Our brains are marvels: they weigh barely 2% of our body mass but consume around 20–25% of the energy we produce. That’s a lot of vig! According to John Sweller (an Australian educational psychologist best known for formulating Cognitive Load Theory), “Without an understanding of human cognitive architecture, instruction is blind.” In other words, if we ignore the way our brains process and store information, we might be throwing great lessons at our students that never stand a chance of sticking.
In more cases than we’d care to admit, novices are treated like mini experts. We just expect them to poof!, figure out complex tasks on their own. ButMichelene Chi, Paul Feltovich, and Robert Glaser debunked this thoroughly. In their classic study, they concluded, “Not only do experts have more knowledge and can work faster than beginners, they also look at or tackle problems differently (i.e., what you know determines what you see).”
Surface-Level vs. Deep Principles
When novices look at a problem, say, a math puzzle they tend to notice superficial features like, “Oh, it has a fraction!” Experts, however, see foundational principles: “This puzzle involves ratio and proportion.” This gap in how each group perceives and categorizes challenges is massive.
- Novices often rely on surface characteristics (“inclined planes,” “familiar phrases,” “shapes in the figure”).
- Experts draw on deep conceptual knowledge called schemas to figure out solution paths almost automatically.
A schema is your mental filing system. Think of it like those (messy) color-coded binders we used to have. When new knowledge comes in, the brain tries to slot it into an existing binder (schema). If it doesn’t fit, we either create a new binder or tidy up an old one so the new knowledge has a place to live.
Assimilation vs. Accommodation
- Assimilation is when you tuck new information into an existing schema without changing the schema itself.
- Accommodation is when you realize your schema has, shall we say, “holes and questionable content,” and you update or replace it entirely.
As Jean Piaget (the Swiss psychologist famous for his work on child cognitive development) would say, learning involves a constant dance between assimilation and accommodation. With novices, we have to guide them in that dance step by step.
Guidance vs. Discovery
There’s an important phenomenon called the expertise reversal effect, as explained by John Sweller, Paul Ayres, Slava Kalyuga, and others:
- Highly structured, step-by-step instruction (like worked examples) is great for novices who are still forming schemas.
- Advanced learners often benefit from less guidance because they already have robust schemas and they want to practice applying them in more open-ended ways.
In short: novices need the scaffolding; experts can handle the open sandbox. It’s both cruel and counterproductive to drop novices into complex problem-solving tasks without support. That’s about as effective as standing back and watching a toddler try to build a bike from scratch, fun to watch, maybe, but not very kind (or safe!).
Classroom Applications
- Model and Think Aloud
Walk students through your expert thinking process. Show them how you identify underlying principles before focusing on the surface details. - Use Worked Examples, Then Gradually Fade
For novices, illustrate solutions step by step. Over time, give them partially completed examples, and finally let them handle full problems solo. This “fading” technique respects their growing cognitive capacity and helps them build proper schemas. - Check for Misconceptions Early
Don’t assume your students come in with zero knowledge. They probably have plenty. Some of it may be correct and some of it wildly off-base. Invite them to share their initial thinking so you can spot and correct misunderstandings. - Beware the “Curse of Knowledge”
Once you’re an expert, you forget how you learned. So when you’re exasperated by a child who isn’t “catching on,” remember they literally don’t see the problem the way you do. Anticipate their confusion and break it down. - Differentiate by Prior Knowledge
In a mixed-ability classroom, not every student is a wide-eyed novice. Give more advanced students more challenging or less-structured tasks, while providing clearer support for those who are still forming basic schemas.
Sometimes folks say, “Oh, but Einstein figured things out by daydreaming in a patent office!” Right. Because we can clearly replicate that in a second-grade science class. Let’s not romanticize the rare exceptions. The vast majority of kids aren’t Einstein, and even Einstein started as a novice! So let’s offer them a bit of guidance.
The Challenge
Give your students some worked examples or guided thinking time before they tackle an new learning task. Then observe who’s ready for more independence. Encourage students to talk through their thinking; ask them why they chose a certain path. You’ll discover volumes about the schemas they’ve developed and the holes that still need patching.
“What you know determines what you see.” – Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser
Chi, M. T. H., Feltovich, P. J., & Glaser, R. (1979). Categorization and representation of physics problems by experts and novices. Cognitive Science, 5, 121–152. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog0502_2
For more information on this concept, read How Learning Happens: Seminal Works in Educational Psychology and What They Mean in Practice (https://a.co/d/a0tZSMR) This post is a summary of concepts from How Learning Happens.
School Intellect 