According to Dr. Michael Orey cognitive learning theories “revolve around information processing” (Laureate, 2010). Information processing is more than just taking information in and regurgitating it on a test. To be able to process information a students needs to be able to take the new information and connect it to prior information (Laureate, 2010). For a student to make these connections they need to be engaged in activities that provide elaboration, episodic experiences and connect images to text (Laureate, 2010). The instructional strategies discussed in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, “Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers” and “Summarizing and Note Taking” are key in helping students make connections
Concept mapping tools can be used to help students to organize, reorganize and use information related to a particular writing assignment allowing students to focus on their learning—not writing, erasing, rewriting, erasing, etc. Other uses of concept maps provide students cues about what they are about to learn (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Concept maps can help students to question their learning, activate background knowledge while making connections for new learning. Providing students with this tool helps them to organize information as they learn (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). It is also important that students are provided tools to help them learn to summarize and take notes. Online Concept mapping resources, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Word are tools that can improve students’ effectiveness in summarizing and note taking.
Virtual field trips are another way for students to engage in episodic experiences—thus helping them make connections from their prior knowledge to new knowledge. Virtual field trips provide students with the opportunity to travel to places they would not have otherwise been able to travel. These experiences allow teachers to use higher level questioning because students are not having to simply recall facts they read in a textbook.
Using concept maps and virtual field trips will help me teach for understanding because I will be meeting the varied learning styles of my classmates. No longer will students just be receiving the information auditory or reading it in a text.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
You make a great point in saying that students need to learn how to summarize and take notes. I feel that it is often expected that students will just know how to take notes appropriately, whether it be for a test or for a research report. Despite the many different paper-and-pencil organizers I have used to help my third grade students take notes effectively for an autobiography they write every year, many struggle to see the next step, or where to go with the notes next. Using concept maps would be an excellent visual to set up note-taking outlines for students, which is what Orey argues is a powerful tool for teaching (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). I believe it would make the next step in placing the notes into a cohesive rough draft much easier, as the organizing would already be done through the concept map.
ReplyDeleteLaureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Until doing the readings this week on the cognitive learning theory, I had never understood how much of an impact activating prior knowledge had on the student's learning. By having students recall information that that they have already learned, processed, and stored, it provides one more connection that may help the student recall the new information. I also agree that virtual field trips have a much greater impact on the student than just using the text book ! Great insights!
ReplyDeleteColleen
Have your students ever said, "we have never seen this before?" This comment from my students is always quite discouraging because I am certain that the content we are about to cover was previewed in their previous course or grade. I think that we as teachers need to work together and provide learning situations that will solidify the content into the long-term memories of our students. The use of virtual field trips and concept mapping are a great way to help information move from short-term to long-term memory. Another example of helping students convert information into long-term memory is to have them write a song or poem about the content. A good friend of mine has been able to help his students write math raps to help the students review and commit the content to memory. Check out the three videos that they were able to make this year on youtube.com. Search "teach me how to factor," "getting triggy with it," and "quad solve."
ReplyDeleteColleen,
ReplyDeleteIt has been so beneficial for me to review each of the learning theories. I remember vaguely learning about them in college but had no experience to ground my learning in. Now that I have been in the classroom for almost 10 years, the make so much more sense.
Lisa,
At times through out the year I find myself thinking (and sometimes saying) you should know this. Even when I feel this way I need to realize that even when one of my students does not know how to take notes, divide, write a descriptive paragraph etc. I need to be explicit in my teaching.
~Kristi~
Concept mapping is a great tool. At the end of units I do what is called a mind map. It is a visual representation of the unit and it is organizes almost like a species cladogram. The ones closest to each other are the concepts that are most related. They cannot write what the concept is, they must draw what they see as a representation of it. For example if they were trying to convey the concept of a cardiovascular system and the blood vessels within it, they cannot draw a vein or a heart. They can draw a sewer pipe as they both carry a specific liquid to a specif destination. This allows them to associate the content with something else in their lives in order to give them a stronger foundation of what it means.
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