Task 1(B): Critical Review

1.0 Summary

There is no exact scientific way to evaluate the teachers’ expertise in teaching and
some evaluation are subjective. As a matter of fact, the skills of teaching are not
thought formally and most of the time learnt from experiences. But, one way of
evaluating it is by comparing the beliefs held by novices with experts. Comparable
characteristics can be found between the two groups. One of them is the experts’
ability to plan their teaching more quickly than the other. From these investigations,
teaching can better be understood. It can be used as a source for programs for
professional development.

100 words.

2.0 Introduction

The text that I have chosen to review was written by Michael J. Dunkin in a book
which was edited by Nira Nativa and Peter Goodyear which was published on 6 th of
December 2012 by Springer Science and Business Media. The title of the text is The
Status of Knowledge About Teaching in Higher Education. It conveys about the way
how people can understand teaching more deeply through a certain way.

3.0 Critical Review

First, the text stated that we can hardly differentiate the skills needed to become a
teacher. But thankfully, the different between expert and novice teachers can be
seen. To this day, there are still newcomers which would need help from those who
have lots of experiences. From that statement from the text, I was able to relate to
this saying because I myself is a teacher trainee. I could see a lot of differences
between myself and the lecturers that are experts in teaching. Being aware of it, this
text really caught my attention and made me want to know more about it. It is also
relatable to today’s situation which have lots of new workers that have visible
differences between them and the experts who are experienced.

From text, I would say that the elaboration of the text is on point. One of the
points stated in the text is that skills of teaching are can hardly be evaluated. The
writer also stated that people lack the understanding to the criteria which are needed

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for the novices to put themselves among the experts. Other than that, teachers are
rarely been trained as teachers. They only have experiences of being a teaching
assistant most of the time. The new teachers learn to teach only based on their
observation. In other words, the skills needed to teach are learnt informally. To
improve their teaching method sometimes, they do it by communicating with their
colleagues. In my opinion, these things most likely happened back in the days where
no specific training were given to the teachers in training. And it is quite true that
novices are lack of many things in contrast with the experts.

Next, the writer stated that there is one way of knowing how to understand the
skills and criteria of a good teacher. That is by comparing the experts and novices.
The writer backed this point by stating the research done in another field. In this text,
chess was the example. It was found that there is a subtle difference on the skills
between the experts and the novices of chess players. I believe in this one.
Experienced people in any field would have advantages because of the exposure
they have to the challenges in that specific field they are involved in. From [ CITATION
KKa12 \l 17417 ], it is said that novices tend to lack awareness of errors and omissions
and the need to continually check solutions and assumptions. That has backed the
points from the text as well.

Other than that, the writer stated that the studies he cited was done not in the
higher education environment, but still said that the situation would be the same in
the higher education. It is proved by the writer by stating the study by Berliner (1994)
which says that the differences between experts and novices are seen in all fields
and not just in education. I am agreeing to this because of my past experiences that
can be related to this statement. My seniors in sports and schools are more
advanced on what we are doing. One of the other reasons would be the increase of
confidence from experiences. In one studies by [ CITATION GDS14 \l 17417 ], it is stated
that reflection builds one's confidence in the ability to achieve a goal which in turn
translates into higher rates of learning. Therefore, experiences with reflections made
would mean a better skill of a person in a specific field.

Lastly, in the text, it is stated that this kind of studies may help in
understanding the higher education a lot more which will be beneficial for use in
programs of professional development in the future. From this statement, I agree to it
that studies that are made most of the times, would help up to dig in a lot more on the
fields in order to improve and upgrade the current knowledge humans have on this
field.

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4.0 Conclusion

In this text, the writer has managed to strengthen his points by giving a lot of proof in
a shape of past studies. I can be assured by the points given by the writer such as
the use of the studies which are made. In short, the writer managed to state his
points fully detailed that I could understand fully on what was written on it.

794 words.

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5.0 References
Kapp, K. (2012, September 21). Some Differences Between Experts and Novices.
Retrieved from Karl M. Kapp: http://karlkapp.com/some-differences-between-
experts-and-novices/

Stefano, G. D., Gino, F., Pisano, G., & Staats, B. (2014, April 11). Learning By
Thinking: How Reflection Improves Performance. Retrieved from Working
Knowledge: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/learning-by-thinking-how-reflection-
improves-performance

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6.0 Attachments

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