The+Novice-Expert+Continuum+and+Project-Based+Learning


 * The Novice-Expert Continuum**

A flexible curriculum that is based on key concepts to be filled out by students’ own practical learning activities and research helps make them less dependent on following rules, and more able to create their own solutions.

Future assessments that follow this concept should use this continuum to chart progress towards higher levels of cognition within content areas at each successive grade level. (Conley, 2011; Ryder & Banner, 2010).


 * Shift towards Project-Based Learning**

Teaching methods themselves need to change to fit the ways in which new generations learn. The parallel processing and random retrieval versus linear thought processing, as well as the rise of skill-based versus assessment-driven methods, demand new instructional strategies. The methods that best fit the Common Core classroom and digital media integration are those that focus on:

Problem formulation: Students identify their own learning problem when presented with a subject, before delving into facts and research – based on prior knowledge. A tenet of constructivism.

Research: Collecting information from a wide range of sources, students fill out the bare bones of a modern curriculum – one focused on key concepts versus trivia to be mastered for an assessment.

Interpretation: Active Processing: Students create their own representations of knowledge, including pro-and-con lists, tables and grids. They identify their own understanding of key points and lists of consistencies or discrepancies.

Communication: Sharing of knowledge within the community, including classmates and teachers. They are building their own understanding of the field collaboratively.

Precision and Accuracy: Rules of the discipline should still be followed, even with the creative space afforded new students in the Core Curriculum classroom. This includes grammar, syntax and word selection (English) and order of operations (Mathematics).