In Pursuit of Mastery

As I make some preparations for The eLearning Guild's Best of Demo Fest webinar, I have taken some time to think about my winning project with Sean Hickey, Multiple Choice Mayhem. As I go through it, I see small things that need to be adjusted such as spacing around words, the timing of animations, etc. As I start to see each of these little details, I start to wonder how something so imperfect was able to win. I then start to doubt myself as a designer and have to make an effort to stop myself from being so self-deprecating. Is noticing flaws and constant evaluation of the product a mindset of a master?

At Learning Solutions, Sarah Lewis had a great analogy of an archery team to distinguish between success and mastery. She observed an archery team one day and noted how the accuracy varied between the archers. Each time they hit the bullseye it was a success, a win. She pointed out that mastery is the journey of continuous practice and recalibration. Mastery is about using the near misses to get closer to the goal. (If you want to read more about my Learning Solutions takeaways, go here)

"Mastery is the attainment of a high degree of competence within a particular area."
Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010).
How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. John Wiley & Sons.
 

So how do we get to mastery? Thinking about this topic deeper, I was reminded by a book on my bookshelf from masters coursework. The book is called How Learning Works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. According to Ambrose et al, in order "to develop mastery, one must acquire a set of skills, practice combing and integrating these components to develop greater fluency and understand the conditions and contexts in which they can apply what they have learned" (p. 95). I decided to combine information in this book with some of my own tips and tricks to explore how can you make this happen in your course designs. Here are some tips to help facilitate transfer:

Discuss conditions of applicability: Ah yes, the good old WIIFM (what is in it for me?). A long-held "adult" learning principle from Malcolm Knowles, I'd argue that everyone wants to know what the point of a learning experience is. Also according to Ambrose et al, you shouldn't assume that once someone has learned a skill that they automatically know where and how to apply it. Depending on your situation, there can be many ways to address this. As a higher education instructional designer, I discuss with faculty what the competencies of the course are and how the course and content fit into a student's overall advising plan. Is this a skill that is a MUST HAVE when they graduate to get a job in the field or is this something that is "nice to know"? Having those conversations to discuss the conditions and contexts of applicability can help guide folks towards transferring the knowledge/skill more successfully.

Create opportunities to apply skills and knowledge in multiple contexts: This is also a big one as there may be different settings that lead to mastery in different applications. According to Ambrose et al, "by providing multiple contexts, it can help people overcome context-dependence and prepare them better to transfer that skill to novel contexts" (p. 118). The widget machine isn't always going to have the same reboot procedure, the onboarding at Company A won't be the same as Company B, and the list goes on and on. Giving folks opportunities to apply the skill and knowledge in different contexts allows them to apply it at a deeper level.

Use comparisons to help identify deep features: Ambrose et al did such a great job explaining this, I'll quote most of it here:

"Students may fail to transfer knowledge or skills appropriately if they cannot recognize the meaningful features of the problem. Providing them with structured comparisons--of problems, cases, scenarios, or tasks---helps them learn to differentiate the salient features of the problem from the surface characteristics. Structured comparisons encourage students to identify and focus on underlying, structural similarities and differences and caution them not to be fooled by superficial features. This can help them reconcile the deep features of novel problems and thus facilitate successful transfer" (pp 118-119).

So what would you add? What are some other ways that we can help facilitate transfer towards mastery? Please comment below for a chance to win the Ambrose book. I will choose one random person who comments to win their choice of the Kindle or paperback copy (deadline May 1, 2019).