Development of expertise, deliberate practice (and how to teach it) collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

1. Week 3: Developing Expertise
The College Classroom
January 23, 2013

2. Connecting
2
Week 2: How People Lean Week 3: Expertise
Engage preconceptions in Expertise developed
student-centered ways through extended,
deliberate practice
Teach in depth, context,
appropriate mastery goals Impact of effortful
learning on neurons
Support metacognition
formative assessments to Supporting deliberate
benefit teachers and students practice
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3. Plan for today…
3
requires
Development
of Expertise
necessary deliberate
for practice
results in
biological causes
changes
in brain
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4. Plan for today…
4
requires
Development
of Expertise
necessary deliberate
for practice
results in
how do we?
biological causes
changes
in brain
supporting
learning
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5. 5
Tiger Woods (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
10,000 hours
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Serena Williams (Image by Carine06 on flickr CC)
4 hours/day
Expertise Development
deliberate practice Wayne Gretzy (Image: Wikimedia Commons CC)

6. Deliberate practice [1]
6
 activity that’s explicitly intended to improve
performance
 that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of
competence
 provides feedback on results
 involves high levels of repetition
 builds on natural (often physical) ability
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7. Clicker question
7
With 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, a 5-ft tall
Wait! How star in thestimulate
man can be a basketball
can I NBA.
conversation for everyone in
A) true the classroom?
B) false
How can I build on existing
knowledge and preconceptions?
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8. Clicker question
8
With 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, a 5-ft tall
man can be a basketball star in the NBA.
A) totally true – I’m so sure about this, I could stand up
in class and convince everyone
B) maybe true – I think it’s true but I’m not exactly sure
why
C) maybe false – I think it’s false but I’m not exactly
sure why
D) absolutely false – I’m so sure about this, I could
stand up in class and convince everyone
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9. 9
Certainly some important traits are partly inherited, such
as physical size and particular measures of intelligence,
but those influence what a person doesn’t do more than
what he does; a five-footer will never be an NFL lineman,
and a seven-footer will never be an Olympic gymnast.
Geoffrey Colvin [1]
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10. Tip Sheet: Perfect Practice [1]
10
Approach each critical task with an explicit
1
goal of getting much better at it.
As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and
2
why you’re doing it the way your are.
After the task, get feedback on your performance from
3
multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.
Continually build mental models of your situation –
4 your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the
models to encompass more factors.
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional
5 practice does not work
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11. Gather in groups of three – three 1’s, three 2’s, etc. Introduce yourselves.
In your field, in which you’re becoming an expert, describe the
component of deliberate practice matching your group’s number.
11
Approach each critical task with an explicit
1’s
goal of getting much better at it.
As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and
2’s
why you’re doing it the way your are.
After the task, get feedback on your performance from
3’s
multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.
Continually build mental models of your situation –
4’s your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the
models to encompass more factors.
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional
5’s practice does not work
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu #tccucsd

12. What do experts in your discipline do?
12
 analysis using prior knowledge (features in images)
 read the literature
 critical analysis of others’ work in your field
 look for new technologies to enable your work
 plan several steps ahead
 reflect upon mistakes
 getting AND giving feedback
 presenting your work
 communicate outside your field to broaden your work’s
applicability
 discuss professional problems socially/casually/drunk
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13. What do experts in your discipline do?
13
 Identify appropriate sources
 Identify appropriate models (equations…)
 Compare and contrast
 Critique/Argue/Prove
 Solve/Create
 Analyze
 Interpret

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14. Intelligence is grown
14
Dr. Carol Dweck – Stanford
Shown that convincing people to adopt a “growth
mindset” (not “fixed mindset”) leads to higher GPAs,
higher graduation rates. [See Week 5: Assessment]
Dr. Anders Ericcson – Florida State Univ.
Studies development of expertise (sports figures,
pianists, chess players). Expertise is not an innate
trait, it is developed through
 Long (10,000 hours)
 Daily (4 hours a day)
 Deliberate Practice
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15. Learning requires effort:
you grow your brain [2]
15
When you learn a cognitively challenging concept, you
are changing the brain:
 Growing neurons
 Building protein
Two key efforts:
Tracey J. Shors [2]
 Generating understanding
 Retrieving learned information
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16. Part 2:
Teaching the development of expertise

17. Development of Mastery [3]
17
conscious
Behavior
Wait! How to introduce
a graph for the first time…
unconscious
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
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18. Development of Mastery [3]
18
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
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19. Development of Mastery [3]
19
conscious
Behavior
unconscious
adikko.deviantart.com
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20. Development of Mastery [3]
20
conscious
Behavior
unconscious
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
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21. Development of Mastery [3]
21
conscious
Behavior
unconscious 1
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
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22. Development of Mastery [3]
22
conscious
2
Behavior
unconscious 1
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
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23. Development of Mastery [3]
23
conscious
2 3
Behavior
unconscious 1
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
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24. Development of Mastery [3]
24
conscious
2 3
Behavior
unconscious 1 4
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
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25. Why Students Don’t Understand
Your Lectures
25
Expert brains differ from novice brains because novices:
 Lack rich, networked connections, cannot make
inferences
 Have preconceptions that distract or confuse
(“You do not grow new brain cells.”)
 Lack automization, resulting in cognitive overload
 “Comparing Students’ and Experts’ Understanding of
the Content of a Lecture” [4]
 “Why should I use peer instruction in my class?” [5]
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26. Development of Mastery [3]
26
conscious
2 3
Behavior
unconscious 1 4
incompetent competent
Level of Expertise
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27. An Example:
27
The House You Grew Up In
Constructivism says of course it’s hard for the professor
to say it so you can understand it because
he has different pre-existing knowledge
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28. The next time you teach a course, what will you do to get your
students to do these things?
28
Approach each critical task with an explicit
1’s
goal of getting much better at it.
As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and
2’s
why you’re doing it the way your are.
After the task, get feedback on your performance from
3’s
multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.
Continually build mental models of your situation –
4’s your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the
models to encompass more factors.
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional
5’s practice does not work
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu #tccucsd

29. Based on Biology and Expertise:
How do we support learning?
29
 Spaced engagement (time to rest between sessions)
 Repeated, effortful testing (not passive studying)
 Appropriate-level tasks
 Expert, detailed, frequent feedback
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30. Students in Beth’s CSE course
(heavy use of peer instruction with clickers)
30
Couldn’t you PLEASE just tell it to me?
I know how to learn from lecture!
Can’t you just explain it?
Well, clickers were fun, but the professor made me learn
it myself! It would have been easier if she’d just lectured!
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu #tccucsd

31. Deliberate Practice Findings: for you
31
 Reach for objectives JUST beyond where you are:
 Work on incrementally harder problems.
 Try variations on ones from class, homework, quizzes.
 Practice consistently (every day)
 And practice a LOT
 Get FEEDBACK on your practice
 Or at least self-analyze “continuously observing results, making
appropriate adjustments” [1]
 What to practice?
 Maybe harder, but exam questions (if they are understandable)
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32. your
Deliberate Practice Findings: for you
students
32
 Reach for objectives JUST beyond where you are:
Set
 Work on incrementally harder problems.
 Try variations on ones from class, homework, quizzes.
 Practice consistently (every day)
 And practice a LOT
Give
 Get FEEDBACK on your practice
 helpat least self-analyze “continuously observing results, making
Or them to
appropriate adjustments”
 What to practice?
 Maybe harder, but exam questions (if they are understandable)
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu #tccucsd

33. References
33
1. Colvin, G. (2006, October 19). What it takes to be great. Fortune, 88- 96.
Available at
money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391794
/index.htm
2. Shors, T.J. (2009, March). Saving new brain cells. Scientific American, 47 - 54.
(PDF available at 66.96.218.117/~rcirutge/wp-
content/uploads/2011/08/Saving New-Brain-Cells-Scientific-American-
2009.pdf )
3. Sprague, J., & Stuart, D. (2000). The speaker’s handbook. Fort Worth, TX:
Harcourt College Publishers.
4. Hrepic, Z., Zollman, D.A., & Rebello, N.S. (2007) Comparing Students’ and
Experts’ Understanding of the Content of a Lecture. Journal of Science
Education and Technology 16, 213-224.
Available at http://ksuperg.blogspot.com/2009/06/hrepic-zollman-rebello-
journal-of.html
5. Newbury, P. (2011, June 15) Why should I use peer instruction in my class?
Available at www.peternewbury.org/2011/06/why-should-i-use-peer-
instruction-in-my-class/
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu #tccucsd

34. 34
Next week: Learning Outcomes
Watch the blog for next week’s readings and
assignments
See you Wednesday, January 30!
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