Page 64 - Microsoft Word - The Future of Learning April 2017.docx

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A variable is a characteristic of an object, process and/or event that can change and there is often more than one cause for that effect that we observe. Almost all objects, thoughts, knowledge and emotions change over time; so not many things in our world stay the same for long! AND ...there is always a cause for the effect(s) that we observe. The tides, our mood, our bank balance, the weather and where on the horizon the sun comes up, are all examples of changes that are underpinned by causes.
Sometimes there are many variables (causes) that lead to an effect that we notice; such as global weather patterns. The number of variables (causes) that contribute to global weather patterns is enormous, so even with satellites, powerful computer models and huge amount of data from previous weather, the experts still sometimes get our weather wrong. The more variables there are the more complex the equation is.
So how can we encourage learners to understand and learn these ‘hard’ subjects more easily? An example may help. If we ask people whether they ever use the algebra that they were taught at school, they will quickly reply “No, never!” However, that is not the case. We all apply algebraic processes all the time, we just don’t realise we are using them. To understand algebra, we need an appropriate prompt.
The Prompt: When we get up in the morning, different factors determine the clothes we will wear on any given day. We refer to these factors that affect our decision-making as ‘variables’ because they can change from one moment or day to the next. ‘Variables’ may seem a big word for 6-year-olds but they have no problem with words such as ‘Tyrannosaurus rex’, so they will probably manage ‘variables.’ There are several variables that we will consider before we decide which clothes we will wear on any given day. Some of the variables that might affect our decision of what we would wear to school or a night out could include:
A. How am I feeling?
B. How important is it to look fashionable?
C. What is the range of clothes I have available?
D. Which clothes are clean?
E. What is the weather like outside and how that affects the temperature at my place of work?
F. Which accessories will highlight what I wear?
G. Which clothes are appropriate to my position?
H. Is it important that my clothes match?
I. Do the clothes need ironing?
J. What are the expectations of my peers?
K. What are the expectations of my community?
Everyone will attach a different level of importance for each of these variables. If we ask someone, “Which one of these variables is the least important?” they may respond “variable (E)”, i.e. the weather. Now we have a baseline for judging the relative importance of the other variables as we will rate E as 1- in other words the least important (1E). We will use a rating system up to 10 for the variable(s). The next question we ask our test person is, “Are the clothes being clean twice as important as (E), or possibly three times?” We can then apply the same process to each variable and make relative judgements as to their importance until we end up with the equation for this person that describes why they wore those clothes on that day: The ‘equation’ is below:
What I will wear = 9A+3B+4C+3D+1E+5F+3G+2H+4I+6J