A teacher’s guide to developing expertise through Ascending Intellectual Demand

Abstract

How can teachers adapt the curriculum to help advanced learners attain expertise? An abundance of research exists on the topic of expertise, exploring the traits students exhibit as they progress from the initial stages of novice-like uncertainty to the more confident stages of expertise. However, fewer researchers have demonstrated how teachers can use the curriculum to propel students along this continuum toward expertise. The purpose of the present article is to integrate conclusions of prior publications with an existing and effective model of curriculum, the Parallel Curriculum Model. The resulting guide is intended to accompany the ascending intellectual demand (AID) component of PCM and provide a proposal for a systematic way to consider and assess expertise, as well as guidance for using curriculum to help challenge advanced learners to perform at expert levels.