For the first week of CEP 810, I have been asked to write an essay about learning and differences between how experts and non-experts learn, based on our reading from National Research Councils report How People Learn: brain, mind, experience, and school. As I read about learning and the differences between how experts and non-experts learn, I was reminded of a challenge that I had early in my music career and how the advice I got from experts comported with the authors’ findings. What I learned is that experts learn by chunking information together and looking for the underlying structures of what they are learning. It is the same way that jazz musicians learn hundreds of tunes. You can read the full essay (798 words) here:
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Chris,
I enjoyed reading about your connections with jazz to this reading from this week. I like that you discussed not only the differences between exerts and novices, but strategies that novices can use to help them improve their skills. You mentioned the strategy of chunking, and how this skill can foster learning. This idea translates into the education world. Your essay got me thinking of ways to develop expert skills, like chunking, into teaching. Helping students develop skills for learning rather than strictly content-specific information could be very meaningful for students. This has me asking “How can we do this with students?” which I hope we will explore in CEP810!
-Paige
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