A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

I wholeheartedly agreed with Norman’s question about the dreary way that number facts are presented. This was in direct correlation to Vicente’s example of the nuclear reactor operators’ dilemma in analyzing a dizzying array of numbers and dials. Vicente’s presentation of Beltracchi’s temperature-entropy diagram is an excellent example of the power of image over text for delivering a message clear, concisely and quickly.
The diagram above displays what I have been showing to parents on parent-teacher interview night with respect to their student’s “learning zone”. For some students, their learning zone is wide; hence they can learn or are motivated to try homework even when it is perceived as too easy or too hard. For some, their zone is quite narrow, avoiding practice they perceive as unnecessary, redundant basics or questions that are too difficult even to attempt after first glance. It is my job to open their minds to open their Learning/Effort/Motivation zone. By focusing on the learner and their individual learning backgrounds, styles, desires, and abilities enhances my teaching practice.
Focusing on the learners in developing learning tasks, and in my particular case, the learning shell, will enhance my design skills and thought processes.


Following Leo Fender’s example (Vicente, p78) I will endeavour to watch real users really using my product, and take their feedback under serious consideration.
Perhaps their feedback will give me insights into how to provide feedback to them. Will I annoy them with beeps and buzzers? Will I chastise them with high pitched boings as they answer incorrectly? Extrapolating from Norman (p103) I would hope to use pleasurable sound coding to indicate an error. It is my suspicion that a pleasurable sound may lead to users perceiving lower stress and also a willingness to try again, even after receiving corrective feedback. Corrective feedback need not be punitive, only informative.
What stemmed from a mess of green and red on my foolscap, eventually became this interconnected map of ideas that leads me to my next goal in teaching and learning. As a math teacher, I often strive to teach the beauty of mathematics, the interconnected ness of method and madness, of numbers and language. This encourages me to motivate students to see the broader, more holistic view of numeracy, numbers and mathematical problems; as the Japanese say “See the whole mountain”. In doing so, this would lead me to follow Vicente’s (p88) advice to “tailor products not just to the body but to the mind”. I would like now to extend that for a long term goal as a designer, to reach beyond just the body and mind, but to reach into a student or user’s nature, spirit and psyche. Maybe then I will have created something truly educative.