Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- 1 The Measurement and Development of Professional Performance: An Introduction to the Topic and a Background to the Design and Origin of This Book
- SECTION 1 CHALLENGES IN PAST AND CONTEMPORARY EFFORTS TO MEASURE AND TRAIN THE OBJECTIVE PERFORMANCE OF PROFESSIONALS
- SECTION 2 PAST AND CONTEMPORARY EFFORTS TO DESIGN INSTRUCTION, TRAIN, AND MAINTAIN PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE
- SECTION 3 THE ASSESSMENT AND TRAINING OF SKILLED AND EXPERT PERFORMERS IN THE MILITARY
- SECTION 4 THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXPERTISE AND EXPERT PERFORMANCE
- 15 The Influence of Learning Research on the Design and Use of Assessment
- 16 Acquiring Conceptual Expertise from Modeling: The Case of Elementary Physics
- 17 Teaching for Expertise: Problem-Based Methods in Medicine and Other Professional Domains
- 18 Enhancing the Development of Professional Performance: Implications from the Study of Deliberate Practice
- 19 It Takes Expertise to Make Expertise: Some Thoughts About Why and How and Reflections on the Themes in Chapters 15–18
- 20 The Value of Expertise and Expert Performance: A Review of Evidence from the Military
- 21 Expertise in the Management of People: A New Frontier for Research on Expert Performance
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
16 - Acquiring Conceptual Expertise from Modeling: The Case of Elementary Physics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- 1 The Measurement and Development of Professional Performance: An Introduction to the Topic and a Background to the Design and Origin of This Book
- SECTION 1 CHALLENGES IN PAST AND CONTEMPORARY EFFORTS TO MEASURE AND TRAIN THE OBJECTIVE PERFORMANCE OF PROFESSIONALS
- SECTION 2 PAST AND CONTEMPORARY EFFORTS TO DESIGN INSTRUCTION, TRAIN, AND MAINTAIN PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE
- SECTION 3 THE ASSESSMENT AND TRAINING OF SKILLED AND EXPERT PERFORMERS IN THE MILITARY
- SECTION 4 THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXPERTISE AND EXPERT PERFORMANCE
- 15 The Influence of Learning Research on the Design and Use of Assessment
- 16 Acquiring Conceptual Expertise from Modeling: The Case of Elementary Physics
- 17 Teaching for Expertise: Problem-Based Methods in Medicine and Other Professional Domains
- 18 Enhancing the Development of Professional Performance: Implications from the Study of Deliberate Practice
- 19 It Takes Expertise to Make Expertise: Some Thoughts About Why and How and Reflections on the Themes in Chapters 15–18
- 20 The Value of Expertise and Expert Performance: A Review of Evidence from the Military
- 21 Expertise in the Management of People: A New Frontier for Research on Expert Performance
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
In many domains, the real world is modeled with systems of equations. Such a model uses variables to represent domain properties and equations to represent applications of domain principles. Given a set of true domain relationships expressed as equations, one can deduce new equations from them using only the rules of mathematics, and the new equations will also be true domain relationships. The latter step, wherein mathematical implications are derived from the initial model, can often be done mechanically, for example, by mathematical symbol manipulation programs, spreadsheets, calculators, etc.
Given a real-world situation that is amenable to such analysis, experts and novices understand them quite differently. Whereas novices must go through the whole modeling process by writing equations on paper and solving them, experts can generate many conclusions about the same situations without having to commit anything to paper. For the expert, many domain relationships are just “obvious” or can be easily inferred “by inspection.”
There are limits to the experts' abilities. Although experts usually cannot mentally infer quantitative relationships, such as the exact numerical value for an energy or a velocity, they can infer qualitative relationships, such as whether a quantity is zero, increasing or greater than some other quantity. Thus, it is often said that expertise in such domains is characterized by a conceptual or qualitative understanding of real world situations (VanLehn, 1996). It is sometimes said that they have developed domain-specific intuitions (Simon & Simon, 1978).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Development of Professional ExpertiseToward Measurement of Expert Performance and Design of Optimal Learning Environments, pp. 356 - 378Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
References
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