Dear Teacher, The ‘Why’ is Where The Magic Lives

"The 'why' is where the magic lives." - Simon Sinek

In his book "Start with Why", originally published in 2009, Simon Sinek, introduces the concept of the Golden Circle, which consists of three layers: why, how, and what. According to Sinek,  truly successful leaders start with why. They connect with people deeply and emotionally by articulating their purpose and beliefs. It gives a new perspective of looking at communications. Not only does it define what makes a leader successful in a corporate organization but also in the sectors of health, public, and education.

In the landscape of teaching and learning, understanding not just what students do but also how and why they do it is paramount for educators striving to create meaningful learning experiences. While assessments and assignments offer insights into students' actions, they often provide only a surface-level understanding, leaving educators guessing about the underlying processes and motivations. Imagine that a coding instructor assigns a project requiring students to develop a simple web application. Without understanding the why and how of a student's struggles, instructors might encounter recurring issues having to spend their valuable time on something that can be easily avoided by guiding students in the first place. 

For instance, after reviewing the completed projects, the instructor would notice that one student consistently struggles with implementing a function to do a simple numerical calculation. While the surface-level assessment reveals coding deficiencies, a deeper investigation into his step-by-step process of ‘how’ uncovers that the student might lack familiarity with the programming language's syntax and struggles with logical problem-solving. With this insight, the instructor would learn ‘why’ his student’s code failed to run.

By probing beneath the surface, teachers can uncover patterns, preferences, and misconceptions that may not be evident from assessment results alone. There is a need for this deeper level of understanding to enable educators to meet individual needs, provide targeted support, and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement.

Process Feedback, an educational tool designed to reveal a student's writing or coding process provides teachers with invaluable insights into the why and how behind students' learning processes. Through numerous process-related details such as total typing time, breaks taken, time spent on each section of the work, copy-paste activities, edit locations, and playback of the text revision, educators can discern why students make particular choices and how they approach the task. This understanding goes beyond surface-level observation of what students do, allowing educators to grasp the underlying motivations and strategies driving their actions. Armed with this knowledge, educators can also understand individual students' needs provide support based on their needs, and allow, and allow a collaborative learning environment conducive to student growth and success.

A coding instructor may use this tool to analyze a student's programming process. The tool's playback feature allows the instructor to observe the student's coding process step by step. By delving into the process-revealing visualizations, the instructor identifies patterns of errors and areas where the student spends more time, suggesting potential areas of difficulty. Examining the data in the process report, the instructor sees the rationale behind the student's coding decisions and the challenges they encountered. Additionally, the version history reveals how the structure of the student's code evolved during the coding process. With these insights, the instructor understands what the student did and why and how they approached the coding task, enabling targeted support and personalized guidance.

For writing too let's consider a writing instructor using Process Feedback to analyze a student's essay writing process. As the instructor reviews the essay, they notice inconsistencies in argument development and frequent revisions in certain sections. The instructor observes the student's writing process, revealing moments of hesitation and experimentation. Examining closely the instructor identifies patterns of revision frequency and common errors, suggesting areas of struggle. He also has insights into the student's decision-making process and thought progression. Furthermore, he can access the evolution of the student's writing, highlighting their responsiveness to feedback and willingness to refine their work. The instructor gains a deeper understanding of the student's writing approach, enabling him to strategize differently to enhance their writing skills and help them grow as a writer. For students as well it’s an excellent medium to self-reflect and understand how they came to write the draft the way they did. 

This focus on understanding the process behind students' work and sharing the observations with students, develops a culture of curiosity, resilience, and self-awareness, empowering students. 

By prioritizing the exploration of how and why students approach learning tasks, educators can create a more dynamic environment that meets the diverse needs and aspirations of all learners. They can develop open communication channels, encouraging students to discuss their thought processes and motivation.  Additionally, providing opportunities for self-paced learning and choice-based assignments can also allow students to engage with tasks in ways that resonate with their individual learning preferences and interests.

Authors: Aadya Jha and Badri Adhikari
Image credits: Subodh Dahal (not AI)