See One Do One Teach One

Possibly a candidate for LearningPatterns and/or TeachingPatterns. Seems to originate with the usage of medical students in OR procedures - when there is a procedure you don't know, you first assist a more experienced student who is doing the procedure. Later, you may graduate to "holding the scalpel" yourself. Finally, when you have well and truly mastered the procedure, you will pass on your hard-gained knowledge to fresh students. (Truth be told, I only know about this from watching ER. Anyone with more expertise please feel free to inject actual fact.)

It is lore amongst medical students, that practical clinical procedures are learned by first observing it, then performing it, and then finally teaching it to another. This is due to the fact that no sooner have you been taught to do something it then becomes your responsibility, and that soon after one-one else seems to be able to do it and wants to be taught! I think rationing of staffing levels traditionally in Hospitals requires this of necessity, this may date back to times of war in which trained staff were limited. It might possibly date back to times when specialist procedures such as midwifery or dental extraction were performed by lay-people. If no trained Doctor is present, responsibility falls on the next closest thing, which in order may be: Consultant, Senior Registrar, Registrar / Specialist Registrar, Senior House Officer, Junior House Officer / Ward Sister, Senior Staff Nurse, Staff Nurse, Enrolled Nurse / Nursing Student, Nursing Auxiliary, Dr's Wife, Professions Allied To Medicine (Paramedics, Ambulance Crew, Pharmacists, Physiotherapits etc.), Experienced Patient, Family Member, Someone who saw it on Casualty last night, shop-keeper, Man on the Bus, The Samaritans, God. The types of procedures usually are: blood-taking, cannula insertion, urinary catheters, chest tap, ascitic aspiration, bone marrow trephine, sigmoidoscopy, joint injection / aspiration, chest drain, lumbar puncture, central venous line. Dr.I

This is also seen in many manual labor fields, for example, construction, plumbing, electrical work, etc. Because of the fairly high turn-over, there is usually a 'new guy' around; you show him how to do it, he does one while you watch, then observe as he teaches the next new guy. After that you get back to work and the older new guy watches the newer new guy as he does one...etc.

the third step isn't necessarily just 'giving back what you were given' when you try to teach another something you can learn something at the same time.

I find this pattern somewhat reminiscent of the three-step process described in AutomationIsOurFriend.

See one - we notice the computer can do A, B or C.
Do one - we use the computer to do A, then B, then C.
Teach one - we program the computer to do A,B,C on its own.

I'd also expect to see this pattern in PairProgramming contexts. The first time you delve into a new area of the system, you ride shotgun with a more experienced partner driving. The next time, you drive while the same partner watches. The third time, you partner with someone who hasn't seen this part of the code yet.

See OnceAndOnlyOnceIsNotJustForCode for an illustration.

One known use of these pattern can be found in TheMontessoriMethod?. She says that in order to teach children some concept, e.g. colors, you first need to show them ("this is blue, this is red") then ask them to do something with it ("give me the blue, give me the red") and only then ask them questions about it ("where is the blue? Where is the red?").

-- YonatSharon

Also similar to ThreeStrikesAndYouRefactor.

CategoryEducation