Peter Newbury and Beth Simon Center for Teaching Development University of California, San Diego 23 January 2014 collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

1. Week 3: Developing Expertise
The College Classroom
January 21 and 23, 2014
Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed
under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

2. Deliberate practice
[1]
2
 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
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3. 10,000 hours
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Wayne Gretzy (Image: Wikimedia Commons CC)
Serena Williams (Image by Carine06 on flickr CC)
Tiger Woods (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Expertise Development
3
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?
4
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5. Clicker question
5
With 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, a 5-ft tall
man can be a basketball star in the NBA.
A) true
B) false
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6. Clicker question
6
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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7. 7
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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8. Tip Sheet: Perfect Practice
[1]
8
1
3
5
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
2
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 –
4 your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the
models to encompass more factors.
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional
practice does not work.
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9. 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.
9
1
3
5
Approach each critical task with an explicit
Prompts students to
goal of getting much better at it.
listen to entire set of
As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and
2
instructions way you
why you’re doing it thebefore are.
After the task, getbeginning. your performance from
feedback on [2]
multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.
Continually build mental models of your situation –
Students company, your career. Enlarge the
put their finished ideas on
4 your industry, your
models to poster paper. Whiteboards can
encompass more factors.
(should!) be used Occasional
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. to capture
practice does not work thinking along the way.
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10. Intelligence is grown
10
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
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11. Part 2:
Teaching the development of expertise

12. Development of Mastery
[3]
12
Behavior
conscious
unconscious
Wait! When introducing
a graph for the first time,
explain the “architecture” of
the graph before addressing
the data and message the
graph contains.
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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13. Development of Mastery
[3]
13
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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14. Development of Mastery
14
Behavior
conscious
unconscious
adikko.deviantart.com
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[3]

15. Development of Mastery
[3]
15
Behavior
conscious
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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16. Development of Mastery
[3]
16
Behavior
conscious
1
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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17. Development of Mastery
[3]
17
conscious
Behavior
2
1
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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18. Development of Mastery
[3]
18
conscious
Behavior
2
3
1
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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19. Development of Mastery
[3]
19
conscious
3
1
4
incompetent
competent
Behavior
2
unconscious
Level of Expertise
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20. Development of Mastery
[3]
20
conscious
3
1
4
incompetent
competent
Behavior
2
unconscious
Level of Expertise
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21. Why Students Don’t Understand
Your Lectures
21
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]
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22. 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.”
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23. The next time you teach a course, what will you
do to help your students do these things?
23
1
3
5
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
2
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 –
4 your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the
models to encompass more factors.
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional
practice does not work.
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#tccucsd

24. Based on Biology and Expertise:
How do we support learning?
24




Spaced engagement (time to rest between sessions)
Repeated, effortful testing (not passive studying)
Appropriate-level tasks
Expert, detailed, frequent feedback
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25. Deliberate Practice Findings: for you
25
 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)
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26. your
Deliberate Practice Findings: for students
you
26
 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

Or them to
helpat least self-analyze “continuously observing results, making
appropriate adjustments”
 What to practice?

Maybe harder, but exam questions (if they are understandable)
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27. Big Question
27
Where does the motivation
to engage in deliberate
practice come from?
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28. Instructor has different pre-existing
knowledge. And motivation.
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 disciplinebased 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]
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29. 29
Next week: Learning Outcomes
Watch the blog for next week’s
readings and assignments
 short paper
 math worksheet
 read resources about teaching statements
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30. References
30
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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
Cummings, M. In a Moment, But Not Yet. Retrieved October 14, 2013 from
http://store.training-wheels.com/inmobutnotye.html
Sprague, J., & Stuart, D. (2000). The speaker’s handbook. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt
College Publishers.
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-journalof.html
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/
Malcolm Gladwell, in “Radiolab: Secrets of Success”, aired 26 July 2010.
www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2010/jul/26/secrets-of-success/
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
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31. Students in UCSD CSE course
(Beth Simon, heavy use of peer instruction with clickers)
31
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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32. 32
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]
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