‘Thoughts on Adaptive Expertise - 7/9/01 - John Bransford (Reise 11/8/2008 ~ 5 note at end of eocument) Let me try out some thoughts about the concept of adaptive expertise, 1. Why should we care about the concept of adaptive expertise? We've talked a fot about the idea of "working bacwards’ 2s we think about courses and programs (e29,, Wigains & McTighe's book on "Understanding by Design, 1997, which is Nghly compatibe with How People Learn; and Sean's excellent cescrption of this process.) There are atleast two important sources of information that can guide the working Dacknerds process. One ls knowledge of our particular domains (e.g. Blomecnarics, Optics) and what we want students to know and be able to do {hat Is relevant to that domain. Another Is knowledge of the world "out there” = ater graduation. We have some great Interviews with people lke Peter Vall on "whitewater worlds” and the kinds of people I takes to navigate thee. Another interview s with Tony White (CEO of Celera Genomics) who {alks about the need to create environments were “his” people use more of tele brains (hans "yplealy the case) to Invent and innovate. Larry Honard (not yet on tape but we hope to capture him Soon) Ras noted how he has dealt with many axes in engiteerng and technology who are used to “sophing teint alors” ut nt use to being aeveturesme eer thnking. AL a a, {We should-get more descrptions of these Kinds of cases i interview form] ‘Ine ability to_change_and continually innovate i. where_the concept of eauipning students tobe r ut as Tom Harris emphasizes, we need to be much clearer about dave experts comes into pay. fhe meaning of this construct. 1M ry to expla below why think tata facus on adabive expertise il invalvea focus on what we have dofined as “ore comestencies” PLUS. The "PLUS" is the extra ‘heeded for adaptive rather then simply couling exbactse I aso ty to sketch some of the cognitive processes that soem to Underie adaptive expertise. 1 think its cuca to Uy to understand and study Research on Adaptive Expertise: Hatano and other researchers have diferentiated between “routine” and “adaptive” experts. As an iustration, HPL (p 45 of the expended edibon) discusses Miler’ studies of information systems designers weho work with cents to design computer systems that allow them to effientiy store and ‘access relevant information. Routine experts (‘artisans") try to identity the functions that their Cents want automated. They tend to accept the problem and its limits as stated by the cients. Ther ‘approach to these tasks is primarily to fnd things that they have done before that can be eppied to {the new situation. They attempt to "get the problem solved’ as efficently ag possible and then move: ‘onto the next tase {In contrast to the artisans (routine experts, the adaptive experts (virtuosos) Iiten to the clients" statement of te problem ut ony as a pout of departure for further discussions. Tay realize that ‘how one defines one's probiem ts naif the batle and they know that clents are often too close to & Situation fo see ther problems from a variety of diferent perspectives. Adaptive information designe’ ‘also Took forward tothe opportunity to expand ther thinking and ineresse thelr existing solvon Strategies. They treat their cents" problems 2s opportunities for new learning rather than simply a5 job to co. (At the risk of making him ish, 1 think thet Larry Howerd ia fentastic model of on Adaptive expert in the computer systems world. Te emulate him, we need to get al our students to rink really strong coffee atleast & times 2 40)-) sadn Th Case Fins, ATE rjc sd CTE. ATE Center ded icy ough NSE ‘eauesby Rut omg. aceioncreommone® pnetnaminnareta st4. Routine experts have learned a sc of routines that can be very complex and sophisticated, and the experts become very skied at applying them, These routines cn Involve expert corvmunleaton Skis, design assis sk, cate gathering tnd analysis skl, and so forth. Meny ofthe competencies Wwe have been distssing can easly ft"routine expertise.” This doesnt mean they arent importa. But it does mean that =- in orGer to define adaptive expertise ~- We need to explore *e Issue of “routine competences” PLUS. Routine experts cntinue to lear throughout their Iifetimes, but the learning tends to be one of becoming nereasigly efficient at dolng whist they have also been doing, and pethaps of edding few ew ticks along the way. Stusles of egar rollers in a cigar company shomed that they a scentist (inthis case'a male scientist) being confronted by conicting opinions: His fst reaction s oten of violent disturbance, as views that are very dear are questioned or {thrown tone ground. Nevertheless, if he wil “stay witht rather than escape Into anger and Uunjustied rejection of contrary ides, he wil discover that ths disturbance is very Dene For now, he becomes aware of the assumptive character of the conscious erticsm of one’s ‘oun’ metaphysis, leading to changes where sppropriate, and ultimately tthe cantina ‘reation ofnew and cifferent kinds, We probably all krow people who set up barriers to protect their comfort zones and zy to avoid Upsetting their cherished procedures and belts, Others are wing to explore new possbines despite the inital turmoil involved. But I's Important to note that even adaptive experts have to pick tal Datties carefully. There's not enough time i fe to cortnualy rethink everything we beleve. 1 think the core conjecture for us to explore is that the development of adaptive expertise is not something that sinoly hanoens AFTER people develon routing exparise. You don’t develop Win a ‘apetone course” atthe end of students senior Year. Instead, the path toward adaptive expertise i probably diferent irom the path toward routine expertise, Usa The Caza i. 39 ATE Prt nl CE. an ATE Corned xii tough NSP ‘nsced oy fsbLoreg uelon ofeormerts? anrssmogseta cer Tont mean to imply that "you cart teach an old routine expert new trek.” But I's probably harder to do this than to star people down an "adaptive expertise” path to begin witht least for ost people. How can this be sccomplshed? By helping students learn about themecives az thinkers and. problem Solvers. 1 sine tate key to developing adaptive experts isto help students understand thar own processes of knowng and problem soWing, plus help them develop an identity ae 2 Melong learner Father than ee 9n expert who is Supposed to know all the answers. There ae ises here thet are tnuch deeper than the standard chehés, e-9., "bein a ifelang learner is good.” Helping students sevelop adaptive expertise requires a metacognitive approach to teaching Students need to understand how they Une, and how what they currently know can be both blessing and a curte, They need to understand that ther (usualy tact) ideas of “what mears to be 2 competent profesional” (eg., Mowing most ofthe answers versus really being a learner) has Major fertects on hon they think and act, and how comfortable they feel about taking a chance. They teed to Day attention tothe processes they use to solve problems. [There are some powerful examples in How People Learn (HPL) that we should pull cut and highlight of ways that metacognitive addiions to Instruction nave Inceased sehievernent in courses in physies and other areas.) (One thing our students need to understand &s that their problem solving is always affected by their rrent knowiedge and assumptions (just lke Fah Is ish). Having prior Knowledge and belief Doth fecessory end nice -- we cont function In 8 mental vecuum, But our curent assumatans can also (rau in.a box that confines us io 2“oroblem saace” thats mush narrows than ft foul be Consider the fllowng problem: “wo men payed 5 games of checkers. Each won three games. How i this possible? Most people who ty to solve this problem frst assume (reasonably) that the two men are playing teach ther. Gwen that problem space, the problem is impossible to solve. After a few seconds of Eonfusion, most pesple typically lt go of the assumption thet the two men ware playing each ther This helps create a larger problem space wiere the anwer becomes trivial Ifthe two men are Not playing one another, its e8sy for each to win tree games, ‘The preceding sone of those trick problems, ofcourse. But nature Is aso fl of trick problems (or ‘maybe is more accurate to say that we inadvertently play ticks on ourselves wien we attempt {0 foe problems.) The tick we ploy on aurseves is that we tend to Jump Into solutions based en tack, ‘teststed definitions of a oblem—hence we onerate in 2 cesricted problem space, This is simi {the routine formation system designer (see above) who simply takes the-clents’dafintor of the problem as a given and doesnt try to reframe the problem to reveal altematve problem spaces that (an be explored ‘one of my favorite examples of restricted problem spaces comes from a book by Adams called (Conceptual Blockbusting. Ne discussed the bruised tomato probiem that a group of engineers tied to solve about 40 yeas ago. The problem as stated by the cent was: "We can‘ afford to have numans Dick tomatoes--we need automated tomato pickers. But the curent ones are bruising the tomatoes. We need you enginsers to design us @ tomato picker tht is less likely to bruise tomatoes.” ‘The engineers worked for about 6 months and made mid headway but no major improvements. They padded the picking arms, slowed down the machine 2 tite, etc. But the improvements were pedestrian. Eventual, some biologists were brought ino the picture. They cadsinad the probem and. Dense opsied up ah new orobigm soase that contains new solutions, Instead of trying to design & ‘utomated tomato oicker thot was less kel to brute tomotoes, Uey set out to design 2 tomato that was less ikely to be brused. And they succeeded (their new tomato had ticker skin and grew further {ut on the vine). Interestingly A thls bruised tomato problem were posed In this day and. age traditional biologists and bioengineers would probably have aiferent views of how to frame. the: ‘Nreinvent the tomato" problem. One would lock at selected breeding, the other at genetic engineering ‘sfosnerate altemative ocblem definitions and increase the roblem spaces that can be expbted. et case Fes, an AEP TE, AE Cea nde nary gh SF ‘uted by Rus Log cesbom or commons?4. Should we think about a systematic framework for thinking about and coving ing problem 'R might be useful for us to devel» systematic aoroach.to problem solving th i z mab a ss. One possiDle {ramework comes from The Ioeal rablem Solver (1993) that my colleague Barry Stern and I wrote. 1 have NO investment In getting us to use this framework versus some otherT use it simply as an iustrauon. For those who have read the book (tre are a total ef 5 In the World, I think), yout notice thai Fve modifed the IDEAL seronyim somewhat to better Mt our purposes. Here's @ quick ‘Qverview of what IDEAL means. “vest the tine to west problems os cppertuntles fr nen fearing. We would need to nap ‘taants understnd the many oye tae this Is important For eal, Prevoua sowed froblems. Concrete exargen become even more valabie seen as natances ef more general Its face RAL fo cro, fo rencu cvea ote cn oe famed on erearcd ‘Peart Sov wai ven te tn get rr poses f moe gener date (29. See the Prses leating sudes by Nese ee am OF 6 ot ‘eteiop en uncerstoding ofthe prblem you ar rig to Sve andthe processes you reusing torrove tiie meen oot odes unt be heiged deine enna aps for taning ore Inirmaven rater an Simpy jumping to salons based on superfle_Undestangings. ct protons. and they must understand Wh Uns important, This as inlets fr haw we Sssan chal Consiaer a simple calenge we ust bit fr Emergancy Meccne struction. A colege student fae boon brought fo te emergenct room Because sh wont we up. If novices ae ake, "inaedo you thn might be rang wr ar theyll generate fos of posses based on tery experiences ke “too much Wo ark” “arug Overdose,” ele Gut ths I essenealy ‘essing tased on exstng Kronldye. To avalon agave cubes Loh tes imams inan ns. ‘The Emergency Meine Cnalnge we but asks tees questions: 1a) What mane be rena wth ts patent? {2} Wheaton inrmoten would you want ia order to feel confident making {ingens ans casing on 9 treotmen-and why woul you want (3) What ge some tings tat you woud want lear Ion develop moce (iperia i toe ‘0 Questions (2) and (2) dont hove to bein very cholnge, but they ae nportan cincoe in some cnalngos in rc to davlon adaptive exper. © Gestion (2 gets a he en tat elas sort tea cone reaecaged wh at © Question 3 gets students inte abi detig teaming 900 forte owas gh enn itr ey now wha aso {Ea fe nica rcs agenesis don fsa cvarre ec) See iret to van, eo went ts of ae sun fr er om, et) My gues the generating these hase questions at wil eeate 8 na for tling! (Sawant &Bearsord) that hope stents tar leaen new sl cen obec the "Pot son Te case Fs, an ATE Projets CITE, a ATE Cnt nde pony NOUN NSF ‘hein by Ruth rng" unto of corms) saosinfees a yt es the sn weh 2 sn ge ee = ‘Bocetunine seems i tendeney found-n al ila: And 3 dangerous tndency Decuse ‘Page habe of ovr arsmiston fo wong know oe bse. Wineoera provides an_txample of the importance st overcoming tne tendency to simply ‘aime 8 tape hot wat ctice hare of apeclaaon. At fest the Norn reste Dussng conrasenons nha documents by uning he exitong tnoidgs present day sure ‘union ta mal ainemed nudes. she. deve ea : [ker opportunities t learn, he orsn dit at wel a aratang the nor Societe ae tiger uno specsized that rea. In contrast, etege stucents presented wih te Same laments tended fuse thor stutwe every knowledge. and generated erroneous freuen (Wineburg& Fourier, 198), es vert, : te ‘Oten,the problems that we tse aevelp hats OF min Ie te oft touene expert m items denon (see above) who lnays steps Oe cents brbler satement as ven ater tan sly os» pe of deparre fr further export, [ivmeacal education, Shrons (te fer of "probly based leary") does 3 great eb of Coen Grigeating be onto amg ons aces eceed Urogh mea eso atleast wo diernt ways to rome (etn) the problem you ae warking with. Thi i 2 visi bt Zonena gy tat move ae gon eval soecton abo mot {and started fo panic and dive at students they were scared. I tried to catch the bird and then Femanbered to ask myst hace my tack problem of the currant problem’), nas: How 301 Cat the Sr ir ert emcee Te pate spce forts oon othe ‘oom: for ths, 1tumaa oi he gta ard hoped woul head beck ot the hghed window {Rate soliton requed snomiedge (eg. of potsropnm) and k mar hey that te To foal get dart ana tere wes ight cute But I would never have wed i Tha net conscousty ‘Seale DEA seategy a explang st lust tro ays to deine Ye problem to Be solved Ioteresny, ist ast en encountered 9 sma problem ata conference seein n Vin {es taw tte roar ond started doting at people nso ying ta the sree “whch was inet tad toon tir pcb tore we 8 srap to know what to (ht ane ae te ‘resoatt tp oucie san renee mn oeead) Pople wee snaued my “auc, {ining Aco, war guse rng a. Tarp aca afamlnecogs. tt hed See sn tat mn coca sg ee et ‘SeSpmoprate vet sxrscon or hyo tara net este psslom sc Gane et onthe sratogy(s) tat seoms most promising ina trough thovht experiments ort b= took Improve tant sme srcund (hr eur nveating the time to explore aratsluon sesh Sng consider possi atenatves, ants ry to see how the spec preblem one hos sowed ‘alates to more general bsues in 6 domain (2.9. I mph be exploring eave ana Med le thet {oes not mond osygan ard be helped to rane tat tule gy rlvar to sarobaogs whe Sre yng te fhd other aces shat suppor Me) onde Case Fes, an ATE Projet rd CTE an ATE Cone anaes pany ough NSF ‘Ded by Rah oreg “norton comes” uscenadnsnpiia aBeyond Memorizing IDEAL: Obviousy, It doesn't do much good to simply memorize the IDEAL framework: neads to be used &o structure students activities of problem representation, problem Solving ond reflection. There are probobly other frameworks tht are even better than IDEAL (The IDEALer Framework?) But 1 thought 1@ throw {DEAL out as an example of how we might. tke. systematic metacoantive aparaach Mini Studies: I see the potential for some very powerful mini studies we can and should do to show [NSF that there are really “teeth” pursuing the goal of developing adaptive expertse. We should also look at researeh on problem Based learning in Mecicine by Cindy Hraelo (she got her Ph D at Peabody) {3 2 guidelines for these studies. She has strong resus) 5. An “Adaptive Expertise” Challenge for All of Us Imagine that we are part of the show “To Tell the Truth” and ate introduced to two senlors in Bioengineering wh ean om be adoptive expats ut rea one a tine exper 2 I we simply ask "Are you an adaptive expert?” fehl sy yes (or pemaps *MunP) Bath shoud snow evidence of base competenaes Me core knowledge of Bioengineering, the abilty to solve familar (foutne) problems that are tar to ones Solved before, the ability to communicate, etc. What's the “PLUS” for the adaptive expert? Here are some sacrificial thoughts about the two most important things: 1 A systematic understanding of themselves a learners and problem solvers ~ incusing thelr strengths and weaknesses, pls Uneir understanding af the Importance of bulging “aisbituted expertise” teams. 2. An ablity to LEARN to salve novel problems (not simply sole routine prablems based fon existing knowledge). Ths ineludes the abilty to generate leaning goals, define Tuttple perspectives on problems, deal with crtlsm and contracietory data, etc ‘Assessing the later ic relevant to- new ways of thinking about the Issue of leatning and transfer (Grensford & Serwartz, 1999) A striking feature of most transer suthes is that they a se & final transfer task that Involves what Bransford & Schwartz (1999) call "sequastored orablem salva" (GPs). dust as juries are often sequestered in order to protect them from. possible exposure to “contomineun hYomatin, subject In experiments ae sequestered during texts of Wana. hace ‘Accompanying the SPS paradigm is a theory thet characterizes transfer asthe ability to directly apoly ‘one's previous learning to a new setting or probe (we call this the Direct Apelcaton (DA) theory of Uransfer), Bransford & Sowart's theses that the SPs methodology and the atcompanving DA theory ‘transfers sponsible or much of the pessimism about evidence for Kansi. ‘An alternative to SPS methodology and DA theory Is a view that acknawledaas the valdty of these perspectives bul also broadens the concestion of transfer by indudina an emphasis-on_peosles! Screnazatan or future learning” (PPL) Here, te focus sits to assessments of people's abilities io learn in knowledge-rich environments, When organizations hire new employees they dont ‘expect them to have learned everything they need for successful adaptation. They want people Who Gan ean "and ey expect them to make use of resources (9, txt, computer programs, aleagues) to factate tls learning ‘ansfer in tenn of speed and/or ality of ew learning. sein he cas Fis an ATE Pret rd CTE an ATE Conran paar ugh NSF ‘Dates on Loongauotonsorsommens® sbeensentarea se