Let's teach for mastery -- not test scores | Sal Khan

Translator: Sylvia He Reviewer: C iff

I'm here today to talk about the two ideas that,

我今天呢度講兩個概念

at least based on my observations at Khan Academy,

根據我喺可汗學院嘅觀察

are kind of the core, or the key leverage points for learning.

兩個概念對學習好重要

And it's the idea of mastery

一，熟練，真正咁掌握概念

and the idea of mindset.

二，心態

I saw this in the early days working with my cousins.

我同表弟妹補習時，就留意到

A lot of them were having trouble with math at first,

佢哋嘅數學好差

because they had all of these gaps accumulated in their learning.

因為累積咗好多知識嘅缺口

And because of that, at some point they got to an algebra class

帶著啲缺口，佢哋去學代數

and they might have been a little bit shaky on some of the pre-algebra,

喺預代數就危危乎嘞

and because of that, they thought they didn't have the math gene.

所以，佢哋認為自己冇天份

Or they'd get to a calculus class,

或者佢哋修微積分時

and they'd be a little bit shaky on the algebra.

代數嗰部分又唔掂

I saw it in the early days

最初我上載啲視頻到 YouTube 嗰時

when I was uploading some of those videos on YouTube,

我已經見過呢種情況，發現

and I realized that people who were not my cousins were watching.

睇我視頻嘅人都唔係我親戚

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And at first, those comments were just simple thank-yous.

最先，啲人嘅留言只係「唔該」

I thought that was a pretty big deal.

我已經好滿足

I don't know how much time you all spend on YouTube.

唔知你哋係咪經常睇 YouTube

Most of the comments are not "Thank you."

大部分嘅留言都唔係「多謝」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

They're a little edgier than that.

佢哋都更加尖銳小小

But then the comments got a little more intense,

之後嘅留言變得好熱烈

student after student saying that they had grown up not liking math.

好多人話，佢哋細個時都唔鍾意數學

It was getting difficult as they got into more advanced math topics.

越學上去就越辛苦

By the time they got to algebra,

到咗代數時

they had so many gaps in their knowledge they couldn't engage with it.

佢哋嘅知識缺口多到心淡

They thought they didn't have the math gene.

佢哋堅信自己冇數學天份

But when they were a bit older,

佢哋年紀大啲時

they took a little agency and decided to engage.

決定再試一次

They found resources like Khan Academy

於是搵到類似可汗學院嘅資源

and they were able to fill in those gaps and master those concepts,

補番啲知識缺口，真正掌握咗啲概念

and that reinforced their mindset that it wasn't fixed;

開始改變心態

that they actually were capable of learning mathematics.

同相信佢哋可以學好數學

And in a lot of ways, this is how you would master a lot of things in life.

其實，你學好多嘢嘅過程都係咁

It's the way you would learn a martial art.

比如，學武術

In a martial art, you would practice the white belt skills

你先要練白帶水平嘅技術

as long as necessary,

一直練，一直練，冇時間限制

and only when you've mastered it

真係熟練曬

you would move on to become a yellow belt.

先可以升黃帶

It's the way you learn a musical instrument:

比如，學樂器

you practice the basic piece over and over again,

先將基本樂曲反覆練

and only when you've mastered it,

練到精通

you go on to the more advanced one.

先至可以學更難嘅曲目

But what we point out --

但係，呢個唔係

this is not the way a traditional academic model is structured,

傳統教育嘅模式

the type of academic model that most of us grew up in.

我哋身在其中嘅系統

In a traditional academic model,

傳統教育模式

we group students together, usually by age,

將學生按年齡分組

and around middle school,

到咗中學

by age and perceived ability,

就按年齡同能力分

and we shepherd them all together at the same pace.

用一樣嘅進度教所有人

And what typically happens,

最典型嘅情況係

let's say we're in a middle school pre-algebra class,

例如，一個中學嘅預代數課

and the current unit is on exponents,

呢個單元教指數

the teacher will give a lecture on exponents,

教師上課，講解指數

then we'll go home, do some homework.

然後學生返屋企，做功課

The next morning, we'll review the homework,

第朝，覆檢功課

then another lecture, homework, lecture, homework.

然後老師再講課，功課、講課、功課

That will continue for about two or three weeks,

持續兩三個星期之後

and then we get a test.

考試

On that test, maybe I get a 75 percent,

我可能攞到 75 分

maybe you get a 90 percent,

你可能攞 90 分

maybe you get a 95 percent.

又或者 95 分

And even though the test identified gaps in our knowledge,

啲成績顯示，我哋有知識缺口

I didn't know 25 percent of the material.

我有百分之廿五冇學到

Even the A student, what was the five percent they didn't know?

即使係甲等生，仲有百分之五冇學到

Even though we've identified the gaps,

我哋搵到啲知識缺口，但係

the whole class will then move on to the next subject,

成班人就轉去下一個課題，甚至

probably a more advanced subject that's going to build on those gaps.

可能係以知識缺口為基礎嘅課題

It might be logarithms or negative exponents.

比如，對數或者負指數

And that process continues, and you immediately start to realize

你有冇覺得呢個過程

how strange this is.

好奇怪

I didn't know 25 percent of the more foundational thing,

我有百分之廿五冇學到

and now I'm being pushed to the more advanced thing.

就要去學更深更難嘅嘢

And this will continue for months, years, all the way until at some point,

如此重複，直到有一日

I might be in an algebra class or trigonometry class

我學代數或者三角幾何時

and I hit a wall.

就撞曬牆

And it's not because algebra is fundamentally difficult

唔係因為代數本身好難

or because the student isn't bright.

或者學生蠢

It's because I'm seeing an equation and they're dealing with exponents

而係因為一個關於指數嘅算式

and that 30 percent that I didn't know is showing up.

係喺我冇學識嘅百分之三十裡邊

And then I start to disengage.

然後我就好灰心，想放棄

To appreciate how absurd that is,

好荒誕，如果

imagine if we did other things in our life that way.

我哋用同樣方法做其他嘢，會點

Say, home-building.

例如話，起屋

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So we bring in the contractor and say,

我們講畀個承建商知：

"We were told we have two weeks to build a foundation.

「限兩個星期起個地基，

Do what you can."

你盡力而為喇。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So they do what they can.

佢哋就盡力而為

Maybe it rains.

落雨要停工

Maybe some of the supplies don't show up.

有啲材料根本冇到

And two weeks later, the inspector comes, looks around,

兩星期後，工程監督嚟視察

says, "OK, the concrete is still wet right over there,

話：「好，啲混凝土仲係濕嘅，

that part's not quite up to code ...

嗰部分唔係好達標⋯⋯

I'll give it an 80 percent."

我俾你 80 分。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

You say, "Great! That's a C. Let's build the first floor."

你就話：「掂！攞咗個丙。開始起一樓。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Same thing.

同樣情況

We have two weeks, do what you can, inspector shows up, it's a 75 percent.

我哋有兩個星期，盡力而為

考試得 75 分

Great, that's a D-plus.

太好喇！攞咗個丁

Second floor, third floor,

起二樓、三樓咯

and all of a sudden, while you're building the third floor,

起到三樓時

the whole structure collapses.

成間屋就冧咗

And if your reaction is the reaction you typically have in education,

如果你嘅反應同你對教育係一樣

or that a lot of folks have,

同好多人嘅反應一樣

you might say, maybe we had a bad contractor,

你可能話，衰人承建商

or maybe we needed better inspection or more frequent inspection.

或者監督唔夠嚴格，唔夠頻繁

But what was really broken was the process.

但係真正唔掟嘅係個過程

We were artificially constraining how long we had to something,

人為咁限制學嘢嘅時間

pretty much ensuring a variable outcome,

幾乎可以確保，結果有落差

and we took the trouble of inspecting and identifying those gaps,

我們有做檢查，亦發現咗問題

but then we built right on top of it.

但係又喺啲問題上繼續起屋

So the idea of mastery learning is to do the exact opposite.

熟練式教育係完全相反

Instead of artificially constraining, fixing

將人為嘅限制、制度嘅僵化

when and how long you work on something,

幾時學，學幾耐，確保學生

pretty much ensuring that variable outcome,

有唔同嘅成績：Ａ、B、C、D、F

the A, B, C, D, F --

嘅制度

do it the other way around.

完全反轉

What's variable is when and how long

變數係學生

a student actually has to work on something,

幾時學同學幾耐

and what's fixed is that they actually master the material.

要真正掌握咗啲概念，先去下一個課題

And it's important to realize

最緊要嘅係

that not only will this make the student learn their exponents better,

咁樣不但幫助學生學嘢

but it'll reinforce the right mindset muscles.

仲會培養正確嘅心態

It makes them realize that if you got 20 percent wrong on something,

即係，你考試做錯百分之二十

it doesn't mean that you have a C branded in your DNA somehow.

你唔係個差生或者好蠢

It means that you should just keep working on it.

你只不過需要繼續改進

You should have grit; you should have perseverance;

你要有毅力， 有恆心

you should take agency over your learning.

要主動去學嘢

Now, a lot of skeptics might say, well, hey, this is all great,

質疑嘅人會話

philosophically, this whole idea of mastery-based learning

熟練式教育

and its connection to mindset,

堅持改進嘅心態

students taking agency over their learning.

學生學習嘅主動性

It makes a lot of sense, but it seems impractical.

聽起來幾好， 但係冇辦法實施

To actually do it, every student would be on their own track.

各個學生嘅進度唔同

It would have to be personalized,

仲要有自己嘅補習老師

you'd have to have private tutors and worksheets for every student.

同題庫，咁點得呢

And these aren't new ideas --

呢個其實唔係新方法

there were experiments in Winnetka, Illinois, 100 years ago,

一百年前，喺伊利諾伊州嘅 Winnetka

where they did mastery-based learning and saw great results,

就有熟練式教育嘅試驗， 效果好好

but they said it wouldn't scale because it was logistically difficult.

但係啲人話，冇可能大型推廣

The teacher had to give different worksheets to every student,

老師要畀唔同嘅學生唔同嘅題

give on-demand assessments.

連啲考試都係度身訂造

But now today, it's no longer impractical.

宜家，呢個方法係可行嘎

We have the tools to do it.

我哋有工具同條件

Students see an explanation at their own time and pace?

學生要適合自己進度嘅講課？

There's on-demand video for that.

我哋有按需服務嘅視頻

They need practice? They need feedback?

佢哋需要訓練？反饋？

There's adaptive exercises readily available for students.

有根據學生需要做調整嘅題庫

And when that happens, all sorts of neat things happen.

有咗咁多工具，好多好有趣嘅事會發生

One, the students can actually master the concepts,

一，學生真正掌握到啲概念

but they're also building their growth mindset,

仲建立咗不斷改進嘅心態

they're building grit, perseverance,

培養咗毅力同恆心

they're taking agency over their learning.

佢哋更加主動咁學嘢

And all sorts of beautiful things can start to happen

各種奇妙嘅嘢

in the actual classroom.

喺個課室度發生

Instead of it being focused on the lecture,

啲學生唔使睇著個黑板

students can interact with each other.

佢哋可以互動

They can get deeper mastery over the material.

可以更深咁掌握啲概念

They can go into simulations, Socratic dialogue.

可以用模擬、蘇格拉底式對話學習

To appreciate what we're talking about

來體會一下

and the tragedy of lost potential here,

潛力嘅流失係幾可悲

I'd like to give a little bit of a thought experiment.

我哋來想像下

If we were to go 400 years into the past to Western Europe,

400 年前嘅西歐

which even then, was one of the more literate parts of the planet,

係全世界最有文化嘅地區

you would see that about 15 percent of the population knew how to read.

大概百分之十五嘅人識字

And I suspect that if you asked someone who did know how to read,

如果你問個識字嘅人

say a member of the clergy,

比如神職人員

"What percentage of the population do you think is even capable of reading?"

「可以學識閱讀嘅人口比例係幾多？」

They might say, "Well, with a great education system,

佢哋會話：「呃，如果有個優良嘅

maybe 20 or 30 percent."

教育系統，百分之 20 到 30。」

But if you fast forward to today,

睇下當下

we know that that prediction would have been wildly pessimistic,

呢個預測真係太悲觀

that pretty close to 100 percent of the population is capable of reading.

近乎全部人可以學識閱讀

But if I were to ask you a similar question:

如果我問你：

"What percentage of the population do you think is capable

「可以真正

of truly mastering calculus,

學識微積分，

or understanding organic chemistry,

或者有機化學，或者參加癌症研究

or being able to contribute to cancer research?"

嘅人口比例係幾多？」

A lot of you might say, "Well, with a great education system,

好多人會話:「呃，如果有個優良嘅

maybe 20, 30 percent."

教育系統，百分之 20 到 30。」

But what if that estimate

呢個預測係基於

is just based on your own experience in a non-mastery framework,

非熟練式教育嘅框架

your own experience with yourself or observing your peers,

你嘅個人經驗，或對身邊人嘅觀察

where you're being pushed at this set pace through classes,

基於人人同步嘅

accumulating all these gaps?

充滿知識缺口嘅傳統式教育

Even when you got that 95 percent,

你考試嘅分數係 95

what was that five percent you missed?

咁你仲係冇學到百分之五

And it keeps accumulating -- you get to an advanced class,

啲知識缺口日積月累

all of a sudden you hit a wall and say,

你然後喺高等課度撞牆， 就講：

"I'm not meant to be a cancer researcher;

「我唔係做癌症研究者

not meant to be a physicist; not meant to be a mathematician."

物理學家，數學家嘅料。」

I suspect that that actually is the case,

我諗真係就係咁

but if you were allowed to be operating in a mastery framework,

如果你啟用熟練式教育

if you were allowed to really take agency over your learning,

如果你有機會主動學習

and when you get something wrong,

咁你有錯時

embrace it -- view that failure as a moment of learning --

你睇佢成一個學習嘅機會， 唔係失敗

that number, the percent that could really master calculus

真係將微積分

or understand organic chemistry,

有機化學

is actually a lot closer to 100 percent.

學到百分百

And this isn't even just a "nice to have."

呢個唔係奢侈品

I think it's a social imperative.

呢個係必須嘅

We're exiting what you could call the industrial age

我哋已經離開工業時代

and we're going into this information revolution.

我哋已經喺信息時代

And it's clear that some things are happening.

有好多嘢係度變

In the industrial age, society was a pyramid.

工業時代嘅社會係個金字塔

At the base of the pyramid, you needed human labor.

體力勞工喺最底

In the middle of the pyramid, you had an information processing,

中間係處理信息嘅

a bureaucracy class,

官僚階級

and at the top of the pyramid, you had your owners of capital

最頂嘅係資本家

and your entrepreneurs

創業者

and your creative class.

同有創意嘅群體

But we know what's happening already,

宜家

as we go into this information revolution.

喺信息時代

The bottom of that pyramid, automation, is going to take over.

自動工會代替金字塔嘅底層

Even that middle tier, information processing,

中間處理信息嗰層

that's what computers are good at.

電腦做最啱

So as a society, we have a question:

於是乎，我哋有個問題：

All this new productivity is happening because of this technology,

有咁多新興嘅生產力

but who participates in it?

邊個會參與？

Is it just going to be that very top of the pyramid, in which case,

係唔係哋只有金字塔嘅頂端

what does everyone else do?

咁其他人點辦？

How do they operate?

佢哋點操作？

Or do we do something that's more aspirational?

係咪做啲更有志向嘅嘢？

Do we actually attempt to invert the pyramid,

我哋不如試下將個金字塔調轉

where you have a large creative class,

有個大群體可以人人創業

where almost everyone can participate as an entrepreneur,

創作藝術，做科學研究

an artist, as a researcher?

嘅創意群體？

And I don't think that this is utopian.

我認為呢個唔係烏托邦

I really think that this is all based on the idea

我堅信佢基於一個諗法，就係

that if we let people tap into their potential

如果我哋喲用熟練式教育

by mastering concepts,

發掘人嘅潛力

by being able to exercise agency over their learning,

幫佢哋爭取學習同自主嘅權利

that they can get there.

佢哋會成功

And when you think of it as just a citizen of the world,

從一個世界公民嘅角度來睇

it's pretty exciting.

真係好令人興奮

I mean, think about the type of equity we can we have,

諗下我哋可以達到嘅平等

and the rate at which civilization could even progress.

文明會點樣進步

And so, I'm pretty optimistic about it.

我好樂觀嘎

I think it's going to be a pretty exciting time to be alive.

我覺得我哋生喺一個好刺激嘅時代

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）