Cognitive Task Analysis helps you unpack the thought processes of experts, so you can teach them to others. Have you ever needed to train novices to perform well on a real-world task or job that’s complex and poorly understood? Some of your experienced people do it well. But you don’t have a ...
Learning & Instruction
In the learning and instruction category, we cover topics such as how people learn, what it takes to build competence and develop new skills, what it means to learn well, and ways that instruction can promote efficient, deep learning.
As with all of our writing, articles in this category are grounded in scientific research.
Read all about learning & instruction here.
What is Competence and Why is it Important?
Competence means that you have the ability to do something well. You are capable of performing a task or job effectively. Competence can include the knowledge and skills needed to solve a quadratic equation. Or, it can comprise the much larger and more diverse clusters of skills, or competencies, ...
How to Promote Transfer of Learning
Can an eighth-grade math student apply her knowledge of geometry to estimate the square footage of the family’s new home? If so, then she has experienced transfer of learning. Transfer of learning means to extend knowledge you’ve gained from one situation to new ones. Parents and educators hope ...
Cognitive Skills Help Fashion Adaptive Minds
Which is the most useful kind of knowledge - general knowledge about how to think well, or specific knowledge within many subject areas? The idea that we can train the mind to use core cognitive skills that are effective in a wide range of situations is really fantastic. But, maybe it’s too ...
Five Metacognitive Strategies to Change Your Mind
Everyday learning often starts with a surprise. Something unexpected happens and you use that to change your understanding. You learn the most when you use metacognitive strategies to adapt your mindset. Metacognition is what you know about how you think and learn. It includes knowing what you ...