VIEWPOINT OF COGNITIVISM

VIEWPOINT OF COGNITIVISM

How should instruction be structured?

Using other cognitive theories

mind map

rehearsal

concept mapping

mnemonics

outlining

framing

organize information so that learners are able to connect new information with existing knowledge

based on a student’s existing mental structures, or schema, to be effective

What types of learning are best explained by this position?

effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge transfer are simplification and standardization.

appropriate for explaining complex forms of learning

information-processing

Problem-solving

Reasoning

What basic assumption/principles of this theory are relevant to instructional design?

Creation of learning environments that allow and encourage students to make connections with previously learned material

Recall of prerequisite skills; use of relevant examples, analogies

Emphasis on structuring, organizing, and sequencing information to facilitate optimal processing

Use of cognitive strategies such as outlining, summaries, synthesizers, advance organizers, etc.

Use of hierarchical analyses to identify and illustrate prerequisite relationships

Cognitive task analysis procedures

Emphasis on the active involvement of the learner in the learning process

Learner control, meta cognitive training (e.g., self-planning, monitoring, and revising techniques)

People learn through practice and feedback opportunities

computer simulations

Cognitivists examine the learner to determine how to design instruction so that it can be readily assimilated

Cognitivists look at the learner to determine his/her predisposition to learning

The use of feedback

cognitivists make use of feedback (knowledge of results) to guide and support accurate mental connections.

How does transfer occur? (Transfer is a function of how information is stored in memory - Schunk,1991)

Not only the knowledge be stored in memory but the uses of that knowledge as well.

Constructing a meaning to the information being processed

Rehearse the information and start putting this gained information into context from previous acquired knowledge

Select relevant information

Learner needs to understand the connection between the usefulness of the information before assessing the knowledge

Transfer refers to knowledge being applied in new ways, in new situations with different content