How People Learn: Levels of Expertise and the Impact on Learning

In Chapter 2 of How People Learn, the characteristics of expertise are outlined to illuminate the difference between novice and expert learners.  Of the ideas presented in this chapter, one in particular stuck out at me: the idea that it is not what experts learn, but how they think and recognize patterns that allows them to develop said expertise.  Building from that, the authors also give some strong words of guidance and caution to educators on how this should inform one's teaching and approach to building knowledge in students.

Expertise, as defined by the authors, is not in the ability to recount bits of information on command, but the ability to apply the knowledge and facts accumulated over a lifetime to act in a particular situation.  The author calls this a "conditionalized" set of circumstances upon which an expert can bring applicable knowledge and assistance.  Experienced chess players, having seen many scenarios, can recognize meaningful patterns and therefore know the consequences of actions and the counteractions.  It is not from reading a handbook on chess, per se, but the repeated turns at the chess board that cultivates expertise.

While the chapter discusses learners in terms of expert and novice, a question that arose in my mind was: are there only two types of learners?  When talking about adult education, there is rarely a case when a student comes to class without some preconceptions or knowledge that will impact their capacity to learn the material.  It is then especially important to take into consideration the different stages from which each student might be starting. Adult learners come from a variety of backgrounds and educational experiences, therefore measures must be taken to meet students where they are and guide them to the highest understanding they can attain.

The Dreyfus Model for Skills Acquisition, originally proposed in 1980, is one way of taking into account a learner's capacity for instruction.  The essence of the report is that skill acquisition learning is only successful if the teacher understands how to help the learner to the next level.  Categorized into Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competent, Proficient, and Expert, learners are not forced to be classified as knowing or unknowing, but rather through different stages of knowing.  Conversely, I would argue that a realistic self-understanding for the student on what level they currently reside would be beneficial to their process, as well. Oftentimes, when subject matter is difficult, students become frustrated at their "half-knowing" concepts.  They feel that if they do not understand it completely, they never will and give up.  If they had a better understanding that there are many levels to learning, they may be less apt to forfeit study when they hit that struggle.

Harkening back to the chapter in How People Learn, there is a word of caution about focusing on experts educational prowess. The authors state that while the study of experts gives insight into what plays into creating that expertise, expert models should not be applied on those who are not ready to absorb that information. Understanding that sheer facts do not determine expertise-level or intelligence is an important in how we educate. Expert models can be applied to a classroom or a learner, does not mean that that learner will necessarily become an expert. Learning is a process, and this chapter reinforces to educators the need for lessons to build on each other for maximum "sticking power".

Physicist Niels Bohr said that "An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field".  The authors of How People Learn show us the reader why this is true, and why as educators we must not fall into the trap of merely cramming information into students.  We should encourage the process and understanding that it is, indeed, a multi-step process so each student can nurture their own level of expertise.