Cognitive Learning: Part II

1. Cognitive Learning: Part II Rote Learning Discovery Learning Expository Learning Metacognition Constructivism

2. How many of you… • Prefer to just memorize things? • Prefer to figure things out intuitively? E.g. figuring out how to put something together without instructions. • Prefer an overview of the big picture, then work to make meaning of it?

3. Cognitivists believe that long term learning is facilitated when… • New information can be linked to old information. • Information can be organized selectively. • Information is presented in a format that is meaningful and satisfying to students.

4. Video Examples • In groups of 3 discuss the following: • Which type of learning is present in the Technology Lab example? The IMSA example? • Justify your answer by describing the criteria portrayed in the clips that support your response.

5. Rote Learning • Remembering information by repetition without necessarily understanding the meaning of the information

6. Discovery Learning: Jerome Bruner • Left to process information on their own, learners will organize the information for encoding, storage, and retrieval in the most personally efficient, expedient, and comfortable way possible.

7. Expository Teaching: David Ausubel • Emphasizes selective organization by the teacher over learner satisfying formats in learning. • Students learn more efficiently and effectively when they are exposed to or receive a structure for organizing information, instead of doing it for themselves.

8. Advance Organizers • A cognitive strategy of deliberately prepared, slightly abstract/advanced passages presented orally or in writing in advance of the main material.

9. Discovery or Expository? • Bruner and Ausubel agree on most points, except WHO should organize the information to be learned. • Ausubel thinks the teacher should do it, Bruner thinks the student should do it.

10. What are the benefits of the teacher taking responsibility for organizing the information? • What are the benefits of the student taking responsibility for organizing the information? • What are the problems with the teacher taking responsibility for organizing the information? • What are the problems with the student taking responsibility for organizing the information?

11. Types of Advance Organizers • Mediators • Mnemonic Devices • Acronyms • Pegword mnemonics • Keyword mnemonics • Loci mnemonics

12. Types of Advance Organizers • Hierarchical Retrieval Systems • Concept Mapping • Structured overviews and outlines • Outlines • Analogies • Selective Underlining • Selective note-taking

13. Metacognition • Thinking about how you think and process information.

14. Metacognitive StrategiesLearning HOW to think about Thinking • Self-questioning – guiding self-questioning to help students question themselves to determine what they need to do to better understand a concept. • KWL • What do I know already? • What do I want to know? • What did I learn?

15. Metacognitive StrategiesLearning HOW to think about Thinking • PQ4R • Preview • Question • Read • Reflect • Recite • Review

16. Metacognitive StrategiesLearning HOW to think about Thinking • IDEAL • Identify what might be difficult • Define the problem • Explore solution options • Act on the solution options • Look at which actions lead to successful resolution of the problem and which one’s didn’t.

17. Tangram Exercise • Get into groups if 4-5 • Half of the group will solve the problem • Half of the group guides the process • The pieces will form to create a familiar and recognizable shape. • Guides, take time to discuss your approach to helping the problem solvers, before beginning the process • You are not allowed to directly tell the students where to put the pieces, but can answer questions and ask questions of the students to guide their thought processes.

18. Constructivism • Allowing students to construct their own knowledge and determine the connections between the information presented. • A theory of HOW learning happens.

19. Constructivism suggests… • Learners will look for meaning through questioning their own knowledge and through new discoveries • Learning only happens when learners actively engage their cognitive structures in schema-building experiences (remember Piaget!) • Pre-existing schemas are important in constructivism because what the learner already knows is a major part of understanding information.

20. 3 Characteristics ofConstructivist Classroom • Autonomy trusting the students to be responsible for their own learning • Interaction social interaction is encouraged between students and between students and teacher – allows opportunity for cognitive conflict and cooperation • Exploration direct, hands-on investigation which facilitates higher order thinking