Routine and Adaptive Expertise Explained | How Learning Works @benjaminkeep

Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago

When we talk about learning, it's easy to just talk about getting generically better: we go from "novice" to "expert". But there are different trajectories we might go on. Routine expertise and adaptive expertise differ in how flexible the expert is in applying their knowledge to new situations.

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References:

There's been a lot written about the topic, but the classic piece is here:

Hatano, G., & Inagaki, K. (1984). Two courses of expertise. 乳幼児発達臨床センター年報, 6, 27-36. (currently available at
eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/25206/1/6_P27-36.pdf)

For a more modern take, especially one highlighting gaps in the literature, check out:

Carbonell, K. B., Stalmeijer, R. E., Könings, K. D., Segers, M., & van Merriënboer, J. J. (2014). How experts deal with novel situations: A review of adaptive expertise. Educational Research Review, 12, 14-29.

(abstract currently available at sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1747938X14000116)

Routine and Adaptive Expertise Explained | How Learning Works

Why Do We Still Believe in Learning Styles?

$Research Reveals 4 Surprising Facts About Learning Scientific research often requires us to rethink how things work. Here a four facts that get us thinking the right way about how learning works. 00:00 Fact 1 1:07 Fact 2 3:13 Fact 3 5:06 Fact 4 6:53 A cool thing to do My giveinternet.org link: https://giveinternet.org/BenjaminKeep Join my online learning community: https://www.benjaminkeep.com/community Edited by Presage Media: https://www.presage.media/ References On the testing effect: Karpicke, J. D. (2012). Retrieval-Based Learning: Active Retrieval Promotes Meaningful Learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(3), 157–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721412443552 Pan, S. C., & Rickard, T. C. (2018). Transfer of test-enhanced learning: Meta-analytic review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 144(7), 710–756. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000151 (testing effects do transfer) Jensen, J. L., McDaniel, M. A., Kummer, T. A., Godoy, P. D. D. M., & St. Clair, B. (2020). Testing Effect on High-Level Cognitive Skills. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 19(3), ar39. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-10-0193 (testing effect works for “high-level” questions; not just low-level questions) On the deceptiveness of immediate measures, see: Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society, 2(59-68). On the importance of prior knowledge and for an interesting overview of how learning works: John Bransford, Nancy Vye, Reed Stevens, Pat Kuhl, Daniel Schwartz, et al.. Learning Theories and Education: Toward a Decade of Synergy. P. Alexander & P. Winne. Handbook of Educational Psychology (2nd Edition), Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum., 95 p., 2005. ffhal-00190628f. https://telearn.hal.science/hal-00190628/document On the fraction study: Patel, R., Liu, R., & Koedinger, K. R. (2016). When to Block versus Interleave Practice? Evidence Against Teaching Fraction Addition before Fraction Multiplication. In CogSci. For other ideas about ordering effects, see: Schwartz, D. L., & Bransford, J. D. (1998). A time for telling. Cognition and instruction, 16(4), 475-5223. https://aaalab.stanford.edu/assets/papers/earlier/A_time_for_telling.pdf Fyfe, E. R., DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle‐Johnson, B. (2014). An alternative time for telling: When conceptual instruction prior to problem solving improves mathematical knowledge. British journal of educational psychology, 84(3), 502-519. https://louisville.edu/psychology/decaro/lab/publications-2/FyfeDeCaroRittleJohnson2014_BJEP.pdf$

What happens when you solve 2000 physics problems.

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