Cognitive Learning Theories

Cognitive learning theories, under the tutelage of David Ausubel, Jerome Bruner, and Jean Piaget (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008) “focus on learning as a mental operation that takes place when information enters through the senses, undergoes mental manipulation, is stored, and is finally used.”  These theories are concerned with the process of how individuals think rather than on the behaviors one exhibits. 

How then, should educators best address the principles of these theories?  According to the Information Processing Model (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011), students benefit from sensory import received through multiple sensory ports.  That is, the more senses that can be utilized during a lesson or activity, the more likely the information will be remembered and stored into one’s long-term memory files. 

A second component of the Information Processing Model is Paivio’s Dual Coding Hypothesis which states that information is stored as images and text.  This leads to the importance of a teacher using as many graphic representations—pictures, movies, clip art, and other illustrations—as possible when teaching vocabulary or any other concepts.  If a picture can be connected with words or meanings, the content is better understood and the likelihood of retention is better.

Elaboration is another tool that is useful in processing and storing information.  If a student can build on or make connections with the data, the information will be stored in his or her long-term memory files, which are networked files.  This type of memory, as opposed to one’s working memory or short-term memory, is the desirable destination for vital information storage.

Students, as well as adults, are in the habit of memorizing content for the sake of meeting a goal or passing a test and then forgetting the bulk of the information a short time later.  This is the result of the information not being processed or passed through to one’s long-term memory center.  This too, is a habit that teachers need to help students break. 

In the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007), the authors share some techniques that teachers can employ to help students better process information and convert it to long-term learning rather than short-term memorization.  In chapter 4, the tools of cues, questions, and advance organizers were shared.  Cues are hints about what students are going to experience.  These could appear in the form of a syllabus, an agenda, or just a verbal statement about what is going to happen.  I have found this strategy to be very helpful in my own classroom as I list the proposed schedule for the day’s classes on the board.  The students know it will be displayed and check it frequently to see what activity will be next.  This practice helps the students to mentally and physically prepare for the events that correlate with the day’s schedule.  As an added bonus, this strategy helps the teacher or facilitator to have his or her materials better organized, too.

 Questions can function in the same capacity as cues—they trigger student memories to retrieve information stored within.  Questions will only work successfully if they focus on upper level thinking skills, those similar to the higher order skills on the Bloom’s Taxonomy Model.  Questions can be posed before material is presented, during the delivery, or after instruction.  A key idea with questioning is that teachers provide a brief period of “wait time” between asking the question and calling on an individual to allow for all students to begin the cognitive processing process.

Advanced organizers come in many formats and can be used for essentially any topic.  The type of organizer selected will be determined by the tasks that students will need to complete.  For example, if one is asked to compare and contrast two items, a Venn Diagram would be an appropriate organizer to use in completing the assignment.  If one was arranging dates or events, a timeline would be a suitable choice.

With each of these three types of strategies, the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007), provides readers with electronic or technology-based tools that will help utilize these concepts more efficiently.  Word Processing programs, spreadsheets, concept maps, and multimedia components can be used to form the connections between the visual form of the words and the text.  Concept mapping forces the students to determine connections or relationships between thoughts, terms, and / or ideas, essential pieces in the cognitive theory of learning.  The multimedia component provides even more for the inclusion of sensory data since students are seeing and hearing the content. 

Summarizing and note-taking are two other strategies discussed in chapter 6 of the same book.  In the process of summarizing, students have to examine the data and evaluate it as to what is pertinent and should be included and what carries less importance.  This evaluation process involves critical thinking, yet another piece of the cognitive learning puzzle.

Note-taking can appear in any number of formats, from notes written on loose leaf paper, to those scribed on index cards, those jotted onto an electronic notepad, or those created through one of many software programs created for just this task.  Cognitive traits are exercised through this process similarly to how they are used in the summarizing category.  The writer must determine what information is being shared, what is worthy of being recorded, and what can be discarded.  By combining or adding pictures or images to the notes, the benefits are compounded even more.  Technology definitely simplifies this process and reinforces the connections of the Dual Coding Hypothesis of Paivio (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  The combination of note-taking with communication tools makes the strategy even more powerful because it helps to increase the number of exposures to and rehearsals of the required content as it is also joined with graphics.  The information then gets processed and stored in one’s long-term memory, which is the goal identified originally.

Teachers can use all of the strategies discussed above from the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007) to address the Cognitive Learning Theory.  As with any theory or strategy, it will only be as successful as the facilitator leads it to be—the better the teacher understands the theory, the more effective he or she will be in planning instructional activities to assist students in learning the required material rather than just memorizing it.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program five: Cognitive learning theory [Video

        webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from

         http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical foundations (Laureate Education, Inc.,

custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

 instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.