Expert learners

Knowing how to learn, and knowing which strategies work best, are valuable skills that differentiate expert learners from novice learners.

Wild and Heck, on their website ID 4 the web (2011), state that there are three key characteristics of expert learners: they take responsibility for their learning, they actively engage with material to be learned, and they practice self regulated learning. 

Taking responsibility for learning includes initiating opportunities to learn; seeking out information. Self-regulating learning  requires planning, setting goals, monitoring, evaluating and reflecting on the learning. Actively engaging with the material to be learned may include activating prior knowledge and utilising critical thinking and metacognitive skills.

Characteristics of expert learners that I already have include:

Planning, working independently and autonomously, taking control and setting goals

Having flexibility, being proactive, take responsibility for my learning

Collaborating and learning from others

Characteristics that I would like to strengthen, to develop on my journey as an expert learner:

Learning from mistakes

Articulate thoughts and ideas

Monitor and evaluate progress

Organise and analyse information - locate and process relevant information

Metacognitive skills - identifying strategies which work best

The cycle of SLR as identified by Wild and Heck

Developing these skills comes with practice and having an enquiring mind about the way that I learn. I find that I struggle with certain aspects of learning and studying, especially this course! It requires a great deal of self-discipline, the ability to  articulate my ideas clearly and succinctly, and I need to develop efficient and effective ways to study. Setting goals is critical; breaking the learning down into manageable and achieveable chunks.Support from tutors and other students is of great value and as I proceed the learning becomes smoother and easier.

The learners on my course are novice learners. They are all on the journey to developing skills such as self-management, goal setting, planning and reflection. They are often stopped in their tracks when they have difficulty with something; many of them have learned behaviours and strategies they have developed that are not very helpful. Many of them are unable to ask for help or support. Being able to recognise the characteristics of novice and expert learners means that I can identify areas that my students can be guided to develop.

References

Wild, M. & Heck, J.(2011). Expert learners. ID 4 the Web.