When I think of the cognitivist theory of learning, I think of the brain as a huge search engine. When there is an inquiry made, the brain searches through its vast system of prior knowledge and responds with a list of possible connections to that inquiry. For instance, imagine a person coming home after work to find that there door is unlocked. They inquire, "Why is the door unlocked?" Their brain responds by making connections with all of the possible answers to that question. Possibly, the person forgot to lock the door on their way out. Maybe their spouse returned home before them. It could also be that someone has broken into their house. The brain then reasons further about the likelihood of some of these answers and eliminates the impossible choices. They can eliminate the option that their spouse is already home if they do not see his/her car in the driveway. With further questioning and reasoning, the person can finally remember that they were in a rush in the morning and had their hands full and just forgot to lock the door on their way out.
Inquiry, connections, and memory all play into the cognitive theory of learning.
In the classroom, students can use questioning, cues, and advance organizers to help them strengthen the connections that are already made and further create new synapses (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007. Visual graphic organizers, such as concept mapping software, can help the student understand the relationship between new information and prior knowledge. In addition, summarizing and note-taking can help the student synthesize new information so that it will eventually become a foundation for moving further (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. 2007).
I believe that it is important to teach children how their brains work. If they are aware of the strategies that will help them to learn best, they will be able to call upon these strategies (such as effective note-taking and concept mapping) to strengthen their knowledge about many topics. I think that cognitive learning has to be active learning and a student will not necessarily learn to organize their thinking without proper modeling.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
I strongly agree with your point that we should be teaching students how their own brains work. When a student questions a modification I may be making for them or a peer that is different than theirs I always answer the same. I simply say that everyone learns differently and they it is a tool that they need to learn. At the third grade level they accept this fairly easily.
ReplyDeleteThe sooner they recognize this concept and tune into the strategies and tools that works for them the easier it will be for them to take some responsibility for their own learning and advocate for themselves. I have had students ask for pictures or manipulatives because they know they work well with those tools.
I love your analogy of the brain being like a huge search engine. You are so right!
ReplyDeleteTeaching students how their brains work is very important. I know the students in my classroom who work better with manipulatives and those that learn better by reading. I believe students should be able to realize how they learn best and sometimes it takes a teacher to help them realize their individual learning strengths. Modifications certainly make my teaching more effective.
Do you find that you use one cognitive teaching tool over the others? This week's resources made me realize how much I rely on what works best for me, when what I need to be doing is focusing on all the tools in the tool belt, because my students might not learn exactly like I do. I think this is one of the most challenging tasks in teaching - NOT relying on what is comfortable, but exposing our students to all of the strategies we know to aid in learning.
ReplyDeleteI think I actually have the opposite problem than you do. Rather than relying on one teaching strategy, I probably jump around a bit too much. I get so excited about trying new things, that I sometimes forget that students need practice with things before they move on to something new. I need to be more consistent and then slowly add new things into my repertoire. Sometimes I think that we present too many different strategies for our students (especially at young ages)and they are never able to truly find one that does work for them. We need to teach them to be flexible and learn a number of ways to think about things and then, when they have had more experience and practice, they will be able to make better choices for their own learning.
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