Learning to Make the Difficult Easy

“We want to educate the world . . . and we’re crazy enough to try it.”

So begins each episode of “Standard Deviants TV,” a fast-paced half-hour that uses quick cuts, humor, skits and graphics to educate and entertain teens and adults on a variety of topics.

“Learning doesn’t have to be a drag,” said Chip Paucek, one of the program’s creators. “It’s not about being funny but being interesting, dynamic, passionate.

“The TV show is meant to be a learning adventure every week,” Paucek said. Whether an installment takes up American government or the Internet, public speaking or astronomy, “you’ll learn something new--but it won’t feel like you are learning.”

Offered by PBS, “Standard Deviants TV” now has about a half-million viewers across the country. In January, the series also will be broadcast by the College Television Network to more than 780 colleges with 1,840 viewing locations such as dorms and dining halls.

Paucek, 30, said he and James Rena, 32, were “always talking about starting a company” while they were students at George Washington University.

They graduated in 1992--Paucek with a degree in political communication and Rena with one in finance--and a year and a half later “came up with the idea to make difficult courses easy and fun,” Paucek said.

“I grew up with ‘Sesame Street,’ ” he said, “so when people say that ‘Standard Deviants’ is ‘Sesame Street’ for adults, it’s an incredible compliment. We wanted to take the same flavor and teach older kids and adults, to show that you can make quality educational programming people will watch.”

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Borrowing money from family and friends, they formed Cerebellum Corp., headquartered in Falls Church, Va., and started making videos about accounting, statistics and calculus. They developed the “Standard Deviants” name, a play on the statistical term of standard deviation. One of their slogans: “Where learning is anything but standard.”

For the TV series, Paucek said, they are “going for broader interests than science and math, choosing topics such as the solar system, the American presidency, grammar pitfalls--and trying to make it fun.”

His inspiration was a George Washington professor, Herman Hedberg Hobbs, known as “H-cubed.” Paucek called him “totally dynamic, visual and passionate.”

Hobbs, 73, retired and living in Hague, Va., said he tried to see through his students’ eyes what he was planning to present to them. A physics professor who also taught astronomy, Hobbs said he “loved the subject, and it was catching.”

Hobbs was at George Washington University from 1959 to 1993 and “taught in excess of 15,000 students,” he said. Some classes packed in more than 400 students.

“I may have reached 400 at a time, but this [TV program] will reach in the millions,” he said--and then, ever the teacher, added: “You see, this is what we call ‘amplification.’ ”

Teaching from the student’s perspective is emphasized by “Standard Deviants,” Paucek said. “Our staff writers are the No. 1 reason that our shows are different. They aren’t experts when they start the script. They start from the perspective of the learner.”

Work on an installment of “Standard Deviants” begins with determining the subject. “At first, we were guessing what people were interested in, but now we decide based on feedback--that’s why episodes on geography and HTML [hypertext-markup language and Web design] were done.”

The staff checks college course outlines, state standards and advanced-placement requirements to determine what the program should cover. Two faculty experts and full-time graduate students are recruited for each subject. For instance, Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia and Jarol Manheim of George Washington University worked on the American government program.

Because the script is reviewed and rewritten several times before it goes into production, each show can take up to a year to complete. The shows are produced in association with New River Media, a District of Columbia-based production company, and are funded by Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and wwwrrr Inc., a company that offers online learning and training products for parents, teachers and students.

The show “has a wonderful combination of production style and audience appeal,” said John Wilson, senior vice president of programming services at PBS. “It’s aimed at older students, but clearly anyone with a love of learning can watch and enjoy the programs. It has content that is substantial . . . and it has a sense of humor. It’s a show that in many ways anticipates people’s varied interests.”

Cerebellum, which also produces learning videos and DVDs, turned a profit last year. The company’s mascot, a golden retriever named Hoss, was a puppy when the firm was founded. He’s now 6 years old and weighs 92 pounds. Like Hoss, the company has grown. Cerebellum began with two employees, and at one time operated out of a condemned building, Paucek said. The company’s staff now numbers 50 and its estimated revenue this year is $7 million.

“The first five years were hard,” Paucek said. “Now it’s a lot easier than it used to be.” He said the company is developing new products as well as programs. Meanwhile, if you’re struggling with Italian, biology or Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” hold on. Those three are already in the works.

* “Standard Deviants TV” can be seen Thursdays at 9 p.m. on KLCS-TV and Saturdays at 8 p.m. on KVCR-TV.