Why is a manhole cover round?

Information Processing Theory EDU 330: Educational Psychology Daniel Moos, PhD

“Phraseology” example Tall in the the saddle Guiding Question: What does this activity suggest about the role of prior knowledge and experience in learning?

“Numbers” example 3 1 8 6 5 4 7 3 2 2 2 1 8 Guiding Question: What does this activity suggest about the importance of organization in learning? What does this activity suggest about the maximum number of items we can learn at one time? Implications for teachers?

“Months” example As quickly as you can… …state the months of the year …state the months of the year, alphabetically Guiding Question: What does this activity suggest about relationship between the original context of learning and the ability to retrieve knowledge? Implications for teachers?

“Association” example In a moment, you will read a common, everyday word. As soon as you read it, write down the first that comes into your head. Then write down the first word that that word reminds you of. Continue writing down the first word that each successive words brings to mind until you generated a list of 10 words Example: Minnesota Cold Ice Cream Moose Tracks Activity: Spring Guiding Question: What does this activity suggest about how we organize our “long-term” memory? Individual differences? Implications for teachers?

“Riding a bike” example On a scale of 1 (very poorly) to 5 (very easily), how well can you ride a bike? Turn to your neighbor and discuss how you would teach someone who does not know how to ride a bike On a scale of 1 (very hard) to 5 (very easy), describe the difficulty level you just experienced in describing how you might teach someone to ride a bike Guiding Question: What does this activity suggest about: (1) the impact of expertise on retrieving related knowledge?; and (2) the challenges “experts” might face in teaching novices? Implications for teaching?

“Color” example RED BLACK BLUE BLACK YELLOW As quickly as you can, quietly say the COLOR and not the pronunciation of the following words (from left to right): Example: Yellow Blue RED BLACK BLUE BLACK YELLOW BLACK RED YELLOW BLUE BLACK RED BLACK BLUE BLACK YELLOW RED YELLOW BLUE BLACK RED Guiding Question: What does this activity suggest about the role of “attention” and “perception” in learning? Implications for teachers?

Applying IPT to the classroom What assumptions can you make about how we process information based on these activities? What implications do these suggestions have for effective teaching practices? Assumptions? Implications?

Cognitive processes: IPT Model (1) How can use the activities to explain this model? (attempt to make sense of this model…) (2) Overview of model

Applying IPT to the classroom (1) Begin lessons with an activity that attracts attention Why is a manhole cover round? Sensory Memory: Very large capacity, holds information for very short period of time Recognition: Noting key features and relating to prior knowledge Attention: Selective focusing on portion of information in sensory memory; influenced by information in long-term memory What are some effective “attention getters” (anticipatory set) based on your experience? What could be used for your content area/developmental group?

Applying IPT to the classroom (2) Consider Students’ Knowledge, Skill Expertise, and Learning Requirements Conflicting information when asked to call out name of color Working Memory/Short Term Memory: 7 +/- 2 Chunks of Information Conscious processing (what you are currently thinking about) has limited space unless you have expertise (automaticity) Operating Space Storage Space

Applying IPT to the classroom (3) Consider how you are asking students learn Role of expertise: What skills are required for learning today? Taking notes, summarizing, engaging in a discussion, etc… Do your students have expertise with these skills? Should I teach these skills? If novices, how can I balance ”learning”? Actively engage AND teach learning strategies: Maintenance rehearsal (we repeat information to ourselves several times without actively adding new meaning; rote memorization) Elaborative rehearsal (connecting new material in a meaningfully way to something already learned)

Applying IPT to the classroom (3) Meaningful, organized information facilitates learning Organization: How can I organize today’s lesson so it makes conceptual sense to my students? Chunk material: process to organize multiple pieces of information into more meaningful units (remembering today’s date vs a string of meaningless numbers) Meaningfulness: What interests your students? (hot vs cold cognition) How does today’s lesson relate to yesterday’s lesson? How can you connect the lesson to students’ lives? Frequently review material to create meaningfully connections.  Proceed in short steps and represent content both visually and verbally to reduce cognitive load. Dual Coding: Auditory and Visual Channel in working memory

Applying IPT to the classroom (4) Consider context of learning Connect to the real world Provide varied opportunities to learn the same material Tall in the the saddle & Recalling the months Long Term Memory: Unlimited capacity, permanent Encoding is the key to retrieval Retrieval failure may be due to encoding Example: State the months of the year Example: State the months of the year alphabetically Prior knowledge can facilitate OR interfere with learning Hockey players tend to make good golfers (facilitate) Misconceptions negatively affect new learning: 6 divided by 0.50 (interfere) 12