Developing expertise through training

Abstract

The ways in which expert workers differ from novices is principally in the amount of specific skills that they possess and the ways they have organized their knowledge. Highlights the advantages of aiming for expertise rather than competence. Also outlines the stages in the development of expertise. Provides examples from industry to show that occupational expertise is practical, informal in nature and only rarely, if ever, taught. Discusses implications for on-the-job training in major industries. Shows that expertise is based on case knowledge and problem solving.

Two models for promoting transfer: a comparison and critical analysis

“…Such complexity and confusion may make the effective acquisition and understanding of the generalised nature of the skill much more difficult, hence controlled reduction of this complexity in the earlier stages of learning is desirable. This is very much in line with the recognition of the limitations of novice learners derived from research into the development of expertise (Berliner, 1988;Cornford & Athanasou, 1995). At the same time this model involves presenting learners with gradually more difficult tasks leading, via the building of subskills, to a mastery of learning so that transfer is likely to occur (see Table I).…”

“…Mostly, we will be dealing with novice learners who have restricted knowledge and experience (Cornford & Athanasou, 1995). This model for developing transfer is a logical attempt to build the required knowledge and create conscious awareness in the learner, but there does need to be recognition that transfer to the natural setting Downloaded by [University of California Santa Cruz] at 18:21 16 November 2014 beyond the simplified training environment does still involve further steps in learning and additional complexity.…”

Challenging current policies and policy makers' thinking on generic skills

“…The skill learning and development of expertise literature clearly identifies the limitations of novices and advanced beginners (Cornford & Athanasou, 1995). These categories of learners are characterised by their adherence to rules and inability often to identify major differences between contexts, quite apart from more subtle ones.…”

“…It is obvious that there is world of difference between a novice and an experienced adult, with a wealth of work and some education experience, who can identify that there are similar, generic elements between say communication skills used in different locations, and the ways in which a novice starting to use a skill perceives it. Skill learning and the development of proficiency and expertise are complex processes extending over a considerable period of time with self-monitoring only developing gradually and slowly (Cornford & Athanasou, 1995).…”

Competence and Professional Expertise

“…In addition to literature that focuses on defining competence or professional expertise, as discussed until now, an important stream of research focuses on different stages or levels of expertise (e.g., Boydell 1990;Cornford and Athanasou 1995;Dreyfus and Dreyfus 1986;Kose and Lim 2011). Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) discerned five stages of becoming an expert (see also in Cheetham andChivers 2001 andEraut 1994): 1) Novice.…”