Know about our research

Learning disciplinary-practices through abstraction at progressive levels (LEAP):

LEAP describes a model of a typical learning pathway for developing proficiency in disciplinary practices. Execution of a disciplinary practice includes a set of cognitive processes that underlie a domain task, intertwined with a set of monitoring and control processes, applied periodically to meet the goals. In addition to the cognitive process, the development of a disciplinary practice, also requires the execution of a set of metacognitive processes that are needed for abstracting the overall sequence of cognitive processes necessary for doing the practice in novel, but similar situations.

The LEAP model recommends four-levels of cognitive-metacognitive processing: 1) Execute, 2) Evaluate, 3) Synthesize and 4) Generalize.

In order to learn disciplinary practices, novices must navigate these four increasingly abstract levels of cognitive processing (one “object” level plus three “meta” levels). Novices develop expertise when they are supported, using appropriate scaffolds, to work at all four levels and to frequently move between the levels via the monitoring and control processes. This allows novices to reach the progressively more abstract “meta” cognitive levels and generalize the overall process of doing a practice, and in doing so, develop proficiency. Novices progress towards more abstract levels via monitoring and towards more concrete levels (i.e., applying the “learned” abstraction to a concrete situation) via control processes.