Cognitivism is a mental operation that takes place when information enters through the senses, undergoes mental manipulation, is stored, and is finally used. Dr. Orey adds that the Cognitive Learning Theory "revolves around information processing (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). This week I am examining the correlation between the principles of cognitive learning theory and instructional strategies. These strategies will assist the student in moving information from the short-term memory to the long-term memory. In order for the student to be able to retrieve the information, we must develop as many connections to that material as possible. This is called the Elaboration Theory and it is defined as the "primary mechanism for storing information in long-term memory cna only process around seven pieces of information so it can be moved to long-term memory before more information is attempted to be presented.
The use of technololgy-based cognitive tools is valuable with today's digital native students. Many times, when students are using technology to learn, they forget they are learning. Cues, questions, and advance organizers improve the "students' ability to retrieve, use and organize information" that is presented (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Advance organizers help students to "focus on their learning" and are provided by teachers prior to a learning activity to "help them classify and make sense of the content they'll encounter" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Other ways to develop connections are with summarizing and note taking. These focus on "enhncing students' ability to synthesize information and distill it into a concise new form" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski). All of these strategies can be presented using technology. The strategies listed provide elaboration of the concepts and will facilitate moving information to long-term memory.
An example of how this can be utilized in physical education is by taking my students on a virtual field trip. I find a "destination" of interest, http://www.fi.edu/learn/heart/index.html, and we are off. As we travel, we develop a concept map using http://www.bubbl.us/index to assist the students in organizing the information. This will help the student to "visualize ideas and connections between ideas" (Laureate Education, Inc.,2008). This trip integrates multiple senses while presenting the information and helps to move the information from short-term memory to long-term memory in a way that digital native students enjoy.
Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program six. Cognitive Learning Theories. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler. H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn. M., & Malenoski. K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Do you normally use bubbl.us for your concept maps or was this your first time trying it? This was my first time using concept mapping software so I chose the Webspiration one. It was a little confusing to create maps, but I finally figured it out. I do not think it would be very student-friendly. One bonus to it though was that I was able to publish my map to the Internet as a website.
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