Marching Towards Expertise

Becoming an expert on a topic or a skill is difficult to do and takes time. In addition to taking time, there are other ways to improve one’s knowledge or ability. Recently, I read the book “How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school” by Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, and explored different ways that people can learn. It discussed how students connect new information to knowledge that they already have, how they transfer knowledge, how patterns can accelerate learning, and more.

As I was reading, I was able to connect their thoughts to my own experiences in learning new things. The main experience that stood out to me was my marching band experience. I have been in two marching bands across an eight year period. I do consider myself an expert now on marching in a marching band. I connected my time with the information presented in this book. My essay, “Learning and Expertise in a Marching Band,” reflects on how I was able to master the skill of marching and strategies learners can use to get to this position. As a teacher, I was then able to connect my own process to how I can implement strategies in my classroom to best support my students’ learning.

References

Bransford, J., 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.

Smithsonian Science Education Center. (2015, June 15). Good thinking! - Conceptual change: How new ideas take root [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3a_4471DEU&feature=emb_logo