New developments in the science of learning science of learning overview mind and brain how experts differ from novices how children learn learning and transfer the learning environment curriculum, instruction and commnity effective teaching - examples in history, mathematics and science teacher learning technology to support learning conclusions from new developments in the science of learning.

How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school.

because observed behavior is the result of interactions between environmental factors and genes during the extended period of development. Therefore, to better understand expert and exceptional performance, we must require that the account specify the different environmental factors that could selectively promote and facilitate the achievement of such performance. In addition, recent research on expert performance and expertise (Chi, Glaser, & Farr, 1988; Ericsson & Smith, 1991a) has shown that important characteristics of experts' superior performance are acquired through experience and that the effect of practice on performance is larger than earlier believed possible. For this reason, an account of exceptional performance must specify the environmental circumstances, such as the duration and structure of activities, and necessary minimal biological attributes that lead to the acquisition of such characteristics and a corresponding level of performance. An account that explains how a majority of individuals can attain a given level of expert performance might seem inherently unable to explain the exceptional performance of only a small number of individuals. However, if such an empirical account could be empirically supported, then the extreme characteristics of experts could be viewed as having been acquired through learning and adaptation, and studies of expert performance could provide unique insights into the possibilities and limits of change in cognitive capacities and bodily functions. In this article we propose a theoretical framework that explains expert performance in terms of acquired characteristics resulting from extended deliberate practice and that limits the role of innate (inherited) characteristics to general levels of activity and emotionality. We provide empirical support from two new studies and from already published evidence on expert performance in many different domains.

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The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance.

Preface Chapter 1 The challenge Chapter 2 The nature of the evidence: A synthesis of meta-analyses Chapter 3 The argument: Visible teaching and visible learning Chapter 4: The contributions from the student Chapter 5 The contributions from the home Chapter 6 The contributions from the school Chapter 7 The contributions from the teacher Chapter 8 The contributions from the curricula Chapter 9 The contributions from teaching approaches - I Chapter 10 The contributions from teaching approaches - II Chapter 11: Bringing it all together Appendix A: The 800 meta-analyses Appendix B: The meta-analyses by rank order References

Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement

A theory is proposed to account for some of the age-related differences reported in measures of Type A or fluid cognition. The central hypothesis in the theory is that increased age in adulthood is associated with a decrease in the speed with which many processing operations can be executed and that this reduction in speed leads to impairments in cognitive functioning because of what are termed the limited time mechanism and the simultaneity mechanism. That is, cognitive performance is degraded when processing is slow because relevant operations cannot be successfully executed (limited time) and because the products of early processing may no longer be available when later processing is complete (simultaneity). Several types of evidence, such as the discovery of considerable shared age-related variance across various measures of speed and large attenuation of the age-related influences on cognitive measures after statistical control of measures of speed, are consistent with this theory.

http://www.anitacrawley.net/Resources/Articles/salthouse%20The%20Processing%20Speed%20Theory%20of%20Adult%20Age%20Differences%20in%20Cognition.pdf

The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition.

SUMMARY Review date: 1969 to 2003, 34 years. Background and context: Simulations are now in widespread use in medical education and medical personnel evaluation. Outcomes research on the use and effectiveness of simulation technology in medical education is scattered, inconsistent and varies widely in methodological rigor and substantive focus. Objectives: Review and synthesize existing evidence in educational science that addresses the question, ‘What are the features and uses of high-fidelity medical simulations that lead to most effective learning?’. Search strategy: The search covered five literature databases (ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Timelit) and employed 91 single search terms and concepts and their Boolean combinations. Hand searching, Internet searches and attention to the ‘grey literature’ were also used. The aim was to perform the most thorough literature search possible of peer-reviewed publications and reports in the unpublished literature that have been judged for academic quality. Inclusion and exclusion criteria: Four screening criteria were used to reduce the initial pool of 670 journal articles to a focused set of 109 studies: (a) elimination of review articles in favor of empirical studies; (b) use of a simulator as an educational assessment or intervention with learner outcomes measured quantitatively; (c) comparative research, either experimental or quasi-experimental; and (d) research that involves simulation as an educational intervention. Data extraction: Data were extracted systematically from the 109 eligible journal articles by independent coders. Each coder used a standardized data extraction protocol. Data synthesis: Qualitative data synthesis and tabular presentation of research methods and outcomes were used. Heterogeneity of research designs, educational interventions, outcome measures and timeframe precluded data synthesis using meta-analysis. Headline results: Coding accuracy for features of the journal articles is high. The extant quality of the published research is generally weak. The weight of the best available evidence suggests that high-fidelity medical simulations facilitate learning under the right conditions. These include the following:

/pdf/features-and-uses-of-high-fidelity-medical-simulations-that-51wb8k5opy.pdf

Features and uses of high-fidelity medical simulations that lead to effective learning: a BEME systematic review

Two studies investigated the role of deliberate practice in the maintenance of cognitive-motor skills in expert and accomplished amateur pianists. Older expert and amateur pianists showed the normal pattern of large age-related reductions in standard measures of general processing speed. Performance on music-related tasks showed similar age-graded decline for amateur pianists but not for expert pianists, whose average performance level was only slightly below that of young expert pianists. The degree of maintenance of relevant pianistic skills for older expert pianists was predicted by the amount of deliberate practice during later adulthood. The role of deliberate practice in the active maintenance of superior domain-specific performance in spite of general age-related decline is discussed.

Maintaining excellence: deliberate practice and elite performance in young and older pianists

SUMMARY Two large, diverse samples of tournament-rated chess players were asked to estimate the frequency and duration of their engagement in a variety of chess-related activities. Variables representing accumulated time spent on serious study alone, tournament play, and formal instruction were all significant bivariate correlates of chess skill as measured by tournament performance ratings. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that among the activities measured, serious study alone was the strongest predictor of chess skill in both samples, and that a combination of various chessrelated activities accounted for about 40% of the variance in chess skill ratings. However, the relevance of tournament play and formal instruction to skill varied as a function of skill measurement time (peak vs. current) and age group (above vs. below 40 years). Chess players at the highest skill level (i.e. grandmasters) expended about 5000 hours on serious study alone during their first decade of serious chess play—nearly five times the average amount reported by intermediate-level players. These results provide further evidence to support the argument that deliberate practice plays a critical role in the acquisition of chess expertise, and may be useful in addressing pedagogical issues concerning the optimal allocation of time to different chess learning activities. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. How long does it take to become an expert in chess? Based on theoretical arguments about information processing efficiency and computer simulations of pattern recognition in chess, Simon and colleagues (Simon & Chase, 1973; Simon & Gilmartin, 1973) proposed a ‘10-year rule’ for the development of chess expertise. In other words, one needs about a decade of study in order to acquire the necessary knowledge base to perform at very high levels of tournament play (see F. Gobet & N. Charness, submitted; Expertise in chess. In K. A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. Feltovich, & R. Hoffman (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance. New York: Cambridge University Press; Gobet, de Voogt, & Retschnitzki, 2004, for review).

http://psych.utoronto.ca/users/reingold/publications/PDFs/Charness.Tuffiash.Krampe.Krampe.Vasyukova.2005.pdf

Ralf Krampe

Papers

The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance.

Maintaining excellence: deliberate practice and elite performance in young and older pianists

The role of deliberate practice in chess expertise

Age-related differences in attentional cost associated with postural dual tasks: increased recruitment of generic cognitive resources in older adults.

The role of practice and coaching in entrepreneurial skill domains: An international comparison of life-span chess skill acquisition.