Developing cognitive task analysis and the importance of sociocognitive competence/insight for professional practice

Accelerating the cognitive expertise of professionals is a critical challenge for many organizations. This paper reports a collaborative, longitudinal, academic practitioner project which aimed to elicit, document, and accelerate the cognitive expertise of engineering professionals working with the manufacture and management of petroleum additives. Twenty-five engineering experts were trained by three academic psychologists to use applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA) interview techniques to document the cognition of their expert peers. Results had high face validity for practitioners who elicited hot/ sensory-based cognition, a number of perceptual skills and mental models, highlighting undocumented context specific expertise. We conclude from a peer review of findings, combined with experienced CTA analysts that ACTA technique

Sewing Up Science: A Craft Based Approach For Teaching Electricity and Circuits.

Traditionally, many teachers have used breadboards and alligator clips to teach students about circuits and electricity. Electronic textiles (e-textiles)-fabrics embedded with electrical or electronic components-offer a new model for teaching this content. E-textiles also engage students in programming and engineering design through non-traditional projects help students change their ideas about who can participate in engineering, often developing new identities strongly associated with science and technology (Kafai, Fields, and Searle 2014; Barton, Tan, and Rivet 2008)