The College Classroom (Wi14) Week 3: Developing Expertise through Deliberate Practice

The College Classroom

January 21 and 23, 2014

Week 3: Developing Expertise

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Deliberate practice [1]

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

2

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu #tccucsd

Expertise Development 3


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) 10,000 hours 4 hours/day deliberate practice


4

There’s something about this that

bothers me: a 5-foot NBA star? Huh?

1. If it’s bothering me, then it’s probably

bothering some of my students.

2. Maybe one of my students has a

solution or explanation – their

diversity is an asset

3. How can I stimulate a conversation

for everyone in the classroom rather

than the few who would raise their

hands if I asked?

Clicker question

With 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, a 5-ft tall

man can be a basketball star in the NBA.

A) true

B) false

5


Clicker question

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

6


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]

7


Tip Sheet: Perfect Practice [1]

Approach each critical task with an explicit goal of getting

much better at it.

As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and

why you’re doing it the way your are.

After the task, get feedback on your performance from

multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.

Continually build mental models of your situation –

your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the

models to encompass more factors.

Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional

practice does not work.

8

1

2

3

4

5


Approach each critical task with an explicit

goal of getting much better at it.


why you’re doing it the way you are.







practice does not work

9

1

2

3

4

5


In a moment but not yet, each table will discuss how one tip is revealed

in your fields of expertise. Use the whiteboard to capture ideas. One

person on the table will present the ideas to the class.

Prompts students to

listen to entire set of

instructions before

beginning. [2]

Students put their finished ideas on

poster paper. Whiteboards can

(should!) be used to capture

thinking along the way.

Intelligence is grown

Dr. Carol Dweck – Stanford

Shown that convincing people to adopt a “growth mindset” (not “fixed mindset”) leads to higher GPAs, higher graduation rates. [Week 5: Fixed/Growth]

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

10


Part 2:

Teaching the development of expertise

Development of Mastery [3]

12

conscious

unconscious

incompetent competent


Level of Expertise

Beha

vior

Wait! When introducing

a graph for the first time,

explain the “architecture” of

the graph before addressing

the data and message the

graph contains.

Development of Mastery [3] 13



Level of Expertise


conscious

unconscious

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Beha

vior


conscious

unconscious



Level of Expertise

Beha

vior


conscious

unconscious


1


Level of Expertise

Beha

vior


conscious

unconscious


1

2


Level of Expertise

Beha

vior


conscious

unconscious


1

2 3


Level of Expertise

Beha

vior


conscious

unconscious


1

2 3

4


Level of Expertise

Beha

vior


conscious

unconscious


1

2 3

4


Level of Expertise

Beha

vior

Why Students Don’t Understand

Your Lectures

Expert brains differ from novice brains because novices:

lack rich, networked connections: they cannot make

inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information

have preconceptions that distract, confuse, impede

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]

21


Think about the house you grew up in


22

How many windows?

As you counted the windows, did you see them

from the outside or from the inside of the house?

Did you magically teleport from room to room

or did you imagine walking there?

Constructivism says, “It’s hard for the professor to

explain things so students can understand: the professor

has different pre-existing knowledge.”

The next time you teach a course, what will you

do to help your students do these things?

Approach each critical task with an explicit goal of getting

much better at it.


why you’re doing it the way your are.







practice does not work.

23

1

2

3

4

5


Based on Biology and Expertise:

How do we support learning?

Spaced engagement (time to rest between sessions)

Repeated, effortful testing (not passive studying)

Appropriate-level tasks

Expert, detailed, frequent feedback

24


Deliberate Practice Findings: for you

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”

What to practice?

Maybe harder, but exam questions (if they are understandable)

25


Deliberate Practice Findings: for you

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”

What to practice?

Maybe harder, but exam questions (if they are understandable)

Set

Give

help them to

26


your students

Big Question


27

Where does the motivation

to engage in deliberate

practice come from?


28

The discovery that students don't love the new teacher's

content area is one of those school of hard knock lessons.

Graduate education reinforces the centrality of discipline-

based content knowledge. Having immersed themselves in

its study for years and having been surrounded with

colleagues equally enamored with the area, new faculty

arrive at those first teaching jobs no longer objective

about how the rest of the world views their content

domain.

Maryellen Weimer [7]

Instructor has different pre-existing

knowledge. And motivation.

Watch the blog for next week’s

readings and assignments

short paper

math worksheet

read resources about teaching statements

Next week: Learning Outcomes

29


References


30

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. Cummings, M. In a Moment, But Not Yet. Retrieved October 14, 2013 from http://store.training-wheels.com/inmobutnotye.html

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/

6. Malcolm Gladwell, in “Radiolab: Secrets of Success”, aired 26 July 2010. www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2010/jul/26/secrets-of-success/

7. Weimer, M. (2010). New Faculty: Beliefs That Prevent and Promote Growth, in the book Inspired College Teaching: A Career-Long Research for Professional Growth. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. (Reprinted in Tomorrow’s Professor email Newsletter October 15, 2013) Available at http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1279

http://store.training-wheels.com/inmobutnotye.html




http://www.peternewbury.org/2011/06/why-should-i-use-peer-instruction-in-my-class/

















http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1279







Students in UCSD CSE course

(Beth Simon, heavy use of peer instruction with clickers)

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!

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Colvin: “People hate abandoning the notion that they

could coast to fame and riches if only they found their

talent.” Why?

Gladwell: “Why are we so hostile to the notion that

what separates the genius from the rest of us is that the

genius loves that he or she does more than we do?” [6]

Gladwell: “Love is not the complete explanation: love is

the way in.” [6]