How We Learn Ch. 2

Discussion Post

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

“as we fielded informal (and by and large friendly) complaints from our engineer- ing colleagues about the quality of student writing, in mechanics (failure to spell-check and to punctuate successfully), in usage, and in what we consider rhetorical skills, such as using effective organization for a particular purpose and appropriately addressing particular audiences.”

“In informal conversation in the Writing Center and elsewhere, some students readily admitted that they thought they could be much more indifferent about such aspects of writing with technologically-oriented faculty, based on the common misconception that employers and faculty outside the English Department are concerned only with ideas and verifiable “facts,” and therefore do not notice or object to rhetorical flaws or mechanical careless- ness”

These passages from Bergmann and Zepernick’s article show a lack of dedication or care for the information taught in English by the FYC which is a characteristic that I believe is required to be an expert.

“In an example from physics, experts and competent beginners (college students) were asked to describe verbally the approach they would use to solve physics problems. Experts usually mentioned the major principle(s) or law(s) that were applicable to the problem, together with a rationale for why those laws applied to the problem and how one could apply them (Chi et al., 1981). In contrast, competent beginners rarely referred to major principles and laws in physics; instead, they typically described which equations they would use and how those equations would be manipulated (Larkin, 1981, 1983).”

“The study then compared how the historians and students made sense of historical documents; the result revealed dramatic differences on virtually any criterion. The historians excelled in the elabo- rateness of understandings they developed in their ability to pose alternative explanations for events and in their use of corroborating evidence. This depth of understanding was as true for the Asian specialists and the medievalists as it was for the Americanists.”

These passages from “How We Learn Ch. 2” are a good example of how experience is needed to be an expert. The example with the physics problem is a good example because the experts demonstrates an understanding that comes with experience while the student regurgitates an equation that were taught by a teacher which shows a shallow understanding.

I think the biggest difference between novice/expert learning is how they sort the information and the quality of information that is taken. It’s like two coin collectors the new collector and the old. The new collector collects what is shiny and looks cool, while the old collector knows the history of the coin, the value, and the rarity. The only way for a novice to become an expert from my point of view is dedication and experience. Those are the two things that make an expert because an expert has cares about his work and has a lot of experience in their craft. I do not believe that I’m an expert in any field yet, but I’m working to become one in a few. I say that I’m not an expert do to lack of experience which leads to lack of skill, but I have dedication to my craft.