FYS Information Literacy Pilot Resource Guide: Assignment Design

Decoding the Disciplines

"Most instructors notice places in their courses where students find it difficult to learn. Decoding the Disciplines holds that these stuck places, or “bottlenecks” to learning, mark the important ways of knowing in a field. By “Decoding” what an expert does so that they do not get stuck at the bottleneck, we can spell out the expert’s mental process, the “critical thinking” of a discipline. Decoding the Disciplines is a theory of pedagogy with principles for identifying bottlenecks and decoding tacit disciplinary knowledge. With expert tacit knowledge “Decoded,” we can make it available to students."

1. Identify a bottleneck to learning
2. Uncover the mental tasks needed to overcome the bottleneck
3. Model these tasks
4. Give students practice and feedback
5. Motivate and lessen resistance
6. Assess student mastery
7. Share what has been learned through the Decoding process

For those new to the Decoding model, start here.