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Given the increasing skill complexity required to succeed in a changing global economy, the objective of this paper is to describe three components, distilled from the research literature on expert learners, for promoting the goal of lifelong learning: deliberate practice, mentorship, and the personal dispositions of reflecting, leveraging and framing. These three components reflect the meta-skills required for individuals to learn across the lifespan irrespective of domain. The paper concludes with a recommendation that these components be modeled and measured with cognitive diagnostic assessments at the classroom level, when students are potentially undergoing a sensitive period to learn these life skills.
Vol. 2, Special Issue, Article 4: Can you learn how to learn for life? Components from expert learning research. (PDF, 642 KB)
Jacqueline P. Leighton obtained a doctorate in psychology from the University of Alberta in 1999 and thereafter pursued postdoctoral studies in psychology at Yale University. She is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta and a registered psychologist by the College of Alberta Psychologists. She has co-edited two books published by Cambridge University Press, one on the Nature of Reasoning and another on Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment for Education, in addition to authoring a number of research articles and conference presentations. Her specialization is cognitive-based assessment, in particular the design and validation of educational and psychological testing instruments to measure higher-level thinking and learning skills. Dr. Leighton is a member of the American Educational Research Association, the National Council on Measurement in Education, and the Canadian Society for the Study of Education. Her research has been funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Leighton, J.P. (2009). Can You Learn How to Learn for Life? Components from Expert Learning Research. Journal of Applied Research on Learning, 2 (special issue), Article 4, pp. 1-14.
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