chatting with them i

304
00:09:27,279 --> 00:09:31,279
recommend starting two steps back from

305
00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,800
wherever you actually uh whatever

306
00:09:31,279 --> 00:09:34,080
question they asked you so maybe they're

307
00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,640
asking you a question about this if

308
00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:38,080
statement start and ask you know why are

309
00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,839
you asking me about this if statement or

310
00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,760
what are you trying to achieve

311
00:09:39,839 --> 00:09:43,360
and like i said pretty much all of this

312
00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,680
is going to be asking them questions

313
00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,680
even though they've asked you a question

314
00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:49,279
you're trying to understand the

315
00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:50,480
rationale behind the question and what

316
00:09:49,279 --> 00:09:51,600
they're what they're trying to

317
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,120
understand

318
00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,000
is how you're going to find that mental

319
00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,080
model

320
00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,399
and the biggest tip i can give here is

321
00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,720
beware of what's called the x y problem

322
00:09:58,399 --> 00:10:02,399
so the x y problem is basically somebody

323
00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,399
wants to know one thing

324
00:10:02,399 --> 00:10:05,920
and they think that the way that they

325
00:10:04,399 --> 00:10:07,839
solve this problem is by understanding

326
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:10,240
another thing so they ask you about that

327
00:10:07,839 --> 00:10:11,600
other thing without asking you

328
00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,600
without telling you the reason why they

329
00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,519
think that that's the right solution and

330
00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,800
so the reason this is so problematic is

331
00:10:15,519 --> 00:10:18,800
because a student will come up to you

332
00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,160
and say i'm trying to understand

333
00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,600
let's say how do i connect to the

334
00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,640
internet and maybe you tell them oh

335
00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,240
you've got to go and install the

336
00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,000
requests library and do this thing and

337
00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,360
that thing and they go off and about

338
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,320
three hours later they come back to you

339
00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,920
and they say

340
00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:31,839
this really specific thing isn't working

341
00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,760
and you look at their code and it's just

342
00:10:31,839 --> 00:10:35,440
nowhere close to what they wanted

343
00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,959
had you stopped and said and taken a

344
00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,640
step back and said why do you want to

345
00:10:36,959 --> 00:10:40,000
connect to the internet maybe you'd find

346
00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,000
out oh they actually wanted to do this

347
00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,680
other thing and really what they wanted

348
00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,760
was the answer to an entirely separate

349
00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:47,519
question and so again all of this is

350
00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,279
going back to finding what their mental

351
00:10:47,519 --> 00:10:50,880
model of the world is finding the

352
00:10:49,279 --> 00:10:52,880
reasons why they're asking the questions

353
00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:55,839
that they're asking and understanding is

354
00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:58,160
that the right question to be asking

355
00:10:55,839 --> 00:10:59,680
so here's another example again um so

356
00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,600
here's a here's a list with six numbers

357
00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:03,760
in it they're trying to print out five

358
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:05,519
of those numbers and maybe they've asked

359
00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,600
you you know why is that last five in my

360
00:11:05,519 --> 00:11:08,880
list not getting printed out and the

361
00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,399
answer is well in this case it's just

362
00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,880
because there's a five in that range

363
00:11:10,399 --> 00:11:15,600
statement so they're going from zero up

364
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:17,040
to five but not including five

365
00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,560
but this really

366
00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,839
you you could give them the answer oh

367
00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:21,360
five isn't getting printed out because

368
00:11:19,839 --> 00:11:22,720
the range statement's wrong change the

369
00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,399
five to a six

370
00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,399
but that's really not going to give them

371
00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:27,600
the full answer that you want if you ask

372
00:11:26,399 --> 00:11:29,440
them the question okay what are you

373
00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,760
trying to do and they say i'm trying to

374
00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:33,760
print out my numbers well then you can

375
00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:36,079
say okay well maybe there's a different

376
00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:38,240
way of doing it maybe instead of using

377
00:11:36,079 --> 00:11:40,800
for i in range we could just use four

378
00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,320
number in my numbers or maybe you could

379
00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,839
do something even crazier and say oh

380
00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,519
maybe you just want to print out my

381
00:11:43,839 --> 00:11:46,800
numbers as a whole array and so if

382
00:11:45,519 --> 00:11:48,240
you're asking these questions you'll

383
00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,320
probably get a better answer to them and

384
00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,800
one that actually fixes their mental

385
00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,320
model or helps grow their mental model

386
00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,240
in a great way

387
00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,519
um so yeah the tip here is sort of try

388
00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:00,000
to start from two steps back and

389
00:11:57,519 --> 00:12:02,000
understand their mental model

390
00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:04,079
and then practically i would suggest

391
00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,639
before you answer a question make sure

392
00:12:04,079 --> 00:12:08,079
it's the right question uh and and often

393
00:12:06,639 --> 00:12:11,120
that's going to involve asking questions

394
00:12:08,079 --> 00:12:12,000
before you actually answer a question

395
00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,240
cool

396
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,920
so now we understand okay we've got to

397
00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:18,079
understand a mental model we've got to

398
00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:20,240
have a psychologically safe space how do

399
00:12:18,079 --> 00:12:22,560
i actually communicate that that that

400
00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:25,120
message how do i communicate the the

401
00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:26,959
mental model there are a bunch of tools

402
00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,360
that i'd suggest considering that you

403
00:12:26,959 --> 00:12:31,519
might have at your disposal so things

404
00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,800
like you might start off with paper you

405
00:12:31,519 --> 00:12:35,040
might use your hands as you're seeing

406
00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,560
i'm gesturing wildly approximating

407
00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,320
interpretive dance

408
00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:40,880
you might have models you might have

409
00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,240
analogies you might have cahoots

410
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,320
all of these different tools or

411
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:46,880
different ways that you can communicate

412
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,560
your message to somebody else

413
00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,240
even more simply than that underneath

414
00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:52,000
the tools that you're using you can

415
00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,920
often design the way in which you're

416
00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:56,240
asking questions uh to make them

417
00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:58,160
advantageous to you so for instance you

418
00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,519
can use somebody's experience of maybe

419
00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:00,880
they understand how a shopping list

420
00:12:59,519 --> 00:13:02,959
works and if you're trying to explain to

421
00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,480
them a list if you ask your questions in

422
00:13:02,959 --> 00:13:06,639
terms of well how would this work on a

423
00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:08,639
shopping list a whole category of

424
00:13:06,639 --> 00:13:10,160
problems that they're you know maybe

425
00:13:08,639 --> 00:13:11,760
they don't understand why like adding to

426
00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,000
a list works or something like that that

427
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,360
whole category of problems goes away if

428
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,639
you're asking the questions in such a

429
00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,800
way that maybe it uses their own

430
00:13:16,639 --> 00:13:20,560
experience or it ties back to an analogy

431
00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,560
that they already understand so when

432
00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:24,240
you're trying to get your message across

433
00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,680
both think about the actual tools that

434
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,760
you've got so things like cahoots or

435
00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,279
whiteboards and also think about the way

436
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:32,160
in which you're asking those questions

437
00:13:29,279 --> 00:13:33,760
those are both really important ways of

438
00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,200
of getting your message across and so

439
00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,880
the tip here is you know think about the

440
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,480
methods that you're using to communicate

441
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,160
and why not learn some new ones as well

442
00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,920
so one of the nice things i've seen

443
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,360
today at pycon is you know different

444
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,199
people talking about all these useful

445
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,720
tools that people have and so you can

446
00:13:45,199 --> 00:13:48,320
maybe experiment with these new tools as

447
00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,639
well to communicate better or to

448
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,639
communicate differently

449
00:13:50,639 --> 00:13:55,040
so my fifth tip here is something that i

450
00:13:52,639 --> 00:13:57,839
think we often have to tell to newer

451
00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:59,360
tutors and that is because they'll start

452
00:13:57,839 --> 00:14:01,360
off by watching another tutor or

453
00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,360
watching the person who taught them

454
00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:05,199
they'll try and copy the style that that

455
00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,560
person has and that's a great way to get

456
00:14:05,199 --> 00:14:08,639
started if you're really not sure what

457
00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:09,839
you're you know how to teach copying

458
00:14:08,639 --> 00:14:11,199
what someone else has done is a good way

459
00:14:09,839 --> 00:14:13,040
to just find your feet and get your

460
00:14:11,199 --> 00:14:14,480
confidence but you don't need to teach

461
00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,920
like everybody else

462
00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,440
so there are different things that you

463
00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,240
can try so maybe you can try you know

464
00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,040
making uh good jokes or maybe you can

465
00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,120
try

466
00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,800
you know being being serious or maybe

467
00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,560
you can try being a little bit uh sort

468
00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,160
of sarcastic all of these different

469
00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,440
things with a different person might

470
00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,040
work really well

471
00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,880
similarly i've done some lecturers who

472
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,399
love using memes some lectures who love

473
00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,720
using little games

474
00:14:34,399 --> 00:14:38,320
um some people who just like draw a lot

475
00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:40,800
and each of those again can work really

476
00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,240
well with a different lecturer

477
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,560
how do you interact with students if you

478
00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:47,279
can find tools like using your hands or

479
00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:49,199
using poles or using a chat if there is

480
00:14:47,279 --> 00:14:52,480
one all these sorts of things again are

481
00:14:49,199 --> 00:14:54,079
great ways of

482
00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,680
having a style that you can experiment

483
00:14:54,079 --> 00:14:57,760
with that you can change and that you

484
00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:59,040
can maybe reach people better with and

485
00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,320
so what i'd recommend here and i'll talk

486
00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,600
about this a little bit more in a second

487
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,959
is you know ask yourself what are the

488
00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,480
teachers that you've enjoyed done are

489
00:15:02,959 --> 00:15:05,600
there things that you've noticed helped

490
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,760
you when you were learning and that

491
00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,920
maybe you can integrate into your own

492
00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:11,279
style more and more for me i know that

493
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,360
there are certain phrases that i've

494
00:15:11,279 --> 00:15:15,680
heard throughout my uh time teaching

495
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:17,519
that i've sort of borrowed so um that

496
00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,120
one one of my favorites is uh you know

497
00:15:17,519 --> 00:15:20,880
if you if you try something once and it

498
00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,160
feels good let's do it again and so i

499
00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,279
love that phrase you know we'll talk

500
00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,040
about while loops and that's something

501
00:15:23,279 --> 00:15:26,480
i'll bring up or um

502
00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,959
all these sorts of different

503
00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,959
jokes maybe or phrases or ways of

504
00:15:28,959 --> 00:15:32,720
explaining something they're all great

505
00:15:30,959 --> 00:15:34,000
things that you can use to to improve

506
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,440
your uh improve your style or just

507
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,199
change your style

508
00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,800
um yeah so tip five is explore your

509
00:15:37,199 --> 00:15:40,399
style

510
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,759
tip six is a really concrete one and

511
00:15:40,399 --> 00:15:43,680
this is something that we definitely

512
00:15:41,759 --> 00:15:46,240
hammer in during tutor training

513
00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,839
never touch the keyboard and so

514
00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,680
the reasoning behind this is that the

515
00:15:47,839 --> 00:15:51,600
moment that you are touching a student's

516
00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,440
keyboard or touching anybody's keyboard

517
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,120
really you're taking away from their

518
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,959
opportunity to learn

519
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,639
and you can often cover up the fact that

520
00:15:56,959 --> 00:16:00,000
they're not understanding something by

521
00:15:58,639 --> 00:16:01,199
you convincing yourself that oh i'm

522
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,720
explaining to them what i'm doing and

523
00:16:01,199 --> 00:16:04,079
i'm just touching the keyboard

524
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:06,160
unfortunately

525
00:16:04,079 --> 00:16:07,519
if they're not the ones doing the typing

526
00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,040
now they can start thinking about oh

527
00:16:07,519 --> 00:16:10,240
what's for dinner or i'm you know

528
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,079
thinking about another course or

529
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,160
whatever whereas if they're the ones

530
00:16:12,079 --> 00:16:15,440
having to type they're actually in the

531
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,720
moment they're having to understand what

532
00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,560
you're saying they're at least

533
00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,680
understanding you know there are keys

534
00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,440
that i'm pressing and maybe they're

535
00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,040
getting something out of that but it

536
00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,240
means that they're in the in the moment

537
00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:26,160
they're they're actually with you when

538
00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,320
they're listening to you so

539
00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:29,839
absolutely a great rule of thumb is

540
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,680
never touch the keyboard if you're able

541
00:16:29,839 --> 00:16:33,199
to interact with somebody's screen or

542
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:36,000
interact with their keyboard i would

543
00:16:33,199 --> 00:16:37,759
just suggest avoiding it

544
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:40,240
and here's an example of this right so

545
00:16:37,759 --> 00:16:41,360
if let's say this small python program

546
00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,040
and you're looking at it you're just

547
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,839
saying this is they've gotten the right

548
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:47,920
code but it could be so much better

549
00:16:45,839 --> 00:16:50,399
if they just said you know if my number

550
00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:52,480
is in this list of special numbers it

551
00:16:50,399 --> 00:16:54,000
would work so much easier

552
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,839
and if you give into that temptation to

553
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,120
just sort of edit their code what

554
00:16:55,839 --> 00:16:58,560
happens is that they'll look at their

555
00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,680
code and it won't be their code anymore

556
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,199
they won't understand what they've

557
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,279
written they won't understand what what

558
00:17:01,199 --> 00:17:04,799
you've been thinking and i've often had

559
00:17:03,279 --> 00:17:06,480
a situation where i'll have a student

560
00:17:04,799 --> 00:17:08,079
come into a consultation and they'll say

561
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,959
here's a piece of code that my tutor

562
00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:11,839
helped me with and i really don't

563
00:17:08,959 --> 00:17:14,559
understand it and and often i think a

564
00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:16,480
cause of that is when a student has had

565
00:17:14,559 --> 00:17:18,000
part of the code written for them or

566
00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,839
dictated to them

567
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,720
without explanation and they really

568
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:25,919
don't understand what's going on

569
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:29,360
so yeah tip six never touch the keyboard

570
00:17:25,919 --> 00:17:30,799
tip seven don't teach alone um so i

571
00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:31,919
realize that you know not everyone is in

572
00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:34,480
the same position where they have this

573
00:17:31,919 --> 00:17:36,480
luxury of being able to go and find

574
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,240
uh lots of other people to watch them

575
00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:40,080
teach um

576
00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,160
but where possible i would suggest

577
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:44,000
watching how other people teach so you

578
00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,440
know if you can find

579
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,880
different presentations online or

580
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,080
different ways of explaining the same

581
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,520
topic

582
00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,120
what you're going to do over time is

583
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,400
you'll see the different ways in which

584
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:54,160
people

585
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,000
present something

586
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,080
you can keep an eye on their style

587
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,760
as well as that what you'll often find

588
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,880
is that you can um when you're getting

589
00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,240
taught something you can have in the

590
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,760
back of your mind you know like how is

591
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,679
this person trying to teach me this

592
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,280
thing how are they doing it and that

593
00:18:05,679 --> 00:18:09,280
again can be super handy because if

594
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,559
you're watching them and trying to

595
00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,400
understand you know what are they trying

596
00:18:10,559 --> 00:18:14,080
to teach me and how are they doing it

597
00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:16,799
that's a really good way of of

598
00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:18,960
understanding um

599
00:18:16,799 --> 00:18:20,720
of seeing teaching styles and seeing is

600
00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,400
this good or is this not good

601
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,080
um practically though the other reason

602
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,320
why it's really useful to not teach

603
00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:28,400
alone is because if a student doesn't

604
00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,640
understand you you can bring somebody

605
00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,400
else across uh you can you know

606
00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:34,320
somebody might have a different style

607
00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,679
and i i sometimes students get really

608
00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,039
worried when or

609
00:18:35,679 --> 00:18:38,480
sometimes new tutors i should say get

610
00:18:37,039 --> 00:18:39,600
really worried when they're like the

611
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,799
student i've been sitting with them for

612
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,720
10 minutes they don't understand what

613
00:18:40,799 --> 00:18:43,840
i'm saying often it's just that you know

614
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,600
maybe you have a slightly different

615
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,039
teaching style or maybe

616
00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,720
you use different analogies and it

617
00:18:47,039 --> 00:18:50,080
doesn't quite click with them so having

618
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,760
a second person there can be really

619
00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,880
handy because it means

620
00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:56,880
somebody else is is there to

621
00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,880
sort of collaborate with you and jump in

622
00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,480
and give them a break and even that like

623
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,240
short break even if you're the only

624
00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,840
person there is amazing because if

625
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:06,559
there's a short break there you can

626
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:09,559
change your style

627
00:19:06,559 --> 00:19:09,559
sorry

628
00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,200
yeah so

629
00:19:11,679 --> 00:19:15,840
being able to change your style in a

630
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:18,240
short break like i just did there um

631
00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:20,799
can be amazing because it gives you

632
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:22,480
uh a distance from your previous

633
00:19:20,799 --> 00:19:24,640
explanation and now you go to a new

634
00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,320
explanation and maybe that helps better

635
00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,320
so even if you're the only teacher there

636
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,240
i can still recommend you take a break

637
00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,039
or even if there's like another person

638
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:32,960
there

639
00:19:31,039 --> 00:19:34,480
maybe get them in an and and see if

640
00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:36,720
having another person who could that you

641
00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,000
can work with or a more experienced

642
00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:40,160
student who maybe understands the

643
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:42,240
content already bring them in

644
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,120
to just play around and see if having

645
00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:47,039
another person there will help

646
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:51,000
so yeah tip seven find other people to

647
00:19:47,039 --> 00:19:51,000
learn from and to teach with

648
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,400
cool

649
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,600
tip eight

650
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,720
dealing with particular types of

651
00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:00,160
students this is a bit of a big tip um

652
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,679
whenever you're teaching more than one

653
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,600
person you'll almost always have a

654
00:20:01,679 --> 00:20:05,200
spectrum so that's from students who are

655
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,840
struggling who maybe missed previous

656
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,280
content who uh you know maybe they've

657
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,039
got other things going in on their in

658
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,240
their lives then the other end of the

659
00:20:11,039 --> 00:20:14,480
spectrum is you know you've got really

660
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:16,159
fast students who are working

661
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,760
uh way ahead of the content maybe

662
00:20:16,159 --> 00:20:19,039
they've already learnt programming and

663
00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,480
it can be really difficult to run a

664
00:20:19,039 --> 00:20:22,159
class of even a few people if there's

665
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,000
this sort of spectrum

666
00:20:22,159 --> 00:20:25,760
the the thing that we generally point

667
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,080
our tutors at is this sort of one-third

668
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:30,480
rule so you can't teach everyone at once

669
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,159
so try and aim for a third of people

670
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,520
thinking it's too fast

671
00:20:32,159 --> 00:20:35,200
that's generally a good balance between

672
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,799
most of the class being able to follow

673
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,640
and being able to learn

674
00:20:36,799 --> 00:20:40,799
and being engaged maybe there's one or

675
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,559
two people at the bottom of the spectrum

676
00:20:40,799 --> 00:20:44,799
who you need to

677
00:20:42,559 --> 00:20:44,799
sorry

678
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:50,480
who you need to um catch up later

679
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:51,760
or

680
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,400
maybe there's a few people at the top of

681
00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:57,120
the spectrum who you need to um

682
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:59,039
uh sort of give extra work to but that's

683
00:20:57,120 --> 00:20:59,919
generally a good middle spot

684
00:20:59,039 --> 00:21:02,000
when you're dealing with those

685
00:20:59,919 --> 00:21:04,000
struggling students i'd suggest you know

686
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,440
some patience of course giving them

687
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,200
tasks to do and coming back to them

688
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,880
later is often also a useful trick so if

689
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,400
you have spent a while with a single

690
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,679
student or you've spent a while with a

691
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,760
group of students

692
00:21:11,679 --> 00:21:14,880
give them something simple to do so they

693
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,320
can sort of have a break from your

694
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,320
explanation and then come back to them

695
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,159
later and of course remember remember

696
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:22,320
psychological safety

697
00:21:20,159 --> 00:21:24,240
for faster students um we have this

698
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,400
concept called speed bumps and that's

699
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,679
the idea of a

700
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,760
a tool

701
00:21:27,679 --> 00:21:31,200
to you know a really complicated problem

702
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,799
that gets them engaged in something and

703
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,559
means that they're not going to be sort

704
00:21:32,799 --> 00:21:35,840
of um

705
00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:37,039
just

706
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,559
holding up the rest of the class with

707
00:21:37,039 --> 00:21:40,320
their sort of interesting question

708
00:21:38,559 --> 00:21:41,840
that's way ahead of the class

709
00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,679
the other thing you can do as well is

710
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,440
get them to help now of course some

711
00:21:43,679 --> 00:21:46,960
students might not have the the skills

712
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,880
that you they need to help another

713
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:51,120
student but often if you pair people up

714
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:53,039
together the fast students can be useful

715
00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:54,640
to those slower students or or to the

716
00:21:53,039 --> 00:21:56,880
struggling students

717
00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,799
so yeah tip eight uh any group of people

718
00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,400
will form this sort of continuum

719
00:21:58,799 --> 00:22:02,960
have strategies to deal with all of them

720
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:05,679
and see if you can sort of target that a

721
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:08,000
little bit below the middle

722
00:22:05,679 --> 00:22:08,000
um

723
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,120
cool

724
00:22:09,679 --> 00:22:12,960
tip number nine

725
00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,720
uh dealing with imposter syndrome so

726
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,840
what is impostor syndrome it's this idea

727
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:21,120
of you're you're not feeling um

728
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,640
uh confident or or capable of doing this

729
00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:24,400
job of teaching people

730
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:26,159
and i know it's something that almost

731
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:28,080
every shooter uh struggles with at some

732
00:22:26,159 --> 00:22:29,520
point and there are two tips that i've

733
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,760
or two sub tips here that i've got which

734
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,120
can help kind of combat it the first one

735
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,120
is to think that even if you're not the

736
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:36,720
best at this particular subject often

737
00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:37,919
there's a student in your class who's

738
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,280
been doing it for years and you're like

739
00:22:37,919 --> 00:22:40,480
oh my goodness this student is way

740
00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,559
better than me

741
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:45,200
teaching is a separate skill and it's a

742
00:22:42,559 --> 00:22:47,600
skill that's you know just as relevant

743
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:49,520
and valid and so maybe you're not the

744
00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,400
best at this particular coding topic but

745
00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,159
you've still got the skill of

746
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,440
communicating it to other people and so

747
00:22:52,159 --> 00:22:54,720
if you think about your skills in that

748
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,080
way sometimes that can help with the

749
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,360
thought of you know like oh i'm not good

750
00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,960
enough because there's one person knows

751
00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:00,799
how to code better than me

752
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,159
the other thing is to think even if

753
00:23:00,799 --> 00:23:03,679
still you're not the best person in the

754
00:23:02,159 --> 00:23:05,360
room you have a set of unique

755
00:23:03,679 --> 00:23:07,520
experiences and a perspective that

756
00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:09,919
people might find useful so it's really

757
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,840
important to think about okay even if

758
00:23:09,919 --> 00:23:13,440
somebody else could program better than

759
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,880
me and can teach better than me there

760
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,559
are some people in this room who have a

761
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,159
shared experience maybe they're gamers

762
00:23:16,559 --> 00:23:19,840
and they love

763
00:23:18,159 --> 00:23:22,400
mario and you can use mario themed

764
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:24,960
examples or maybe um you know they come

765
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:26,480
from the same background as you so

766
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:28,240
you have some sort of context there that

767
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,240
you can share so

768
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,679
everybody i think is has a unique

769
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:33,600
experience that makes them a good

770
00:23:31,679 --> 00:23:35,600
teacher in their own way and so i often

771
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,679
think that remembering those things can

772
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,360
be useful uh for for dealing with that

773
00:23:37,679 --> 00:23:40,880
imposter syndrome so yeah you have

774
00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:42,400
unique experiences and that's why you're

775
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:45,279
a teacher

776
00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,320
um my final tip uh sometimes it's better

777
00:23:45,279 --> 00:23:48,720
not to know

778
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:50,559
so a really common question that i get

779
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,919
from from newer tutors is like what do i

780
00:23:50,559 --> 00:23:54,159
do if i don't know the answer to

781
00:23:51,919 --> 00:23:55,600
something and that can be scary it's

782
00:23:54,159 --> 00:23:57,039
really scary to be standing in front of

783
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,159
a class and have a student ask you

784
00:23:57,039 --> 00:24:00,400
something that you don't know the answer

785
00:23:58,159 --> 00:24:01,840
to but if you don't know something

786
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,559
counterintuitively that's actually a

787
00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,919
good thing because most of the work of

788
00:24:04,559 --> 00:24:07,360
being a computer scientist or being a

789
00:24:05,919 --> 00:24:09,360
person who codes

790
00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:10,559
is finding out the answer to a question

791
00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:11,360
that you don't know

792
00:24:10,559 --> 00:24:12,799
so

793
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:15,600
what you can do is you can say i don't

794
00:24:12,799 --> 00:24:16,880
know this is a great question and so

795
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,799
next what you've got to do is show them

796
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,320
how to find out you know go on google go

797
00:24:18,799 --> 00:24:21,840
on stack overflow

798
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,679
often we'll get people to open up a text

799
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:25,360
editor and actually write a program to

800
00:24:23,679 --> 00:24:27,600
try and answer the question

801
00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:29,679
and so making these mistakes or not

802
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:32,559
knowing something is really a good thing

803
00:24:29,679 --> 00:24:33,919
it means that you're um you're showing

804
00:24:32,559 --> 00:24:34,720
somebody a skip the skill of how to

805
00:24:33,919 --> 00:24:36,480
learn

806
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,240
and it also kind of helps because it

807
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,679
shows that you're not perfect you know

808
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,600
it can often look like a person who's

809
00:24:39,679 --> 00:24:42,960
been programming for a while is just on

810
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,640
some different level and it's an

811
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:47,360
unachievable level of perfection in

812
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:49,200
their programming but the secret is

813
00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:51,600
everyone you know learned how to program

814
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:53,440
and everyone has their own challenges in

815
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,440
writing code so

816
00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:57,840
showing that off and and making that

817
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,720
okay is sometimes a is a good thing and

818
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,200
it definitely contributes to

819
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:03,600
psychological safety as well

820
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:05,120
um so yeah tip number 10 the last tip is

821
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,960
it's okay not to know something show

822
00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:09,440
people how you would find it out

823
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,159
um so that's the 10 tips i'm sure that

824
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,080
there's

825
00:25:10,159 --> 00:25:13,039
things that you tell your your students

826
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,880
or you tell other people who are

827
00:25:13,039 --> 00:25:16,559
teaching that i've missed here so i'm

828
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,159
really curious to know what people think

829
00:25:16,559 --> 00:25:19,840
i've missed what other questions there

830
00:25:18,159 --> 00:25:21,279
are if there's any other discussion i'll

831
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,159
be really keen for that

832
00:25:21,279 --> 00:25:24,159
but that's the end of the talk

833
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:29,200
hello fantastic thank you so much tom

834
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,279
um i wasn't sure we were gonna get

835
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,120
through all ten but we did

836
00:25:31,279 --> 00:25:35,760
that was great

837
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:36,960
indeed um okay we've got a couple of

838
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,200
questions and we've got a couple of

839
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:41,520
minutes so it'll totally work out and

840
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,400
then they'll be dancing as promised

841
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,960
um

842
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,880
uh the first question here we go um

843
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:49,600
stack overflow

844
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,919
lacks psychological safety indeed it

845
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,679
does uh what would you do to help fix

846
00:25:51,919 --> 00:25:56,000
that

847
00:25:53,679 --> 00:25:58,960
oh this is an interesting question i i

848
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:01,600
love i love that is like outside

849
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,919
the the talk but like so relevant

850
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,360
it's absolutely relevant um

851
00:26:03,919 --> 00:26:07,440
look i'll be honest i think part of the

852
00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:09,039
issue and part of the way that unsw

853
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,919
fixes this is that we have our own

854
00:26:09,039 --> 00:26:13,520
forums um and i understand that you know

855
00:26:11,919 --> 00:26:15,919
fixing stack overflow is going to be a

856
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:17,600
big task so having safer spaces where

857
00:26:15,919 --> 00:26:18,559
students can feel confident to ask those

858
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:19,520
questions

859
00:26:18,559 --> 00:26:21,039
um

860
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:22,480
is a really good thing and also teaching

861
00:26:21,039 --> 00:26:24,320
those students good practice in terms of

862
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,039
how are you respectful online how are

863
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,360
you

864
00:26:25,039 --> 00:26:29,520
teaching other people well um that's

865
00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:31,120
definitely something i i would focus on

866
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,640
and then you can sort of transition to

867
00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,320
linking those students to external

868
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,320
resources that are good examples of

869
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,080
being sort of psychologically safe

870
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,360
and hopefully that means that over time

871
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,039
those students have seen some of that

872
00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:43,679
stack overflow stuff without being

873
00:26:41,039 --> 00:26:45,840
exposed to the worst of it um

874
00:26:43,679 --> 00:26:47,600
in terms of fixing a platform as big as

875
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,600
stack overflow i think that there's you

876
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,919
know there's a large sort of societal

877
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:54,480
change and and changes to the platform

878
00:26:51,919 --> 00:26:56,240
that almost certainly needed to

879
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,400
cause that big of a shift in how it

880
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,760
works but i think for our students there

881
00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,600
are definitely things that we can do to

882
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:04,080
make them feel safe even when they're

883
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:06,159
going onto those platforms or to

884
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,840
create experiences that avoid them going

885
00:27:06,159 --> 00:27:09,520
onto those platforms

886
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:12,080
i i guess that actually leads us into

887
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,360
this second question uh we may have time

888
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,440
for third one afterwards how do you

889
00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:17,200
encourage psychological safety in your

890
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,880
course if students want to ask a

891
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,320
question

892
00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:21,679
um that's a that's a that's a great

893
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,960
question one of the examples that i

894
00:27:21,679 --> 00:27:24,640
removed from the talk which i can bring

895
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,559
up now is

896
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:28,240
often trying to avoid asking a single

897
00:27:26,559 --> 00:27:30,000
person something is a really great way

898
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:32,159
of making people feel safer to answer

899
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,440
questions so uh one thing that we

900
00:27:32,159 --> 00:27:35,919
especially use a lot now that we're

901
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,679
online is polls so if you sort of ask a

902
00:27:35,919 --> 00:27:39,919
question and then you know everybody can

903
00:27:37,679 --> 00:27:42,080
answer together it's a lot less scary to

904
00:27:39,919 --> 00:27:43,840
click a button and and fill in a poll

905
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:46,399
than it is to answer a question and put

906
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:48,080
your hand up and and possibly be wrong

907
00:27:46,399 --> 00:27:49,600
the other thing as well which i talked

908
00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,760
to some of our new tutors about is this

909
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:54,559
idea of contribution being kind of like

910
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:56,640
a battery where you need to recharge

911
00:27:54,559 --> 00:27:58,159
effectively so students they come in

912
00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,240
they don't really want to contribute

913
00:27:58,159 --> 00:28:03,039
they can do small things like you know

914
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:04,640
filling in a poll and as the lesson goes

915
00:28:03,039 --> 00:28:06,559
on if they're having fun and if they're

916
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,159
feeling safe they'll feel more likely to

917
00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:10,240
be able to put their hand up or

918
00:28:08,159 --> 00:28:11,919
contribute something bigger so

919
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,200
conserving that battery and thinking

920
00:28:11,919 --> 00:28:14,720
about you know

921
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,159
structuring things in a way that doesn't

922
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,840
use up too much of it and that you're

923
00:28:16,159 --> 00:28:20,080
creating experiences where people feel

924
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:21,760
safe and are recharged to contribute

925
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,000
again those are both things that i would

926
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:25,520
be thinking about yeah there are so many

927
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,640
things to balance here making sure that

928
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:28,720
everyone is

929
00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,320
actually engaged and welcome and feels

930
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:32,480
able to contribute and safe to

931
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:35,039
contribute at the same yeah

932
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:37,840
gosh it's it's hard challenge teaching

933
00:28:35,039 --> 00:28:38,960
is hard is difficult man

934
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,159
what

935
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:43,039
almost like we should have a whole track

936
00:28:40,159 --> 00:28:45,039
about it at python ah almost almost up

937
00:28:43,039 --> 00:28:46,720
there are uh there's another question

938
00:28:45,039 --> 00:28:48,399
and i'm sure people have more questions

939
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:51,200
but we are at time

940
00:28:48,399 --> 00:28:54,240
so i'm going to throw this question over

941
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:57,360
to the hallway track and invite you and

942
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:59,200
you lot uh on the stream to jump over

943
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,600
there as well

944
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:04,159
and up next

945
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:06,000
is me and amanda and we're going to be

946
00:29:04,159 --> 00:29:08,240
talking about

947
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,679
the education showcase the student

948
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:12,080
showcase and i am

949
00:29:09,679 --> 00:29:13,600
very excited about that so tom thank you

950
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,840
so much um

951
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:18,320
uh we will chat more in the hallway

952
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,919
track uh and i hope you'll all join us

953
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:24,279
to see what these students have come up

954
00:29:19,919 --> 00:29:24,279
with this year thanks so much

955
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:29,679
you