Expert Versus Novice: Criminal Expertise in Sexual Burglary and Sexual Robbery

Although there has been considerable variation in the application of expertise to offending populations, one aspect that is widely agreed upon is that expertise is best represented on a continuum from novice to expert. The present study, therefore, investigated criminal expertise in 877 hybrid offenses that involve sexual assault and robbery (i.e., sexual robbery) or burglary (i.e., sexual burglary). Specifically, we analyzed the crime-commission processes of both these offenses using latent class analyses to determine the heterogeneity of criminal expertise among each domain. Results showed an expert to novice continuum in both domains, including a “domain-specific” expert sexual burglary subgroup who was characterized by a high degree of offense-related competencies relevant to sexual burglary. We also found an expert subgroup in sexual robbery who had more general skills (i.e., overlapping expertise) relevant to violent offending. Implications for offender decision-making, treatment, and practice are discussed.

From expert to advanced clinical practitioner and beyond

This article considers the potential development of advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs) and consultant practitioners, beyond the ‘expert’ status as defined by Pat Benner in 1984. The suggested Derby Model: 7 Levels of Practice Advancement, adapted from Benner's From Novice to Expert, recognises Health Education England's four pillars of advanced practice and how they can be implemented and enhanced within these senior roles, and what that means in a 21st century healthcare system.

From novice to expert: methods for transferring implementation facilitation skills to improve healthcare delivery

Background There is substantial evidence that facilitation can address the challenges of implementing evidence-based innovations. However, facilitators need a wide variety of complex skills; lack of these can have a negative effect on implementation outcomes. Literature suggests that novice and less experienced facilitators need ongoing support from experts to develop these skills. Yet, no studies have investigated the transfer process. During a test of a facilitation strategy applied at 8 VA primary care clinics, we explored the techniques and processes an expert external facilitator utilized to transfer her skills to two initially novice internal facilitators who became experts. Methods In this qualitative descriptive study, we conducted monthly debriefings with three facilitators over a 30-month period and documented these in detailed notes. Debriefings with the expert facilitator focused on how she trained and mentored facilitation trainees. We also conducted, recorded, and transcribed two semi-structured qualitative interviews with each facilitator and queried them about training content and process. We used a mix of inductive and deductive approaches to analyze data; our analysis was informed by a review of mentoring, coaching, and cognitive apprenticeship literature. We also used a case comparison approach to explore how the expert tailored her efforts. Results The expert utilized 21 techniques to transfer implementation facilitation skills. Techniques included both active (providing information, modeling, and coaching) and participatory ones. She also used techniques to support learning, i.e., cognitive supports (making thinking visible, using heuristics, sharing experiences), psychosocial supports, strategies to promote self-learning, and structural supports. Additionally, she transferred responsibility for facilitation through a dynamic process of interaction with trainees and site stakeholders. Finally, the expert varied the level of focus on particular skills to tailor her efforts to trainee and local context. Conclusions This study viewed the journey from novice to expert facilitator through the lens of the expert who transferred facilitation skills to support implementation of an evidence-based program. It identified techniques and processes that may foster transfer of these skills and build organizational capacity for future implementation efforts. As the first study to document the implementation facilitation skills transfer process, findings have research and practical implications.

Deep learning from multiple experts improves identification of amyloid neuropathologies

Pathologists can have complementary assessments and focus areas when identifying and labeling neuropathologies. A standardized approach would ideally draw on the expertise of the entire cohort. We present a deep learning (DL) framework that consistently labels cored, diffuse, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) neuropathologies using expert consensus. We collected 100,495 annotations, comprising 20,099 candidate neuropathologies from three institutions, independently annotated by five experts. We compared DL methods that learned the annotation behaviors of individual experts (AUPRC=0.67±0.06 cored; 0.48±0.06 CAA) versus those that reproduced expert consensus, yielding 8.9-13% improvements (AUPRC=0.73±0.03 cored; 0.54±0.06 CAA). Saliency mapping on neuropathologies illustrated how human expertise may progress from novice to expert. In blind prospective tests of 52,555 subsequently expert-annotated images, the models accurately labeled pathologies similar to their human counterparts (consensus model AUPRC=0.73 cored; 0.68 CAA).

Social Science Premium Collection

Social Science Premium Collection (SSPC) is a ProQuest platform subscription database and includes six social science subject area collections. Each collection consists of a full text database and at least one abstracting and indexing (A&I) databases. SSPC currently includes more than 25 million records, 11 million of which are full text. A substantial portion of the titles are scholarly and are international in scope. The search interface is intuitive and offers a variety of search methods helpful for the novice to expert searcher. The discipline-standard nature of the A&I databases such as Sociological Abstracts is the largest strength of the collection.

A Theoretical Framework to Underpin Clinical Learning for Undergraduate Nursing Students

The aim of this is paper is to propose Benner’s “Novice to Expert” Framework to underpin learning for students as they progress through the clinical components of an undergraduate nursing educational program. Steinaker and Bell’s “Experiential Taxonomy” is presented as a practical medium for itemizing the nursing activities novices are exposed to at the initiation of clinical experience and to the clinical competencies expected of nurses on completion of their educational program. The authors also propose a range of theories of learning applicable to the clinical education of undergraduate nursing students, which can be maximized to enhance clinical learning.