How to Teach (Almost) Anything
summary
Shows evidence that active learning beats lectures by about 55% improvement on exam-like outcomes, cites DEF CON puzzles (≈30,000 attendees) and a bespoke 700-person conference game called black white that links talks to coding, crypto and ML challenges. Builds: text adventure, encrypted attendee badges that require finding three matching parts to decode, a physical room lock challenge, prizes and timestamps. Game takes months to prepare, yields solve counts and timings, and delivers far higher engagement than passive talks.
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chapters (12)
- 0:00Start
- 1:34I don't have a degree.
- 6:25We have teams where you have 14% of the team made up of people who've never gone to college.
- 13:22Gross Enrollment Ratio
- 20:39Average failure rates were 21.8% under active learning but 33.8% under traditional lecturing-a difference that represents a 55% increase.
- 39:42Takeaway
- 40:02What is the most effective way to teach what you are teaching?
- 41:02Know your audience.
- 41:55Motivation is key.
- 42:27Follow up. Follow through.
- 43:39Do as little teaching as you can. Let people learn.
- 44:42Engage, encourage, and challenge.
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