Bricolage by smart people
Daniel Lemire, Daniel Lemire's Blog, 2014/10/14

I've argued 'Against Digital Research Methods' in the past. Daniel Lemire summarizes the same point nicely: "It is fascinating how we have a hard time dealing with the fact that R&D is in fact nothing else but bricolage done by smart people."

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The 10K Hour Rule: Deliberate Practice leads to Expertise, and Teaching can trump Genetics
Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, 2014/10/14

This is a pretty good article, not only because it invokes the classic 'make a PBJ' example, and not only because it cites the proper source for the 10,000 hours of practice rule (hint: not Gladwell), but also because it provides an intelligent discussion of how the rule applies, offers a telling argument against the counterproposal (that skills are innate and not learned), and teaches us the value of focus and reflection in learning. But there's a not-so-subtle shift from "people can learn" to "people can be taught" and an invocation of the mysterious "power of a great teacher to go beyond simple rote practice to create deliberate opportunities to learn," as though no other means were possible to accomplish the same thing by oneself, or with the aid of friends, projects, life experience or software. See also: Practice Does Not Make Perfect.

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