HCD.12:4.5 - Separate learning from a new source when that is the intention

Sometimes the useful question is how well a person learns a new Method during the task. State that intention before the test, together with relevant prior preparation and what is known about familiarity with the Method. Identify the newly supplied contribution, the exact source and the opportunity to learn from it. Distinguish finding the source from learning with equal access to it.

Observe prior familiarity, initial recognition, first application after source access, adaptation to a material change, help, time, material errors, corrections and unfinished work. Test the new Method’s own contribution; familiar arithmetic or an already known comparison is not evidence of acquiring a different whole Method.

A first application after reading the new source supports a performance claim under those learning conditions; a claim of improvement also needs a relevant comparison. Earlier knowledge may help the person learn from the source. If that contribution or the effect of an earlier programme is the question, specify the comparison needed to distinguish it. Application after source access alone does not establish that effect or retention of the new Method. A “faster learning at unchanged correctness” claim additionally needs comparable conditions, a suitable comparison and actual observations; shorter completion time alone cannot supply it.