- What is the difference between implicit, informal, and formal learning?
Quoting Reber (1993), Bransford defines implicit learning as "the rapid, effortless, and untutored detection of patters of covariation among events." In other words, implicit learning is that learning that happens on an unconscious basis. It is is acquired non-verbally and is generally difficult to express verbally, as it is acquired unintentionally on a very basic neurological level.
Informal learning differs from implicit learning in that it is generally intentional. However, it differs from formal learning in that it does not take place ina formal instructional setting (such as a school, community center, or an instructional moment with a parent.) Informal learning can take place in many settings, including peer-to-peer communications and play environments.
Formal learning is another type of intentional learning, but in contrast to informal learning, formal learning takes place in environments that one would generally consider a "formal" learning environment, such as a classroom.
- What is "adaptive expertise"?
Adaptive is that type of expertise which can readily be applied to new situations. It is grounded in the concept of creativity, allowing the expert to invent new applications of his/her knowledge to solve problems in unfamiliar situations.
In contrast, routine expertise differs from adaptive expertise in terms of efficiency. The creativity associated with adaptive expertise does not always lend itself well to immediately finding the best or most efficient solution to a problem. Routine expertise encompasses that expertise which allows an expert to perform a task in a familiar context with speed and precision, in the most efficient way possible, but this type of expertise generally does not transfer well to new contexts.
- Can you think of examples of routine expertise vs adaptive expertise in your own life context?
There is one activity in which I participate almost every day, and I believe it has aspects native to both routine expertise and adaptive expertise. To be gainfully employed as a computer programmer, I have had to become very efficient at programming a number of different code structures that are common to many different software applications. It is to the point that when I need to program these structures, it happens quickly and easily, without too much problem-solving thought occurring during the process. Because I have coded these structures so many different times, I have learned many "best-coding practices and how to implement these structures with great efficiency, in terms of memory usage and cpu resource consumption.
However, my expertise is also a form of adaptive expertise, because I am able to wrap my mind around the requirements of a new project in a way that allows me to reuse ideas learned from past projects. I am able to quickly see how these routine code structures can be implemented in the new project to solve new problems.
- What are the foundational ideas that the learning sciences are built upon?
For much of the 20th century, the educational world revolved around a philosophy of education known as nstructionism. In summary, this philosophy asserted that "knowledge" was a mental collection of facts and procedures, and that the role of education was to transfer these facts and procedures into the minds of children. This transfer of "Knowledge" was generally attempted through oral means by teachers who were presumed to know all of the facts and procedures and were therefore able to teach them to children.
The assumptions upon which this philosophy is grounded were never really tested for validity before they became the basis for many of our public schools today. As the world became more technologically complex and economically competitive, this philosophy became less and less capable of effectively educating our children.
Beginning in the 1970s, a number of researchers began to set their minds to the issue of establishing a science of learning. Because these researchers came from all different types of backgrounds (psychology, computer science, philosophy, sociology, and many others), the science they came to establish is known as the "learning sciences," due to the interdisciplinary nature of this new field.
The findings of researchers in the learning sciences have given us new ways to view education, and this resulting educational philosophy is markedly different from the earlier days of instructionism. This new philosophy is based on completely new foundational principles, such as:
- A deeper, conceptual understanding of a topic, which one is able to transfer to extra-scholastic settings, will much more effectively prepare a student for the real world than will the shallow, fact-based understanding generally afforded by instructionism.
- A focus on learning, in addition to a focus on teaching, will ultimately yield better educational results than will an approach that focuses solely on the efficacy of the instructor.
- Learning environments that provide an authentic context for a particular topic are educationally more effective than an environment in which no authentica context is attempted.
- As no child comes into a classroom with an intellectual "blank slate," it is essential to understand the prior knowledge and learning experiences of a child if one is to effectively teach that child.
- Articulation and self-reflection is extremely beneficial to the learning process, whether in the form of conversation with peers, written reports, or other artifacts.
- What does Sawyer mean when he uses the term "design science"? How is this different from non-design science?
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