Directing — high direction for the eager novice

With someone new and keen but unskilled, give clear, specific instruction and tight structure.

Why it works

A motivated beginner mostly lacks information, not drive. Heavy direction — clear instructions, defined steps, close check-ins — reduces the ambiguity that causes early mistakes and protects their initial enthusiasm from being crushed by confusion. The support can be lighter because their commitment is already high.

How to do it

1. Spell out the what, how, and by-when explicitly; don’t assume they’ll infer it.
2. Check in frequently early, while errors are cheap to catch.
3. Resist piling on emotional support they don’t yet need — they need clarity.

Evidence

High structure for novices is consistent with cognitive-load and worked-example research, which shows beginners benefit from explicit guidance more than from discovery. The match to "S1" specifically is the model’s overlay on that finding. (mechanistic)

The instructional-support principle is well supported; mapping it onto a named "directing" quadrant is the unvalidated part.

Sources

• Kirschner, Sweller & Clark (2006), why minimal guidance fails for novices, Educational Psychologist

Common mistake

Mistaking a keen beginner’s enthusiasm for competence and throwing them in unsupported, then reading the predictable failure as a character flaw.