Skills development
Autor: Roberto | Publicado: 2017-06-21T11:07:00-03:00









Teaching Students Specific Skills



       
               
        
       
   
    


                















By Maryellen Weimer, PhD











Preparing for a keynote at a polytechnic institute got me thinking about those readers who teach students how to do
 something, not something abstract like thinking, but how to execute 
some observable skill, such as starting an IV, writing code, or wiring a
 circuit. Teaching skills, much like teaching in general, shares certain
 similarities that are relevant across a variety of degree programs. 
It’s good to review these and use them to take stock of how we can 
better help students learn specific skills.



A novice learns from an expert –
 Often, the novice is tremendously impressed by the skill of the expert 
who accomplishes a complicated task easily and efficiently. It looks 
effortless, and seeing flawless execution can be very motivational. The 
novice aspires to do what the expert has accomplished. And because it is
 done so well, it’s easy for the novice to conclude that learning it 
won’t be all that difficult.



An expert teaches a novice
 – Skill instruction relies on demonstrations. And let’s be honest: 
there’s a bit of showmanship involved and some enjoyment derived when 
students are impressed by what we can do. To the expert, it feels easy, 
natural. He or she knows exactly what to do and when to do it. What the 
expert may have forgotten is how it felt when he or she was learning the
 skill—the clumsiness, the awkward execution, the tension, and the fear 
of failure. Once a skill is mastered, the time, effort, and repeated 
attempts fade from memory. “It’s easy! You can do it,” the expert 
reassures the novice.











Learning most skills isn’t easy –
 It’s not as easy as the expert makes it look, and it’s not as easy as 
the learner thinks it might be. And if the expert claims that it’s easy 
and the novice’s first attempts are failures or faulty executions, then 
the novice starts to wonder. “Why can’t I do this? It looks easy, and 
the expert says it’s easy, but now I can’t do it. What does that say 
about me? Am I stupid?”



Mistakes are an inherent part of learning new skills –
 Making mistakes does not automatically equate with a lack of ability, 
but students continue to believe that ability matters more than effort. 
If the skill isn’t easily acquired, they begin to rationalize that they 
probably can’t learn it so why keep trying. Mistakes are how we learn, 
but our egos seem to take a bigger hit when we fail to learn a specific,
 demonstrable skill. There’s no way to fudge—the novice, the expert, and
 everyone else see the mistakes. Novices need to understand that 
learning from error is more powerful and enduring than executing 
something flawlessly on the first attempt. The good news is that 
corrected failures are also more visible and, therefore, easier to 
celebrate. Get that needle in the vein, develop a web page, or watch 
that circuit light up and we see the success instantly.



Skill performance depends on practice –
 It looks easy because it’s been done a thousand times. Learning to do 
anything well requires hard work for the vast majority of learners. Look
 at high-performing athletes, musicians, or artists. Their lives center 
around practice, and even when they are excellent, the practice 
continues. What we’ve learned about “deliberate practice” documents that
 working on the less effective aspects of skill performance is what most
 improves performance. Novices typically underestimate the time and 
commitment excellent execution requires. Experts can help them correct 
those assumptions.



A good relationship with the expert makes learning skills easier –
 The awe and healthy respect novices feel for experts must be part of 
the relationship. There may even be hints of fear, but they’re balanced 
by the recognition that the expert wants the novice to master the skill 
and is there to help. Experts care about the novices and the skills. 
They have high expectations for both.



Skills develop better with honest feedback
 – Expert feedback must address what isn’t being executed well. The 
focus should be on the skill, not the person. “Here’s the problem, and 
here’s what needs to happen to fix the problem.” Expert feedback 
supports and encourages. “Keep trying.” “Be patient.” “Practice will 
improve your performance.” And when the skill starts looking better, 
there’s acknowledgment of progress. When it’s executed well, there’s 
praise, but nothing over the top. Mastering skills means there are 
always things that can be done better.