Dreyfus Skills Acquisition Model
So, this post will be a bit “hasty”, which is not surprising for a Saturday morning (the original article was published on August 18, 2007. ), but I want to refer to this topic in one work, which I am going to do in the fall. I plan to work fruitfully: to create several resources with links on the Internet that will help children in creating their first projects, as well as in teaching such subjects as physics, space physics and robotics / electronics. If you know me, then you know that I studied these things for quite a while. The problem in the process of teaching these subjects in our time is that they are too abstract and are often limited to “on paper” theory. To study these subjects at a higher level than simply knowing trivial things and facts, you must really “do” science, and not just “read” about them.
There are several articles and models that have seriously affected my attitude to certain things, turned my view on the approach to the study of these things. I will touch each of them separately, and then gather the accumulated knowledge together and describe the approach that I am going to try. None of these articles or ideas will be a revelation to anyone, but they make an impression when you read them. The authors did a great job and described the subject as deeply and in detail as I could never.
The first such article and model is the Dreyfus model, which was originally based on the report of Hubert Dreyfus and Stuart Dreyfus of the early 80s, called “The Five-Step Model of Mental Activity Engaged in Appreciated Skills” Skill Acquisition ). You can run through his eyes.
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Initially, this work was prepared for the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research for the training of pilots, but its structure and goals can be effectively used to train any person: nurses, chess players, people learning foreign languages and even programmers (google “Dreyfus model” and you will see many different results of its use (and some arguments against its use)). I like it, so I'm going to use it.
In a few words, Dreyfus outlines five to seven stages of learning a new skill or studying a field:
I don’t know how about you, but I often hear how many people use the terms “Competent” or “Expert” to describe their own skills, without having an objective model, on the basis of which they could put themselves in one category or another. Some people begin to consider themselves competent in some field after reading just one book. Others call themselves experts after completing a single project using a particular skill or technology. It reminds me of an episode from Monk ( detective series. Approx. Per. ), In which detective Adrian Monk sails on a boat, and someone asks him if he can swim. He replies that he knows how to swim and even gets a certificate from his wallet certifying that he is a swimmer (from correspondence courses), but he immediately admits that he had never actually been in the water and had never applied his skills, but he considers that he will come out quite well. Some people go this way when studying various subjects and technologies that they studied in books and on the Internet, but never really “engaged” in real things, never used what they learned. You learn by doing things, you do not learn (and cannot learn) before you do something.
This model does two important things: (1) helps to better define what each of the learning stages means, and (2) explains the principle of a person’s transition from one category to another.
Briefly about the stages :
Novice
A beginner always follows the rules - specific rules, in any situation, in any case. You do not need to "think", you just need to "do." The rules are unshakable and should never be violated. The main thing at this stage is to gain experience, following the prescriptions and working on a new skill. You can follow the recipe on the box with the cake and, most likely, make quite a decent cake. All that you are responsible for is compliance with the instructions.
“For the development of a newcomer, there is a need for outside control or self-control, so that his actions comply with the rules to the maximum.
Continuing
The rules are still the basis, but they are beginning to acquire a situational character. In one situation, you follow one rule, in another situation - another. Continuing should be able to selectively apply different rules. So if you want a chocolate cake, follow the chocolate instructions. If you want a vanilla cake, follow the other instructions. If you are over 5,000 feet tall, you will need to change the amount of some ingredients. This is still a recipe, but it has several variations. Again, follow the various “options” of instructions and everything will be fine. Despite the fact that everything can quite easily turn back into a huge Novice category, this is a significant step towards Competence.
Competent
You realize that the skills or field that you are learning are more than just a set of rules and their variations. You begin to see patterns and principles (or aspects ), rather than a separate set of rules — the rules become less stringent. You rely more on your experience and active decision making than on strict adherence to the rules. At this stage, guiding principles are formed that will greatly help you at a higher level. Now you are responsible for your decisions, unlike the previous stages, in which you strictly followed the rules. You made a lot of cakes and have a few recipes. When you are asked to make a new type of cake, you will use your experience and make it. If the new cake does not come out, only you are responsible for it. This is a critical and critical moment for the majority of people who experience some kind of skill, as well as the reason why most people will never truly become “competent” in the things they learn. Here, you either decide to simply “follow the rules,” or completely immerse yourself in the subject matter and learn to take responsibility.
"Competence comes only after considerable experience in real situations."
Specialist
At this stage, understanding your skills or field of study becomes more instinctive and intuitive . You will do things that seem right to you (and very often you will be right). Instead of a discrete set of different parts, you can perceive the whole system. Extensive experience in solving real problems will show you that most often there are several competing solutions to a particular problem and you have a “sixth sense” that will tell you the right way. "Calculation and rational analysis seem to melt before our eyes." You quickly understand what you need to do and immediately state how to achieve it.
Professionalism develops as a result of exposure to the " wide variation of the most typical situations ."
Expert
At this stage, when solving problems, you do not think about the algorithm for doing the work, you just “do”, and it works. "Optimum performance becomes your second nature." People may ask you why you decided to choose this particular way of solving the problem, and you will not know how to explain it to them, how to divide your way from A to B into 10 steps, when for you it is just one step. The request to the Expert to describe in detail the course of solving the problem, before he began to work on it, may confuse him. Here you are like a grandmother, getting up at 6 in the morning and making cookies for many, many years. She does not think about the amount of baking or roasting time, yes, maybe she doesn’t think about it at all - she just does it and it works. Very few people can achieve a similar level in a particular skill. By some estimates, this requires 10-15 years of work in this area.
The expert’s experience “is so great that every concrete situation immediately dictates the required actions on an intuitive level”.
Master
Mastery is mainly expressed in style. The master is in fact simply “Expert on the beat”. I think you could spend time with someone who is really very good at something, he is so immersed in work that you can't help but feel that you are watching the work of a real genius. I would also call the Master an Expert who can look back and get into the Beginner's place, create rules, control / instruct beginners, helping them move forward. If you have ever met a Master, you remember him - by name - they are rare, and it would be very useful for you to spend as much time with them as possible. An expert in basketball can have brilliant performing skills and without hesitation get into the ring time after time. But Michael Jordan will do it with such style, grace, ease and disregard for the laws of physics, that you will be forced to drop everything and look at him when he is "in his element."
The master “is capable of experiencing moments of total immersion in work, during which his performance surpasses even the usual high level”.
The essence
Thank you for reading so much, now I will finally touch on the essence of the problem (after 1000+ words) - I think that in the vast majority of subjects, people today only reach the level of “Continuing”. It is unpleasant that it is increasingly concerned with science, mathematics and technology. If you know enough to “take the test,” then this is all you need. The No Child Left Behind normative act was designed to teach people the responsibility for learning. But instead of students who can become Competent or even Specialists in some field, we have created a system in which students are stuck at the “Continuing” level in a variety of subjects and may not be able to move forward. We teach children that it is enough to “know” about things, but never to really “engage” with them.
So what can we do about it? We need to create a catalog of resources that will help children go the way from Novice to Competent in science, mathematics and technology - things that will give them activity in developing projects and creating connections that are so necessary for moving forward. Difficult, but achievable goal. Many people see similar problems and try to solve them. Cooperation with them will be the key to our success.
More on this later ...
Bruce
There are several articles and models that have seriously affected my attitude to certain things, turned my view on the approach to the study of these things. I will touch each of them separately, and then gather the accumulated knowledge together and describe the approach that I am going to try. None of these articles or ideas will be a revelation to anyone, but they make an impression when you read them. The authors did a great job and described the subject as deeply and in detail as I could never.
The first such article and model is the Dreyfus model, which was originally based on the report of Hubert Dreyfus and Stuart Dreyfus of the early 80s, called “The Five-Step Model of Mental Activity Engaged in Appreciated Skills” Skill Acquisition ). You can run through his eyes.
')
Initially, this work was prepared for the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research for the training of pilots, but its structure and goals can be effectively used to train any person: nurses, chess players, people learning foreign languages and even programmers (google “Dreyfus model” and you will see many different results of its use (and some arguments against its use)). I like it, so I'm going to use it.
In a few words, Dreyfus outlines five to seven stages of learning a new skill or studying a field:
- Novice
- Continuing
- Competent
- Specialist
- Expert and
- Master
I don’t know how about you, but I often hear how many people use the terms “Competent” or “Expert” to describe their own skills, without having an objective model, on the basis of which they could put themselves in one category or another. Some people begin to consider themselves competent in some field after reading just one book. Others call themselves experts after completing a single project using a particular skill or technology. It reminds me of an episode from Monk ( detective series. Approx. Per. ), In which detective Adrian Monk sails on a boat, and someone asks him if he can swim. He replies that he knows how to swim and even gets a certificate from his wallet certifying that he is a swimmer (from correspondence courses), but he immediately admits that he had never actually been in the water and had never applied his skills, but he considers that he will come out quite well. Some people go this way when studying various subjects and technologies that they studied in books and on the Internet, but never really “engaged” in real things, never used what they learned. You learn by doing things, you do not learn (and cannot learn) before you do something.
This model does two important things: (1) helps to better define what each of the learning stages means, and (2) explains the principle of a person’s transition from one category to another.
Briefly about the stages :
Novice
A beginner always follows the rules - specific rules, in any situation, in any case. You do not need to "think", you just need to "do." The rules are unshakable and should never be violated. The main thing at this stage is to gain experience, following the prescriptions and working on a new skill. You can follow the recipe on the box with the cake and, most likely, make quite a decent cake. All that you are responsible for is compliance with the instructions.
“For the development of a newcomer, there is a need for outside control or self-control, so that his actions comply with the rules to the maximum.
Continuing
The rules are still the basis, but they are beginning to acquire a situational character. In one situation, you follow one rule, in another situation - another. Continuing should be able to selectively apply different rules. So if you want a chocolate cake, follow the chocolate instructions. If you want a vanilla cake, follow the other instructions. If you are over 5,000 feet tall, you will need to change the amount of some ingredients. This is still a recipe, but it has several variations. Again, follow the various “options” of instructions and everything will be fine. Despite the fact that everything can quite easily turn back into a huge Novice category, this is a significant step towards Competence.
Competent
You realize that the skills or field that you are learning are more than just a set of rules and their variations. You begin to see patterns and principles (or aspects ), rather than a separate set of rules — the rules become less stringent. You rely more on your experience and active decision making than on strict adherence to the rules. At this stage, guiding principles are formed that will greatly help you at a higher level. Now you are responsible for your decisions, unlike the previous stages, in which you strictly followed the rules. You made a lot of cakes and have a few recipes. When you are asked to make a new type of cake, you will use your experience and make it. If the new cake does not come out, only you are responsible for it. This is a critical and critical moment for the majority of people who experience some kind of skill, as well as the reason why most people will never truly become “competent” in the things they learn. Here, you either decide to simply “follow the rules,” or completely immerse yourself in the subject matter and learn to take responsibility.
"Competence comes only after considerable experience in real situations."
Specialist
At this stage, understanding your skills or field of study becomes more instinctive and intuitive . You will do things that seem right to you (and very often you will be right). Instead of a discrete set of different parts, you can perceive the whole system. Extensive experience in solving real problems will show you that most often there are several competing solutions to a particular problem and you have a “sixth sense” that will tell you the right way. "Calculation and rational analysis seem to melt before our eyes." You quickly understand what you need to do and immediately state how to achieve it.
Professionalism develops as a result of exposure to the " wide variation of the most typical situations ."
Expert
At this stage, when solving problems, you do not think about the algorithm for doing the work, you just “do”, and it works. "Optimum performance becomes your second nature." People may ask you why you decided to choose this particular way of solving the problem, and you will not know how to explain it to them, how to divide your way from A to B into 10 steps, when for you it is just one step. The request to the Expert to describe in detail the course of solving the problem, before he began to work on it, may confuse him. Here you are like a grandmother, getting up at 6 in the morning and making cookies for many, many years. She does not think about the amount of baking or roasting time, yes, maybe she doesn’t think about it at all - she just does it and it works. Very few people can achieve a similar level in a particular skill. By some estimates, this requires 10-15 years of work in this area.
The expert’s experience “is so great that every concrete situation immediately dictates the required actions on an intuitive level”.
Master
Mastery is mainly expressed in style. The master is in fact simply “Expert on the beat”. I think you could spend time with someone who is really very good at something, he is so immersed in work that you can't help but feel that you are watching the work of a real genius. I would also call the Master an Expert who can look back and get into the Beginner's place, create rules, control / instruct beginners, helping them move forward. If you have ever met a Master, you remember him - by name - they are rare, and it would be very useful for you to spend as much time with them as possible. An expert in basketball can have brilliant performing skills and without hesitation get into the ring time after time. But Michael Jordan will do it with such style, grace, ease and disregard for the laws of physics, that you will be forced to drop everything and look at him when he is "in his element."
The master “is capable of experiencing moments of total immersion in work, during which his performance surpasses even the usual high level”.
The essence
Thank you for reading so much, now I will finally touch on the essence of the problem (after 1000+ words) - I think that in the vast majority of subjects, people today only reach the level of “Continuing”. It is unpleasant that it is increasingly concerned with science, mathematics and technology. If you know enough to “take the test,” then this is all you need. The No Child Left Behind normative act was designed to teach people the responsibility for learning. But instead of students who can become Competent or even Specialists in some field, we have created a system in which students are stuck at the “Continuing” level in a variety of subjects and may not be able to move forward. We teach children that it is enough to “know” about things, but never to really “engage” with them.
So what can we do about it? We need to create a catalog of resources that will help children go the way from Novice to Competent in science, mathematics and technology - things that will give them activity in developing projects and creating connections that are so necessary for moving forward. Difficult, but achievable goal. Many people see similar problems and try to solve them. Cooperation with them will be the key to our success.
More on this later ...
Bruce
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/80698/
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