Cognitivism

Rick and David

** Cognitivist Theory of Learning **

= What is Cognitivism? = ====Cognitivism describes the brain as a computer, an information processor that stores and retrieves information when called upon. Cognitivism describes learning as a process by which information is absorbed, processed in short-term memory, and then stored in long-term memory if the learner is able to get the file there. Cognitivism describes learning as a set of building blocks (schema) that get built upon each other whereby a learner cannot make sense of complex concepts or information without first having something to associate them with. Therefore learning is a process of mental construction where the learner in continually building, adding, and associating to prior knowledge.====

Cognitivism is a response to behaviorism theory. Behaviorism operates on the principles of “stimulus and response”. Behaviorism suggests that the learned behavior of the individual is built by positive and negative response to environmental stimuli. Behaviorism made the assumption that there was no need to consider the mental (conscious) states of the individual.

Cognitivism, in contrast, suggests that learning requires active mental participation, and that learning is the result of the learner's thinking process. Cognitivists go on to suggest that the behaviors of the individual are not just a response to a stimuli, but are actions based on what is occurring in the mind and a result of the thinking process. The learner builds mental structures as a process in response to the stimuli. During the process, responses to stimuli move from short term memory into long term memory mental structures or schema.

=What are the theorists saying? =

[[image:2013mat610/Jean-Piaget-biography-com.jpg width="148" height="148" align="left"]]
====** J **** ean Piaget- ** [|Wikipedia describes Piaget's theory] as an individual's ability to learn a concept being related to their stage of intellectual development. Piaget observed four unique stages of character growth that lead to specific types of learning. [| Piaget's four stages] are explained as ** Sensorimotor ** (Birth- 2 years old), ** Pre-operational ** (2-7 years old), ** Concrete Operations ** (7-11 yearsold), and ** Formal Operations ** (beginning between 11-15 years of age). ====

====** Vev Vygotsky- ** Vygotsky believed that social interaction plays a pivotal role in the development of cognition. He also argued that community must play a strong role in making meaning thus social learning must precede development. Saul McLeod further explains [|Vygotsky's Theories on Simply Psychology] referring to Vygotsky's **Elementary Mental Functions.** These functions are **Attention, Sensation, Perception, and Memory**. Where Vygotsky differs from Piaget is that he believes that culture plays a large role in how these develop into **Higher Mental Functions.** To further explain, we all are born with an ability for memory but how we develop that depends on the culture in which we were raised.====

====** Robert Gagne- ** Gagne expanded on the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, developing the science of instruction during World War II. [|Wikipedia] list's Gagne's Five Categories of Learning as:====
 * 1) ===== Intellectual skills: Create individual competence and ability to respond to stimuli. =====
 * 2) ===== Cognitive strategies: Capability to learn, think, and remember =====
 * 3) ===== Verbal information: Rote memorization of names, faces, dates, phone numbers, etc. =====
 * 4) ===== Motor skills: Capability to learn to drive, ride a bike, draw a straight line, etc. =====
 * 5) ===== Attitudes: Ingrained bias towards different ideas, people, situation, and may affect how one acts towards these things. =====

These categories led to Gagne's explanation of Eight Ways to Learn.

 * 1) ===== Signal Learning: A general response to a signal. Like a dog responding to a command. =====
 * 2) ===== Stimulus-Response Learning: A precise response to a distinct stimulus. =====
 * 3) ===== Chaining: A chain of two or more stimulus-response connections is acquired. =====
 * 4) ===== Verbal Association: The learning of chains that are verbal. =====
 * 5) ===== Discrimination Learning: The ability to make different responses to similar-appearing stimuli. =====
 * 6) ===== Concept Learning: A common response to a class of stimuli. =====
 * 7) ===== Rule Learning. Learning a chain of two or more concepts. =====
 * 8) ===== Problem Solving. A kind of learning that requires "thinking." =====

Gagne took this information and created an instructional strategy that uses ** Nine Events of Instruction ** to meet the needs of all learners.


==== George Miller - Miller suggests that there is a limit to the number of things we can hold in our short -term memory. From studies with young learners, the average limit is Seven items (word, digits, letters, etc) that can accurately be recalled. Miller’s Law of 7+ or - 2 has evolved from these studies. His ideas became a focus point for cognitivism, with the brain acting as a information processor. ====

John Sweller - John Sweller built on the work of MIller when developing his theory of Cognitive Load. Cognitive load describes the amount of thinking or information that working memory can process at any given time. There are three elements of cognitive load: extraneous (irrelevant elements that interfere with learning, intrinsic (complexity of the concept), germane (cognitive resources that are devoted to processing and developing schema. - This video describes cognitive load elements more clearly. __ [] __

**What is knowledge according to the theorist?**

Knowledge is an organized set of mental structures (or schema) that the learner has created. The individual can then manipulate and re-build their schema in response to new information and experiences.


 * Where does learning happen? **

According to Piaget, “Children construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment.” This building upon previous knowledge is referred to as scaffolding, with learning dependent on sequential development of learning processes. As learning develops the resulting collection becomes their schema.

The following video illustrates how a child learns by a constructivist process. Developing Schema - (you may skip ahead and start at 20 seconds)

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Gagne developed the Nine Events of Instruction. The events can be met through the use of different instructional strategies in different teaching situations to achieve the desired learning outcome.




 * Events || Processes of Learning ||
 * 1. Stimulation to gain attention || Present stimulus to ensure reception of instruction. ||
 * 2. Informing the learner of the learning objective || What will the pupil gain from the instruction? ||
 * 3. Reminding learners of previously learned content || Ask for recall of existing relevant knowledge. ||
 * 4. Clear and distinctive presentation of material || Display the content in clear format. ||
 * 5. Guidance of learning || Phrasing and mental images build on content and convert it to memory. ||

= **How do you know if its happened (measure)?** = Student self-assessment and assessment through feedback from the student.


 * 6. Eliciting performance || Learners respond to demonstrate knowledge. ||
 * 7. Providing feedback || Give informative feedback on the learner's performance. ||
 * 8. Assessing the performance || iMore performance and more feedback, to reinforce information. ||
 * 9. Arranging variety of practice || Enhance retention and transfer to other contexts ||

** How is this relevant to education today and technology? **
As a cognitivist teacher, the task is to provide the proper learning events to the student, assist them in the application of those strategies, and engage the learner in the learning process.

Work done in short term memory is relevant to the classroom. With a finite amount of items in short term memory, wait time and processing time can be important factor for the teacher. Strategies that allow the student to reflect and process the information help to move it from short term to long term memory. The cognitive load the student is experiencing affects how much information is being processed and retained, The extraneous noises, visuals, and physical environment (temperature, hardness of the seat,) then all affect learning.

In the early 80’s computer assisted instruction appeared in various forms of digital tutorial software and “integrated learning systems” with very little impact on learning observed. Today however, the computer can be seen as a cognitive tool to learn “with” as opposed to “from”. Cognitive learning tools (Jonnasen, D) provide the learner opportunities to engage in higher order thinking. (Link of cognitive tools image - [|__http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/images/c/cb/Cognitive1.png__] .) Cognitive tools allow the learner to interact with information in order to acquire, synthesize, create, and share new learning - the 21st century skills. The use of these tools allow the learner to engage in the learning process in ways that might might not be possible with such tools.