The Learning Engine 24 September 2025 Newsletter 035: The Underrated Power of Background Knowledge Greetings and salutations! A big thanks for reading this newsletter — this edition will focus on the power of background knowledge, with some implications that you can use in your life. Let’s get into the ideas, stories, and questions! Ideas The power of background knowledge is underrated. Humans have a reasonable understanding of simple one-to-one relationships: One part changes, which makes...

The Learning Engine 17 August 2025 Newsletter 034: Version 2 of Belcher’s “Model for Learning” Greetings and salutations! Welcome to another semester of ideas and applications on learning; thanks for joining and continuing to read this newsletter! My family and I moved to the Lisbon, Portugal area at the beginning of August. The move has taken a ton of time and effort, limiting my creative output. However, we are now getting stabilized by finding a long-term apartment (that we love!) and...

The Learning Engine 26 July 2025 Newsletter 033: Articles on Leadership and Learning Greetings and salutations! I’ve been on the road with my family for a bit, greatly enjoying our time together. Plus, my family and I are about to move to the Lisbon, Portugal area — so we have been busy wrapping up details for the move! My wife and I have taken jobs at an international school; I’ll be teaching science courses to students in grades 7 through 10. I will also continue my work with the Learning...