I'm an instructional designer who writes about AI, L&D, and other pieces of inspiration that I think about throughout the week.
Illuminating Paths – Quiz Crafter, Book Reflections, and Disagreements
Published almost 2 years ago • 3 min read
Welcome, Reader,
My wife and I went to a car show this weekend and it as a lot of fun! We saw McLarens, Lamborghinis, Porches, Ferraris, Mustangs, Camaros, you name it!
We want to go again next month.
Let's dig into today's edition!
Overview of Today's Issue:
Quiz Crafter GPT
Leading with Questions Reflections
Disagreement Gets Mistaken for Bad Listening
Question of the Week
Quiz Crafter GPT
As of last week, all ChatGPT users now have the ability to use custom GPTs. I made one called Quiz Crafter, designed to assist L&D professionals in creating questions that focus on performance and action.
Key Features:
Performance-Based Questions: Encourage learners to demonstrate their skills through practical scenarios and tasks.
Action-Oriented Questions: Real-world application questions, ensuring learners can apply their knowledge directly.
Easy to Use: Create engaging quizzes in no time.
Quiz Crafter is designed with busy L&D professionals in mind. It simplifies the process of quiz creation, creating questions that focus on real-world application and performance, ensuring your training programs are both effective and engaging.
I would love to hear your feedback to make it even better!
I read many books, but I struggle to remember key points years later. One thing I've done to help me remember and to share my knowledge with others, is to share reflections from the books I have read and post them.
Initially, I shared these on social media, but now I will be posting them on my website.
My latest reflections comes from Leading with Questions, which I read in January. There were many good points to underline, and I picked five quotes that made me think. I looked at:
Why asking questions is key for future leaders (especially in the age of AI)
Why thinking through your question is important
An important phrase you should add to your question if it's an awkward question
Why you need to preview your question
Why silence is key
It was a fun read, and I hope some of the reflections I shared will help you the next time you have a question to ask.
I came across this research paper about disagreement and listening, and it was an eye-opening read.
The researchers conducted six experiments in various situations to determine how a speaker perceived the listening ability of someone based solely on whether the listener agreed or disagreed with the speaker.
The results? The authors found that, "[S]peakers consistently perceived disagreeing listeners as worse listeners," even if the listener displayed all the signs of being attentive.
When we think about it, this shouldn't really surprise us.
One point the authors made was that, "[W]hen someone exclaims 'You’re not listening!' they might mean 'You’re not agreeing!'"
We have all been there at one time or another; I've been there in arguments with my wife. Reflecting on these findings, I realized that many times I wanted her to agree with me, and I interpreted her disagreement as not listening, even though she understood what I was saying.
The authors laid out this exact situation:
Perhaps the root of our arguments and disagreements is as simple as being humble enough to recognize that not everyone has to agree with us. If we can accept that, limit our pride, and see the good intentions behind the other person's actions, then perhaps our arguments won't last as long, and our feelings, as well as the other person's feelings, won't be hurt as much.
Perhaps the root of our arguments and disagreements is as simple as being humble enough to recognize that not everyone has to agree with us. If we can accept that, limit our pride, and see the good intentions behind the other person's actions, then perhaps our arguments won't last as long, and our feelings, as well as the other person's feelings, won't be hurt as much.
This study has made me think of three things:
Do we accuse others of not listening because they truly aren't listening, or because they disagreed with us and we actually want them to agree with us?
How can we minimize the speaker's perception that we were a bad listener?
How does this change our view of listening and disagreements? \
If you want to read more about the study but don't want to read the entire paper, I suggest reading the abstract, introduction, and the general discussion at the end.
Think back on your last argument with someone; maybe it was with your spouse. Did you judge them as a poor listener because they disagreed with you? If so, what can you do the next time you are in an argument to avoid labeling them as a poor listener just because they disagree with you?
Bonus!
A third thumb! Seriously, check out the image! Some professors and researching from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge developed a robotic third thumb that is controlled by the person's big toes! Wild stuff!
