Number of explainers and learners
From Learning
This page classifies learning situations by the number of explainers (e.g. teachers) and number of learners (e.g. students) present. Each learning situation can be visualized as a directed graph where an arrow from to
(
) means "
explains to
".
Number of explainers | Number of learners | Condition on identity of explainers and learners | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
one | one | the explainer is not the learner | one-on-one tutoring |
one | one | explainer is the learner | self-studying, solitary original research |
one | many | the explainer is not one of the learners | classroom learning, textbook, blog post explaining an idea, one tutor with many students |
one | many | explainer is one of the learners | a group of students studying together and one of them is explaining something, a student-teacher who teaches a class and is simultaneously learning how to teach |
many | one | the learner is not an explainer | parents explaining something to a child |
many | one | the learner is also an explainer but there are other explainers who are not the learner | an autodidact who also receives guidance from a tutor nearby |
many | many | none of the explainers are a learner | classroom with multiple teachers, textbook with multiple authors |
many | many | each explainer is also a learner | a mutual exchange of information in a conversation, collaborative original research |
many | many | some of the explainers are not learners, some of the explainers are learners | a classroom with one teacher and one-student-teacher who take turns teaching |