Expertise and Me

"Missing Piece" by PXFUEL is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

What defines an expert? Who can be an expert? How do we get there? These questions are something that I explored while reading How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School this week. Bransford et al. (2000) explains the difference between learning and understanding, experts vs. novices, and conceptual change just in the first three chapters. I focused on chapter two to learn more specifically about experts vs. novices.

This caused me to really look at myself and see what I consider myself an expert in. As a first-generation college student with some gaps in my knowledge to fill in about college, navigating university life is something that I have worked very hard over the last six years at becoming an expert in. If you're interested in learning more about my journey in higher education, residence life, and university in general and what makes an expert you can check out my essay Expertise and Me. I encourage you to take a look as I did and think about how you can tap into your own expertise, find confidence in that and give back to others.

Let's keep the conversation going! I welcome reflection and comments by email or follow me on Twitter @kdeloachMSU.

References:

Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. National Academy Press. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368.