Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Cognitive Theory

The premise of cognitive theory is the idea that learning is contingent upon how we process information. The Information Processing theory provides a road map in terms of how information is stored, lost, or forgotten. The idea that learners must be actively engaged in the learning process is paramount. Unlike the behavioral theory one does not assume that learning takes place as a result of stimulus and response but that learning is a unique experience that requires mental effort. In this week's forum you should also become familiarized with the domains of Bloom's taxonomy. This is discussed in the Anderson & Krathwohl (2001)A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing.

This week review the Popplet I have posted and share how you could use the strategies discussed in Ormord (2011)for one of the Taxonomy domains. Please add to the popple so that you will have experience using the Web 2.0 tool Popplet. Once you have posted to the popplet please reply to the post with your ideas as to how your strategy is applicable.

12 comments:

  1. I added that for students to comprehend they should be asked to summarize what they were taught. When asked to summarize, students will be able to reflect upon the lesson and utilize their past knowledge to create a new understanding of what they learned in the present. Summarizing allows students to re-tell the lesson in terms that are comfortable and familiar to them. This also allows them to make connections to the material and thus it will be easier for the students to draw upon this experience in the future. I also added that one way to have students evaluate is to present them with the opportunity to debate about the lesson. By placing the students in the advantageous position of presenting their own thoughts and beliefs on the topic at hand, students will be able to grasp a more concrete hold on the material. Through debating, students will be able to present their own thoughts and their reasonings while also listening to other students in a setting that is more interactive.

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  2. I commented under evaluation. I think teachers should make sure that they are using both recognition task tests (multiple choice, matching etc..) and recall task tests (essays, explanations). Sometimes it's easy to fall into a pattern of using just one type of exam but by incorporating both types it allows the student use a retrieval clue (recognition task) to jog their long term memory and it allows the teacher to evaluate if learning has actually occurred (via recall task) rather then just rote memorization of what was discussed in class or the text book.

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  3. I shared underknowlege, that what we already know will support all future learning. I think that when teaching students it is always important to connect what we are learning to something that he or she already knows. This will help the student pay attention and learn new ideas from remembering what they already know. As I have always said I think visuals are very important and I would use a graph or diagram to show how new imformation fit with the things that they already know and build from that. I also agree with Any I think that summarizing information and review of the information is important and alway linking what they have already learned with the new material they are learning at the moment.

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  4. The students will be observing and applying geometrical concepts in a hands-on environment that employs, operates, and use said concepts in the real-world. This is accomplished by a field trip to an architectural setting where the students will utilize geometry skills to sketch, illustrate, interpret and solve conceptual challenges to the assignment/project. This satisfies the Applying portion of Bloom's Taxonomy.

    In the Understanding section of Bloom's Taxonomy, in order to assess if the students can explain the learning ideas or concepts of the project, divided the class into small groups and assign certain groups with formulating challenging questions that can gauge if the other group(s)responses are able to define, describe, recognize, explain and classify the geometrical concepts effectively.

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  5. Help students understand difficult or new information by building on and bringing forth (activate) prior knowledge. Students’ prior knowledge and experiences are beneficial for building and making meaningful connections to new knowledge. Therefore, the activation of prior knowledge can be an effective strategy to help students make connections between what is known and what needs to be learned. If, for example, students are learning about family structures then teachers might begin a lesson by asking students to talk about who they live with (i.e., parents, grandparents, single parent) and describe their home life. This can help students engage in discussions that are relevant to their own experiences.

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  6. Students have different methods of remembering or digesting material. When reviewing a previous lesson, we can use other methods, such as games, to activate prior knowledge. This gives them the opportunity to make new connections to previous material they have learned.

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  7. I added under evaluation. I would have students (either alone or with a group)stand up and give a short presentation that summarizes what they have learned or gained from this experience. I would then ask the other students to ask the presenters questions so that I could gauge how much both sets of students learned.

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  8. The idea of repetition and practice are two main concepts that are crucial in developing and and mastering skills. The expression "it comes second nature" is the point that teachers should be striving to get students to. Engraining material into a students long-term memory is a symbiotic relationship of practice and repetition, Repeating concepts and the fundamentals of new skills is a great way to continually review information that will increase greater understanding and memorization of important material.

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  9. In "Application", Bloom's taxonomy refers to the learner's ability to use information, methods, concepts, and theories in new situations, and to also solve problems suing require skills or knowledge.
    The ideas in the Popplet bring to life the old saying "Practice makes better". The main two points on repetition and practice are fundamental to learning as indicated in Cognitive Theory.Because information are processed for retrieval and use in later tasks, it is crucial to emphasize on pratice and repetion to help the learner organize, classify, relate every information to its apparent context. The more we work on something, they better we get.

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  10. I found “eLearning and the Science of Instruction” to be a terrific and readable resource. Can’t say a read every chapter, but you’ve inspired me to go back and read the ones I skipped!

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  11. My students in fourth grade create a PowerPoint presentation on one of the fifty states and the states games will go along with this lesson to help reinforce the state symbols. There are games for most subjects such as geography, science, art, spelling and social studies to name a few.

    common core

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