About Professor Dale, his “cone of experience” and the “pyramid of learning” proposed by his followers. Edgar Dale's Advanced Teaching Methods

I found out that Dale's cone is on the site thanks to the name that flashed in the Good Old Articles section.
Against the backdrop of the appeal (and a similar one at the PKF), this component of pedagogy (1st priority of OSU) looks different than in 2016, when the material was posted here.
In the “Skripal case,” the discussion method really works with a bang in the interests of a particular country (I wrote “sides” first - that’s how effective the provocation is; there are no sides to this event). Is everything so clear in the education system, to which E. Dale’s research relates? The issue has been sufficiently researched; I will provide excerpts and links.

And based on the “cone of learning,” by the end of the seventies, the US National Training Laboratory developed a new graphical version of the “influence of teaching methods on the degree of learning,” called the “Learning Pyramid.” It looks clearly simpler than the learning cone.

A more thorough analysis: Everyone lies, but you don’t lie, or Debunking the myth of memorization. It is worthy of reading and reposting, but here I no longer quote what concerns the Pyramid of Learning attributed to Dale, but what links different methods of information warfare against humanity:

[E.Dale] Concluded that teaching others and using the material you learn in your own life is the most effective way to learn something? That is, following this principle, we skip lectures and readings and immediately start teaching others? I would not want to get to such a teacher.

Answers to all questions could only be found in the English part of the Internet. And they turned out to be discouraging.

The cone is a descriptive model, a classification system, rather than a prescription for how to properly plan instruction.

Since its first edition, Dale's theoretical model has taken on a life of its own. The temptation to put it into practice was too great. Therefore, Dale specially supplemented the third edition of the book with a section “Some Possible Misconceptions”, in which he particularly warned against attempts to assume that learning based on real experience is better than methods that are at a more abstract level.

Mystical numbers were born earlier or simultaneously with the cone itself. And for some time they existed separately, living their own lives. However, around 1970, someone came up with the “great” idea of combining the cone and numbers. Questionable data was superimposed on top of Dale's cone of experience. Then the so-called learning pyramid was born.

[English-language Wikipedia does not hide this: ‘’The figures originate from 1967, when an employee of the Mobil oil company, D. G. Treichler, published a non-scientific article in “Cinema and Audio-Visual Communication”’’]
The main thing (in my opinion) and the author’s conclusion:

In 2002, a second wave of criticism arose, apparently related to the development of the Internet, when people began to increasingly share false information.

To be honest, the article is not at all about the learning pyramid or even about Dale’s cone. This is a small illustration of a big problem. It is indicative how people massively believe in information of a dubious nature. In information that contains experts with the results of research they allegedly conducted. Although, of course, it is too difficult to resist the flow of false data. Especially when they come at you from everywhere: from books, reports, articles by respected people or even scientists.
I hope that the article will make you think at least for a second and look a little more critically at the world around us.

And I kept thinking: if this is such a discovery, then why is there no information about it in university textbooks, which date back to the times of the USSR, and not much in modern domestic ones? Edgar Dale did not give numbers in his cone and warned against considering some teaching methods to be the best and others to be the worst.

How much does a person remember after training? On average, a student remembers 10% of what he read, 20% of what he heard, 30% of what he saw... 90% of what he did himself. Many people have come across these numbers. They are presented separately or often combined with the so-called pyramid of learning or cone of experience. And everything would be good and wonderful if the entire Internet were not filled with these numbers, and they themselves were not a deception and a hoax.

The Cone of Experience, Cone of Learning or Pyramid of Learning are very popular. They are often referenced in various articles, books, scientific papers and presentations. On the Internet it is easy to find many pictures depicting a triangle in which teaching methods are sequentially inscribed. It is stated that less effective learning methods are indicated at the top of the triangle, and more effective ones are indicated at the base. The effectiveness of each method is confirmed by numbers showing what percentage of data the student is able to remember.

Quote from the book "Why We Want You to Be Rich" by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump:
“In 1969, the education system conducted a study that demonstrated the effectiveness of various types of education. Based on the research materials, a “Cone of Learning” was created. It shows that the least productive means of learning is reading and lectures, and the most effective is practical work. Between them, methods that imitate real experience occupy a position. Doesn't it seem paradoxical to you that our education system still relies mainly on reading and lectures in the learning process? And this despite the fact that the “cone of learning” has been known since 1969!”

The problem is that the foundation of their conclusions is built on quicksand and can collapse at any moment. Actually, now we will arrange this catastrophe.

I'm tormented by vague doubts

Bitter truth

The search for the truth about pyramids and cones on the Russian-language Internet did not give positive results. Everywhere, as in a mantra, approximately the same thing is repeated:

“Edgar Dale in 1969 identified the most effective ways of learning. Edgar Dale concluded that:
- listening to lectures on a topic or reading materials on a subject is the least effective way to learn something;
- teaching others and using the material you learn in your own life is the most effective way to learn something.
He presented the research results in the form of a “Cone of Learning” diagram. Edgar Dale taught students the same educational material, but in different ways. And then he analyzed their ability to recall the learned information after completing the training. Although the cone is indeed based on Dale's research, the percentages were not calculated by Dale, but by his followers as a result of their own research."

Have you come to the conclusion that teaching others and using the material you learn in your own life is the most effective way to learn something? That is, following this principle, we skip lectures and readings and immediately start teaching others? I would not want to get to such a teacher.

Answers to all questions could only be found in the English part of the Internet. And they turned out to be discouraging.

Let's start dancing from the stove.

Back in 1946, Edgar Dale's book Audiovisual Methods in Teaching was published. It was in it that the author first introduced the Cone of Experience. Illustrations of the cone from the first, second and third editions of the book (1946, 1954, 1969):

P.S

To be honest, the article is not at all about the learning pyramid or even about Dale’s cone. This is a small illustration of a big problem. It is indicative how people massively believe in information of a dubious nature. In information that contains experts with the results of research they allegedly conducted. Although, of course, it is too difficult to resist the flow of false data. Especially when they come at you from everywhere: from books, reports, articles by respected people or even scientists.

I hope that the article will make you think at least for a second and look a little more critically at the world around us.

Quote from the book "Why We Want You to Be Rich" by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump:
“In 1969, the education system conducted a study that demonstrated the effectiveness of various types of education. Based on the research materials, a “Cone of Learning” was created. It shows that the least productive means of learning is reading and lectures, and the most effective is practical work. Between them, methods that imitate real experience occupy a position. Doesn't it seem paradoxical to you that our education system still relies mainly on reading and lectures in the learning process? And this despite the fact that the “cone of learning” has been known since 1969!”

The problem is that the foundation of their conclusions is built on quicksand and can collapse at any moment. Actually, now we will arrange this catastrophe.

I'm tormented by vague doubts

Bitter truth

The search for the truth about pyramids and cones on the Russian-language Internet did not give positive results. Everywhere, as in a mantra, approximately the same thing is repeated:

Have you come to the conclusion that teaching others and using the material you learn in your own life is the most effective way to learn something? That is, following this principle, we skip lectures and readings and immediately start teaching others? I would not want to get to such a teacher.

Answers to all questions could only be found in the English part of the Internet. And they turned out to be discouraging.

Let's start dancing from the stove.

P.S

I hope that the article will make you think at least for a second and look a little more critically at the world around us.

Edgar Dale's cone will allow employees to absorb as much useful information as possible - without lectures or reading textbooks

Do you want to train your employees in a bright and innovative way to get the most out of the process? Analyze the cone of the famous American educator Edgar Dale! Details are in this material.

If you want a person to learn and develop, properly motivate him to do so. How exactly depends on the type of training

If you need an employee to read a book, have a manager or respected colleague recommend it. If you want to awaken interest in learning as such and develop a desire to constantly improve skills, show what this will give, how it will affect the success and efficiency of a specialist, and how it will help him solve specific and increasingly ambitious business problems. Do you need to create a mentoring system? Look for experienced employees who enjoy teaching others. Increase the authority of these employees through non-material motivation and competitions “for the best.” If there is a task to motivate an employee to “go into the unknown”, to take on a fundamentally new project, invite external experts and coaches.

You will come to this conclusion after studying the Edgar DALE cone ( see picture below).

Now to the point

“Edgar Dale in 1969 identified the most effective ways of learning. Edgar Dale concluded that:

listening to lectures on a topic or reading materials on a subject is the least effective way to learn anything;
Teaching others and using the material you learn in your own life is the most effective way to learn anything.

He presented the research results in the form of a “Cone of Learning” diagram. Edgar Dale taught students the same educational material, but in different ways. And then he analyzed their ability to recall the learned information after completing the training. Although the cone is indeed based on Dale's research, the percentages were not calculated by Dale, but by his followers as a result of their own research."

Have you come to the conclusion that teaching others and using the material you learn in your own life is the most effective way to learn something? That is, following this principle, we skip lectures and readings and immediately start teaching others? I would not want to get to such a teacher.

Answers to all questions could only be found in the English part of the Internet. And they turned out to be discouraging.

Let's start dancing from the stove

It’s interesting, but from the text of the book it follows that the scheme created by the author has nothing to do with learning or memorization abilities. At its core, the cone is a descriptive model, a classification system, rather than a prescription for how to properly plan instruction.

The diagram sequentially indicates different levels of abstraction: words, the most abstract, are at the top of the cone and real-life experiences, the most concrete, are at the base.

Unfortunately, since its first edition, Dale's theoretical model has taken on a life of its own. The temptation to put it into practice was too great. Therefore, Dale specially supplemented the third edition of the book with a section “Some Possible Misconceptions”, in which he particularly warned against attempts to assume that learning based on real experience is better than methods that are at a more abstract level.

By the way, we see that there are no numbers in the figure, because the author did not conduct any practical research, and any statements to the contrary are lies:

“Edgar Dale taught students the same course material, but in different ways. And then I analyzed their ability to recall the learned information after completing the training.”

Questions remain: how and where did the numbers associated with memorization come from?

Mystical numbers were born earlier or simultaneously with the cone itself. And for some time they existed separately, living their own lives. However, around 1970, someone came up with the “great” idea of combining the cone and numbers. Questionable data was superimposed on top of Dale's cone of experience. Then the so-called learning pyramid was born.

Refutations and revelations of scientists have been undertaken since 1971. In 2002, a second wave of criticism arose, apparently related to the development of the Internet, when people began to increasingly share false information.

Researchers, with admirable persistence, have spent years finding the original source and understanding who obtained experimental data on memory and how. This turned out to be not so simple - all the chains of links pointed to eight different sources:

Edgar Dale
Wiman & Meierhenry
Bruce Nyland
Various oil companies (Mobil, Standard Oil, Socony-Vacuum Oil)
NTL Institute
William Glasser
British Audio-Visual Society
Chi, Bassok, Lewis, Reimann, & Glaser (1989)

A detailed study of each of the sources did not allow them to be confirmed! As an example of an investigation, a small illustration from Keith E. Holbert and George G. Karady Removing an Unsupported Statement in Engineering Education Literature

The cone of learning shows how effective different learning methods are. Edgar Dale, who created it, relied on his own experiments, so the model should not be considered the ultimate truth. But it will be useful to test it on yourself in the case of self-education or use its conclusions in teaching others.

How much do people remember?

People remember approximately 10% of what they read, 20% of what they heard, 30% of what they saw, 50% of what they heard and saw, 70% of what they said or wrote down themselves, 90% of what they said or wrote down. while performing any action.

How to train yourself and others effectively? From the top of the cone to the base

Reading. One of the most common ways of learning. People involved in self-development read a lot of books and articles. I advise you to take a speed reading course to make your learning more effective and productive.

Hearing. We remember more when we listen than when we read. Therefore, audiobooks can be very useful for you. And if you want to teach another person something, it’s better to tell him, rather than let him read it. This way he will remember better and will have feedback from you.

View pictures. Slides with pictures, diagrams or mind maps are even better remembered. If you can replace text with an image, do it.

Watch video. Instead of talking about something, show people a video. Replace banal text with an interesting video. A TED talk is much more memorable than an article on the same topic. It’s no wonder that the format of educational videos is so popular now.

Demonstration with commentary. Conduct experiments, demonstrate mock-ups, show models. Instead of talking about anatomy, show a model of the human body and support your words with visual images. After this, your listeners will be able to remember what they saw from the memorized words and, conversely, remember what they heard from the visual images. Exhibits, samples, experiences and experiments are your faithful assistants in learning.

Discussion. An even more effective way of learning. People are more likely to forget what was said to them than what they themselves said. If you want to teach someone something, have a discussion. Ask a question and ask for an answer. Put forward theses and ask them to challenge or support them. Let students with different opinions speak out. This promotes better assimilation of information.

Also use discussion when learning on your own. Find a like-minded person who is interested in the same thing as you, and argue with him. Express opinions, share ideas, discuss. This will benefit you and your education.

Giving a speech. To remember something yourself, tell others about it. Drawing up a speech plan, rehearsals, working with material at the stage of preparation for a speech, the experience of working with the public - all this will help you in the process of acquiring knowledge. Especially if giving a speech is a rare activity for you.

Theatrical performance. After something like this, it will be really difficult to forget something. Create a theatrical performance that explores a topic. Approach this with humor and creativity.

This works especially well if you want to teach children something. It will be a fun game for them, but they will also be able to remember a lot. Use this method.

Simulation of real activity. It's like a theatrical performance, but there needs to be more realism. If you, for example, simply list the steps required to produce sugar, they are unlikely to be remembered. But if you offer to pretend that a person produces sugar himself, he will probably remember this information.

Don't be afraid or embarrassed to imitate any activity yourself. It's quite simple and yet very effective.

Taking real action. The most effective way to learn. If you want to learn how to do something, start doing it. You can listen to a lot of lectures and act out a few skits, but it doesn't compare to real activities. Make, feel, make mistakes and correct them. This way you will study with maximum efficiency.