Starter Post: Novice vs. Expert

Everyone wants to be an expert. Isn’t that why we’re at college, to become masters in our respective fields? Well that’s my take anyways, I suppose for some people it may be to join a frat, get super drunk all the time, party like there’s no tomorrow and come back to the dorms at 3 a.m. everyone morning (my freshman roommate cough cough). But anyways, if our goal is to become well-informed in our area of expertise and well… become educated… why aren’t there more classes teaching us how to learn? After the reading, the strategies of effective learning don’t seem super complicated. With a directed effort and continuous evaluation (on the spot and afterwards) which we have been focusing on doing all quarter, anyone can become an expert.

I only wish I had been exposed to this earlier, it would have made my undergraduate education much more meaningful and lasting. I am guilty on many occasions of just memorizing material to pass a test, even in the subjects I’m most enthusiastic about, and forgetting the material after the test. Well I say “NO MORE”, I pledge myself to approach things as an expert from now on. I am aware that a little more initial effort may be needed in the short-term but it is definitely worth it long-term when I am able to apply my knowledge in a variety of settings (as Beaufort termed transfer) and am able to fluently retrieve knowledge when it is called for. I want to make a meaningful impact in the field of marine biology, and saving endangered species, and believe I will be much more successful in my career if I commit myself now.

So what exactly did the article talk about? It made six distinctions between experts and novices that I won’t simply state… but let me explain them in my newly acquired enlightened state of being. First off, experts are keen observers and are able to notice details that may be essential in forming understanding that a novice would miss. Then, perhaps the most important aspect, is they are able to organize knowledge in ways that show deep understanding. The working memory has a limited capacity so therefore we must chunk, or categorize, information to maximize how much we are able to retain and retrieve on demand. The knowledge of experts is based around core concepts and all relevant information is connected to this big picture idea, which often serves as a trigger to all related material. In contrast, novices seem to learn everything as isolated bits of knowledge and never get around to drawing associations between concepts. The great thing about this class is that it has built reflection into the curriculum, where we are expected to form these connections that will allow us to gain deeper understanding of the topics.

It also mentioned how experts’ knowledge reflects contexts of applicability. This means that experts are aware of potentially useful subsets of knowledge and irrelevant, non-essential knowledge remains inert (in storage). This allows experts to focus their energy and time on retrieving knowledge that will benefit them in their specific situation. It is useful to note that experts aren’t necessarily quicker than novice (especially on simpler tasks) because they spend time analyzing the framework of the problem before they begin and make sure they have a conceptual understanding of the situation at hand. Experts are also better multi-taskers in general because they are able to retrieve important knowledge with little attentional effort. They have such a great understanding of concepts that it has become second nature. A word of caution for those aspiring to become experts: experts can fall into the trap of “entrenchment” which can cause misapplication of habituated practices. To avoid, experts are encouraged to engage themselves in different settings that inspire critical thinking (perhaps viewing things in an interdisciplinary perspective). If not exercised, you may become an artisan expert who simply follows a routine and never reaches your virtuosic potential… let your creativity and metacognition flow.

Experts should not assume that they are good teachers of the subject. Disciplinary content knowledge must be combined with pedagogical content knowledge in order to successfully teach. Essentially, effective teachers are required to be experts in two very different fields (rough). On the pedagogical side, teachers should be aware of the typical difficulties confronting students in the topic, conventional paths to achieving understanding, strategies for helping students overcome difficulties and recognize their students’ pre-existing knowledge. This is all I will say on that, as I will not pretend to be an expert on teaching.

Lastly, experts have varying levels of flexibility in approaching new situations. The highest level of expertise goes beyond excelling in a fixed routine and narrow area of specialty. The virtuosos of experts are able to approach subjects in their field creatively and flexibility. Essentially, they accomplish this by being Reflective! They break apart a complex problem into simpler constituent parts, generate an initial hypothesis of how to fit the parts back together, and then hyper-analyze evidence they are presented with (sounds quite Deweyan to me). They then draw associations between seemingly unrelated contexts and seek to support of reject their initial preconceptions. Using metacognition to understand the process of how something works they are able to form a big picture understanding and put puzzle pieces back together. However, they continually look for further information that may cause them to revise their knowledge (admitting that knowledge is malleable rather than a cemented absolute and admitting they are accomplished novices rather than omniscient).

Wow, that was a lot sorry. Essentially experts are keen observers, organize knowledge effectively by drawing connections, which allows for more fluent retrieval, they conditionalize their knowledge (know when it is applicable), achieve flexibility through reflection, and are only partway there in becoming a successful teacher (as the most effective of teachers need to be masters in pedagogy as well).

So now that I am able to visualize these concepts I have a good start to becoming an expert myself. Now, I need to begin integrating these strategies into my everyday life and refuse to settle for less.