Week Three--Practical Intelligence and the Development of Expertise

I. Reading for the week in GMIT 650--Chapter Three in Learning and Change in the Adult Years; highlights from the chapter:

• Many people who are not in conventional terms academically successful or "intelligent" do manage to negotiate their own paths through the world and to master any topic that interests them.
• Development of tests of intelligence reinforced the bias toward those who can successfully manipulate the theoretical problems typically posed in IQ tests, which are by nature stripped of everyday context and presented in a formal educational setting.
• Adult intelligence and cognitive development can be reconceptualized as comprising both practical intelligence and expertise.
• Historically, Western culture has taken a lower view of manual work than of congitive activity.
• Western culture has had a historical propensity to distinguish the practical from the theoretical, and those who work with their hands from those who work with their minds.
• Practical intelligence has external goals; the goals to be accomplished must be transitional, and they must be important either to the individual being assessed or to the cultural groups of which the individual is a part.
• Cognitive research in everyday environments is fraught with methodological and practical difficulties.
• Practical thinking is marked by flexibility--solving the same problem in different ways, with each way finely fitted to the particular occasion on hand.
• Skilled practical thinking draws aspects of the given environment, be they people, things, or information, into the problem-solving system.
• Expert performance in real-world settings relies to a dree on tacit knowledge, that is, knowledge that is usually not openly expressed or stated.

II. Fellow cohorts, Gina DeFreece and Gina Ewing, led the seminar--questions proposed, discussion summary:

Question #1:

Beginning on page 51 of the text, the development of practical intelligence is described and a proposed theory of clinical expertise is broken down into four stages. How can you relate the various stages to your own development of expertise, either in your work as an educator, or your own role as a student?

Seminar participants did a great job of relating the presented stages to their own areas of expertise, as well as their roles as students. The various perspectives of the participants provided plenty of ideas to discuss for the whole group.

Question #2:

How would you argue (for or against?) the statement:
"Tacit knowledge can't be taught."
Does tacit knowledge impact online course development? Explain.

There were arguments for and against the statement about tacit knowledge. Most agreed that tacit knowledge is something we bring about ourselves through observing others and relating our own personal experiences as move along in our careers.

Question #3:

On page 41 the author states, “Our argument is that there has been a historical bias toward the abstract over the practical in Western culture and that a contemporary corollary of this is the exaltation of academic intelligence over practical intelligence. Recent challenges to the latter view may prove very important to the field of adult education.”
Explain this argument in your own words. Do you agree/disagree with the author?

The general consensus was that the bias exists, academic intelligence is highly regarded, but practical intelligence is very important in the long run in regard to careers, maybe more so.

Gina and Gina also provided us with some good articles and websites relating to the chapter topic, with one website being an interactive historical map!

III. My personal reflections:

• Gina and Gina provided us with great resources and questions in the seminar relating to the topic of practical intelligence and development of expertise. The did a great job of keeping the discussions going, while providing input on the topic!
• I learned a lot about the main topic from the seminar; it really helps to see all of the different perspectives!
• I would like to investigate further the discussion on tacit knowledge and how it relates to learning and teaching.
• I participated in the seminar at the level of a graduate student; my input helped the discussions move forward and it was a good learning experience.
• The seminar format worked well with the topic for the week; there was good discussion in all areas!