Calculating Expertise in Bioengineering Education

1 Anthony J. Petrosino, The University of Texas at Austin, [email protected] 2 Vanessa Svihla, The University of Texas at Austin, [email protected] 3 Manu Kapur, National Institute of Education, Singapore, [email protected] Abstract A previously hypothesized formula for calculating components of adaptive expertise (AE= 0.10F + 0.40C + 0.50T, where F = Factual knowledge, C= Conceptual knowledge, and T = Transfer) was tested and the weighting adjusted based on analysis undertaken using 2-group MANOVA with the original study data. This data included measures of change along three facets of adaptive expertise: factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge and transfer. Analysis of the univariate effects reveals a significant difference in the transfer gain (F=10.573, p= .004) but no significant difference on gains in conceptual knowledge (F= .920, p= .349) or factual knowledge (F= 3.104, p= .094). The linear combination that maximally separated the two groups was: 0.14F 0.36C + 1.27T. The relative magnitudes of the weights share the same ordinal trend (F < C < T) as the original formula. The formula has theoretical underpinnings in How People Learn and attempts to describe points along the trajectory of novice to expert development in bioengineering education.