edhd460: Cognitive Learning Processes

cognitive learning

focus on how information is received, organized, stored, and retrieved by the mind

• social cognitive theories

• information processing theories

metacognition

refers to the deliberate conscious control of cognitive activity

types of knowledge: declarative

knowing that, ex. historical dates, numbered facts, knowing what happened when

types of knowledge: procedural

knowing how, ex. mathematical algorithms, reading strategies, goal setting

types of knowledge: conditional → metacognition

knowing when, why, ex. skimming the text to find the main idea; adapting teching method to meet a student’s need

conditional knowledge

understanding when and why to employ forms of declarative and procedural knowledge. we need to have an adequate base of conditional knowledge to think abt our own cognition

link to prior constructs

• conditional knowledge helps students select and employ declarative and proedural knowledge to fit task goals

• learners who don’t possess conditional knowledge abt when and why skimming is valuable will employ it at inappropriate time

• conditional knowledge is an integral part of self-regulated learning

skills sets related to metacognition

• understand what skills, strategies, and resources a task requires

• one must know how and when to use these skills and strategies to ensure the task is completed successfully

developmental perspective

• metacognitive abilities begin to develop around 5-7

• young children aren’t fully aware of which cognitive processes various tasks involve

• monitoring activities are employed more often by older children and adults than by young children

variables influencing metacognition

• learner variables (developmental lvl, individual differences)

• task variables (task difficulty, task features, familiarity)

• strategy variables (note-taking, rehearsal, self testing)

epistemic thinking

cognitive and metacognitive processes involving learners’ beliefs abt how they learn

development of epistemic metacognition

• at first, children develop the understanding of a theory of mind, meaning they understand that the mind exists and that ppl have different knowledge and beliefs

• later, they develop an understanding that the same information can be interpreted in different ways

implications for instruction

• metacognitive strategies can’t be taught in isolation

• students need the underlying knowledge and skills to make strategies meaningful

• students need opportunities to practice using strategies across different tasks

• teachers should provide feedback on how well those strategies are working

metacognition and reading

metacognition is relevant to reading bc it involved in understanding and monitoring reading purposes and strategies

skilled readers don’t approach all reading tasks identically

• determine their goal: find main ideas, read for details, skim

• use a strategy they believe will accomplish the goal

• when reading skills are highly developed, these processes may occur automatically

children develop metacognitive abilities through interactions w/ parents and teachers

metacognition and reading strategies

• summarizing

• questioning

• clarifying

• predicting

bruner, goodnow, and austin (1956)

explored the nature of concepts

• learners were presented w boxes portraying geometrical patterns

• the task was to identify the concept represented in different subset of the boxes

• conjunctive, disjunctive, and relational concepts were studied

bruner found that learners formulated a hypothesis abt the rule underlying the concept

features analysis theory

postulates that concepts involve rules that define the critical features or the needed attributes of the concepts

predicts that different instances of a concept should be recognized equally quickly bc each instance is judged against critical features

prototype theory

• a prototype is generalized image of the concept, only include some concept’s defining attributes

• when confronted w an instance, one recalls the most likely prototype from long-term memory and compares it to the instance to see if they match

• prototypes often are thought of as schemas, or organized forms for the knowledge we have abt a particular concept

concepts attainment

• one way to develop protoypes is to be exposed to a typical instance of the conept tha reflects the calssic attributes

• second way is by abstracting features from 2+ examples

multistage process of concept learning

in gagné view, concept learing involves a multistage sequence

• the stimulus feature is presented as an instance of the concept along w a non instance

  • discrimination

• the learner identifies instances and non instances

  • generalization

• the stimulus features-which is to become the concept-is varied and presented along w non instance

  • concept attainment

throughout the process, correct responses are reinforced and contiguity learning occurs by presenting several instances of the concept in close association

model of concept attainment

klausmeier developed and tested a model of concept attainment. this model postulates a 4-stage sequence

• at the concrete lvl, learners can recognize an item as the same one previously encountered when the context or spatial orientation in which it was originally encountered remains the same

• identity lvl is characterized by recognizing as item as the same one previously encountered when the item is observed from a different pov or in a different modality

• classificatory lvl requires that learner recognize at least 2 items as being equivalent

• formal lvl requires the learner to identify examples and nonexamples of the concepts, name the concept and its defining attributes, give a definition of the concept, and specify the attributes that distinguish the concept from other closely related ones

conceptual change

the process of restructuring the concepts that are foundational to the beliefs surrounding relevant knowledge and information

pintrich, marx, and boyle and their 4 conditions are necessary for conceptual change to occur

• dissatisfaction w/ one’s current conception is needed

• the new concept must be intelligible

• the new concept must be plausible

• they much perceive the new concept as fruitful

the literature suggests that conceptual change involves an interaction of students’ cognitions and motivational beliefs

conceptual change and science education

• an interesting issue is how student develop scientific misconceptions and simplistic scientific models

• an important task is to help student challenge and correct misconceptions

• this might entail having students engage in hands-on activities and work w/ others to interpret their experience through selective questions

3-stage model of belief change

nussbaum and novick proposed 3-stage model for changing student beliefs:

• reveal the understand student preconceptions

• create conceptual conflict w those conceptions

• facilitate the development of new or revised schemas abt the phenomena under consideration

problem solving

the ppl’s efforts to achieve a goal for which they don’t have an automatic solution

all problems have certain commonalities: problems have an initial state, a goal, and require operations

historical perspectives on problem solving are:

• trial and error

• insight

• heuristics

trial and error

• thorndike conceived of problem solving as trial and error

  • the problem: cats escape from the cage

insight

wallas formulated a 4-step model of insight:

• preparation: a time to learn abt the problem and gather info that might be relevant to its solution

• incubation: a period of thinking abt the problem, include putting the problem aside for a time

• illumination: a period of insight when a potential solution suddenly comes into awareness

• verification: a time to test the proposed solution to ascertain whether it’s correct

rule learning

compared with memorization

• rules lead to better learning and retention than memorization bc rules give a simpler description of the phenomenon so less info must be learned

functional fixedess

inability to perceive different uses for objects of elements in situation

heuristics

general methods for solving problems that employ principles and usually lead to a solution

polya’s list of mental operations

• understadn the problem

• devise a plan

• carry out the plan

• review

bransford and stein heuristic, IDEAL

• identity the problem

• define and represent the problem

• explore possible strategies

• act on the strategies

• look back and evaluate the effects of ur activities

general strategies

applied to problems in several domains regardless of content

specific strategies

useful only in a particular domain

generate-and-test strategy

useful when a limited number of problem solutions can be tested to see if they attain the goal

means-ends analysis

one compares the current situation w the goal and identifies the difference between them

• subgoals are set to reduce the differences

• when subgoals are properly identified, means-ends analysis is mostly likely to solve the problem

analogical reasoning

general problem-solving strategy that involves:

• drawing an analogy between the problem situation (target) and

• a situation with which one is familiar (the base/source)

successful application requires that the familiar situation be structurally similar to the problem situation, although the situations may differ in surface features

brainstorming

general problem-solving strategy that’s useful for formulating possible problems solutions. steps:

• define the problem

• generate as many solution as possible w/o evaluating them

• decide on criteria for judging potential solution

• use these criteria to select the best solution

production systems

which are networks of condition-action sequences (rules) in which the conditions are the set of circumstances that activate the system and the actions are the set of activities that occur

experts and novices

experts:

• posses more declarative knowledge

• have better hierarchical organization of knowledge

• spend more time planning and analyzing

• recognize problem formats more easily

• represent problems at a deeper lvl

• monitor their performances more carefully

• understand better the value of strategy use