EDUC 422: How Novices Become Experts: Studying Knowledge and Expertise with Qualitative Methods

Course Description

How do people gain expertise in different domains? This is a question that drives instructional design. In this course, you'll learn about ways that education researchers characterize knowledge, learning, and expertise. We will compare representations of knowledge (e.g., knowledge is a set of scripts, socially mediated, and/or embodied) in different domains (e.g., solving math problems, waiting tables, interpreting literature, or teaching). We will try to apply those models to ourselves and others. Then you'll learn to implement a "think-aloud" methodology, which researchers often use to explore people's learning and knowledge. Your project for the course: 1) Use the think-aloud methodology to compare expert and novice thinking in a domain that interests you, so you can better understand how to design instruction in that domain, and 2) create a conference-like proposal and presentation to share your findings.