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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Cognitive Learning Theory: How Can It Help?

The basic idea behind cognitive learning theory is information processing (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  All learners process information in slightly different ways.  Because of this, we as educators need to vary the strategies used in the classroom to try to make as many connections as possible to the content being taught.  
 
One of the strategies discussed in this week’s resources concerns the creation of advanced organizers.  There are several different types of organizers that can be used to help students process information and, naturally, every advanced organizer will yield slightly different results (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  One of the most effective ways to use advanced organizers is through the creation of cueing and questioning organizers.  These types of organizers give students a preview of what they are going to learn in both a linguistic and visual manner.  Most organizers of this nature will have an essential question that students are trying to answer as well as some sort of visual representation of what topic is being discussed.  This type of organizer supports cognitive learning theory in that it creates more connections through the use of text and pictures, which is aligned with the dual-coding hypothesis mentioned by Dr. Orey (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). An advanced organizer using cueing and questioning also asks students to access prior knowledge and make predictions, another important piece of information processing.

Another excellent strategy that supports the cognitive learning theory is that of combination note taking strategies.  Although students should practice many types of note taking strategies, the combination note taking strategy involves written notes, drawings, graphs, concept mapping, and pictures, all of which can create an increased number of connections to the material for students (Pilter et al., 2007).  Combination notes can be created in a variety of mediums, including word processing programs and multimedia programs such as PowerPoint and Prezi.  These technologies offer new ways for students to process the information in a way that is meaningful and unique to their own learning style or preferences.  I offer an example of a combination note taking template at the end of this blog post for everyone to view.

Both of these strategies are very useful in teaching for understanding in that they offer different ways for students to access and process the information.  With combination note taking, students they can customize their notes to fit their particular learning style and still meet the learning objectives.  However, without the learning objectives guiding the information processing, students will have nothing pointing them in the right direction.  Similarly, cueing and questioning organizers will help teach for understanding by having students preview what they will learn and make cognitive predictions about what they need to understand at the end of the lesson or activity.  These strategies and many more are essential in helping students process and understand information in today’s digitally driven classroom.

Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program five: Cognitive learning theory [Video webcast].
Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from
=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction
that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD


This is also another link to a sample combination note taking strategy:
http://interactive-notebooks.wikispaces.com/Combination+notes

This is a link to more information about cueing, questioning, and advanced organizers.
http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/cues.php

3 comments:

  1. Scott,
    Have you been using some of these technologies in class? How are they working for your students? The mind-mapping worked for my seniors in a small trial group, I am not sure how well it work for the entire class. I would have to develop something larger for the entire class to have a part.

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  2. Deb-
    I have used a few of these technologies, especially the combination note taking activities. Although I do not use it every day, students enjoy using their laptops to create unique notes that are authentic to them. This reduces the urge to copy notes (which could increase class attendance, an issue at my school)and increase student learning because they make their own connections with the material they need to learn. Pictures, graphs, audio, and video give students multi-sensory perspectives on what they are learning, thus increasing the chance the information will get stored in long-term memory.

    Scott

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  3. Scott,
    I liked your note-taking techniques. As a visual/hands-on learner, I would have greatly appreciated them as a student in middle school and high school where I struggled in heavy note-taking classes that were "outline oriented".

    Alisha

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