Design Embodied Learning

Design Embodied Learning

Core judgment: a tacit skill is learned by dwelling in practice, not by reading a slide deck.

Use When

• The user wants to teach a craft, diagnostic, operational, or judgment-heavy skill
• A team understands the theory but performance is still weak
• The goal is to design drills, simulations, or practice ladders

Anchor the Learning Target

Define two things up front:

• focal goal: the whole task or result the learner is trying to achieve
• subsidiary cues: the details the learner must notice on the way there

Do not mix them. New learners usually need explicit cue attention before whole-task fluency.

Workflow

1. Choose the Real Task

Use a real task or a close simulation. Avoid abstract explanations as the main teaching surface.

2. Build the Practice Ladder

Use three stages:

1. mimic: copy a known good move
2. vary: change one variable while holding the principle
3. create: handle a fresh case independently

If you need a format, read references/practice-ladder-template.md.

3. Tighten Feedback

For each stage, specify:

• what the learner sees
• what the learner does
• what feedback arrives immediately
• what counts as acceptable performance

4. Make Transfer Explicit

End with a new case that is similar in principle but different in surface form.

Learning is not complete until the learner can transfer.

Output

Return:

• focal goal
• subsidiary cues
• practice ladder
• feedback loop
• exit criteria
• transfer exercise

Do Not

• teach a tacit skill as pure lecture
• skip from explanation straight to independence
• confuse repetition with deliberate practice