Extending Explicitness and Expert Blind Spots to the Psychology of Novices

Poster for the 2018 CarpentryCon.  

How much is too much? Instructors often invite students to reach out if: “you’re stuck”, “you aren’t sure”, “need help”, etc. But what if you are a novice and everything feels confusing and you’re never sure? I argue that these phrases are another aspect of the expert blind spot and can produce feeling of being hazed and spending time on homework that exceeds the intended workload. The experience of receiving help gives the experienced markers of when we aren’t making progress, which novices have not yet built up. This poster will highlight my instructional efforts to operationally define being “stuck”. Participants will also be invited to share their own anecdotes about what it feels like to be stuck on the poster as an interactive element.