The following empirical study examines the acquisition of expertise. The model structures in the domain of empirical methodologies were examined in a time period of two semesters. At each measurement point (N = 5), the model structures of the reference groups were compared with those of the group of learners. The group of learners consisted of (N = 31) students who did not have any experience with research methods and their theoretical foundations. The results indicate that the external criteria enabled a precise assessment of learning dependent model change.