The secret to expertise.
What qualifies an expert as an expert? In fields that depend on visual expertise, an expert has the ability to distinguish qualifying traits at a glance. For example, field botanists can recognize species from the window of a moving vehicle; chemists can recognize chemical compounds based on a glance at their structures; mathematicians can read equations as quickly and as easily as we read words. Visual expertise occurs in many fields, even those not commonly thought of as highly visual. If you use your eyes, if you visualize a symbol or an image, then there is a visual aspect to your subject and there is a call for visual expertise.
How does one become an expert? Gaining expertise has traditionally involved grueling hours of study learning plant names, compounds, equations. Because expertise involves the understanding of broad and interconnected concepts, in addition to simple memorization of an extensive base of knowledge, it has always taken an enormous amount of work to become an expert [1]. Fortunately, new research has provided insight into a more effective way to gain visual expertise: active visual learning.
The benefits of visual learning have long been known. The use of graphs, diagrams and photographs have improved textbooks; the addition of color-coding to notes can improve retention. These methods, and others, have long been understood and utilized to improve learning. However, most methods of visual learning that exist today are, for all of their usefulness, passive methods of learning.
Passive and Active Learning
In passive learning, the student only receives information from the source. This learning mode encompasses diverse activities such as reading, viewing slideshows, listening to lectures, and watching videos. Television is the ultimate passive learning tool. What these activities all have in common is the fact that there is only one direction of information flow: from the source to the student. There is no input-output loop; no actual engagement with the material.
Active learning involves interaction with the material being learned. You may remember such an experience in the course of your education, one that stuck with you. For example, one very effective active learning tool is retrieval practice. This is any activity that prompts you to access (or retrieve) knowledge that you have encountered.
Functional Groups – Acid
Imagine a student attempting to learn a subject that has a visual component: an organism’s life cycle, chemical functional groups, the structure of the heart and its valves. After reading about the subject or listening to a lecture, he closes his notes and draws the life cycle, the chemical structures, or makes a quick sketch of the heart and labels its parts. This activity not only strengthens his memory of the material by forcing him to actively recall information, but it also provides an opportunity for feedback. After making the drawing or sketch he compares what he has written with the original material, finds where he was mistaken or had omitted material, and corrects his mistakes. He repeats this process until he no longer makes errors. Because he works by actively recalling information, the memory connections that he needs to retrieve the information in the future are strengthened [2].
What is of central importance in this method is the student’s active engagement with the material: he retrieves the information that he can remember and draws it out, then gives himself feedback through his review and correction of what he has drawn. This not only reinforces his memory of the information he had correct, but also allows him to add additional information that he previously omitted. Active knowledge building of this sort creates an inter-connected knowledge base. This kind of knowledge is more accessible and easily applied than memorized facts and images, and is key to the effective application of the material, a defining characteristic of expertise [2]. Also vital to the process of active knowledge building is the opportunity for the student to assess how well he understands the material. This thinking about one’s knowledge and learning, or “meta-cognition,” is known to reinforce learning in a way that is vital to developing expertise [1].
Because he has been working with visual material, the student receives an added benefit. Symbols and diagrams summarize information in a cohesive way. Isolated bits of information are combined into meaningful schema. Schema can be used to overcome the limitations of working memory, which can hold only 7-9 items at one time. Schema create links between memory elements, and maximize the amount of information that can be stored in these limited number of spaces. Each information-rich block of information occupies only one of the 7-9 slots. The use of visual schema not only unifies pieces of information into a more comprehensive whole, but allows more information to be stored in the limited space of working memory [1].
Active visual learning is one of the most effective ways to learn. It provides the student with the opportunity to create input-output cycles, to receive feedback on his progress, and to store knowledge in meaningful chunks. Active learning loops result in the construction of an inter-connected knowledge base which is accessible, easily stored, and easily recalled. The reception of information, even of visual information, is passive learning and at best allows for the memorization of isolated facts. Active visual learning makes maximal use of our limited space in working memory, which further optimizes the storage and retrieval of knowledge. Active visual learning involves the full spectrum of learning, from initial comprehension to final storage, retrieval and use of the information.
Alex Hillen & Dr. Bruce Kirchoff
Sources Cited
- Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2000.
- Karpicke, Jeffrey D., and Janell R. Blunt. “Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping.” Science 331.6018 (2011): 772-75. 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Aug. 2012.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
As a former technical trainer, I spent many hours standing in front of PowerPoint slide shows discussing various topics. At the time, it was a fun job but past that point in my life, I began to look further into what really facilitates learning. Through my personal studies, though not comprehensive, I stumbled across a vast array of approaches and techniques. Many have merit but ultimately, I have concluded that no single approach or technique is universal as the definitive learning style.
First, let us consider how many people process information. There is the concept of “chunking” in which, information is either summarized or broken down into manageable parts. An example of summarizing is when one is driving a car through town. An overload of sensory information exists every second, ex. people walking on sidewalks, people crossing the road, vehicles on all sides of the car, traffic lights, etc. The driver summarizes the situation and makes driving decisions based on the summary. Similarly, breaking down of complex information is to take massive information and break it in to manageable chunks that can be memorized. It differs from summation in that it is not attempting to reach a conclusion but rather, to retain the information for long term retrieval.
Another interesting aspect of learning is often referred to as the “Learning Style”. The name, of and by itself, is not very reflective but in essence, it states that people generally favor one of three different processing techniques being visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. The keys to identifying an individual’s processing technique is often found in how he speaks. A visual person would use visual words in his speech, ex. “I see what what you mean.” Similarly, an auditory person would use words centered on hearing, ex. “I hear you.” Finally, the kinesthetic person uses emotional words, ex. “I feel good about that”. In this theory, information received by an individual is associated with one of the three processing techniques. If the association is strong, the retention is strong.
One article that I read noted a link between the study environment and recall at a later point in time. For example, students who studied while listening to music had a better recall when similar music was playing in the background during their examination. This could indicate that environment during study becomes part of the long term memory.
Other articles of which I have read discuss how some people are concept thinkers and others are detail thinkers. A clear example of this can be found in looking at degree programs at colleges and universities. Degree programs such as chemistry are very detail oriented while history is more concept oriented. Put a student from each respective discipline together and they often have difficultly relating academically.
My own personal observation is to convey information in a manner which is easier to understand by the learner by use of analogy. As I was a technical trainer, many times I would scan the room for the “lost” look upon student’s faces. This was a clear indication that what I was saying made little sense to them. To overcome this, I began to lecture the technical aspect first, a common analogy second, and then reiterate the technical aspect. For me, this approach worked well in conveying technical information.
Finally, association with day-to-day life is often an excellent way to anchor information. For example, an instructor of a plant class discussing algae might joke about swimming in a lake and taking an unintentional gulp of water. “Just imagine all those green algae clinging to your teeth.” If the student has ever been swimming in a lake before, the association is most likely made.
While I agree with Dr. Kitchoff that active recall, ie. try to write it out yourself and see what you are missing, is a viable tool, the real challenge, as I see it, is how to convey information as more than just facts to a room full of students or an audience of readers when so many learning styles exist and individuals favor their respective learning style so heavily.
Thank you for your interesting comments, John. It is important to be able to convey information in a way that is interesting and comprehensible, but real learning takes place in the minds of the students, not in the mind of the teacher. In learning to present material in interesting and exciting ways the teacher learns a great deal, but the students learn very little. Listening to an exciting speaker can be a rewarding experience, but very little technical material is retained after a few hours. For instance, in the course of his or her undergraduate education a biology student may hear Mendel’s first law, the law of segregation, described three or four (or five) times, but is unlikely to retain any knowledge of this law unless he or she finds some way of actively engaging with the idea. The instructor may dance on the stage while explaining the concept, but the student is unlikely to remember anything except perhaps that the instructor danced. I have taught Mendelian genetics for many years, but even now I have to work hard to recall the details of the law of segregation and how it relates to the movement of chromosomes during meiosis. I can only remember it because I have had to draw out on the board and explain it so many times. That is how I learned it. A student sitting in the audience and listening to my explanation does not have this experience. They hear what I say, and forget it. As instructors we see this again and again on examinations. We think we have been remarkably clear in our explanations, but the students don’t seem to “get it.” Even those who remember it for the exam, have forgotten the information within a few weeks or months.
Real learning requires active engagement with the material, engagement that is sustained over a long period of time. In this first post we have tried to explain some of the basic features of expertise and how it can be acheived. Future posts will elaborate on these topics. I hope you will stay with us.
Your post, Active Visual Learning, is really well written and insightful. Glad I found your website. Warm regards from Shawn!