Complex Cognitive Complex Cognitive ProcessesProcesses

Complex Cognitive Complex Cognitive ProcessesProcesses

Concepts Learning

• Categories of similar ideas, events, objects, people, etc.

• Abstractions

• Ways to organize information.

Views of Concept Learning

• Defining attributes

• Prototype

• Exemplars

• Concepts and schemas

Strategies for Teaching Concepts: Components• Examples and non-examples• Relevant and irrelevant attributes• Name of the concept• Definition of the concept

– General category– Defining attributes (if appropriate)

• Use visual aids

Lesson Structure• Start with prototype• Less obvious examples help prevent undergeneralization

• Close non-examples help prevent overgeneralization

• Think back on hypothesis• Extending and connecting concepts

Teaching Concepts through Discovery

• Understanding the structure of the subject

• Teacher presents examples

• Students discover the interrelationships

• Inductive reasoning

• Requires intuitive thinking

• Guided vs. unguided discovery approaches

Teaching Concepts through Exposition

• Expository teaching model: Ausubel

• The concept is presented

• Focus on meaningful verbal learning

• Deductive reasoning

• Advance organizers help schema development

Advance Organizers• An introduction to help the students

understand the coming concept

• Comparative

• Expository

Problem Solving• General or domain-specific?• IDEAL: Five steps of problem solving

– Identify the problem– Define goals and represent the problem– Explore possible strategies– Anticipate outcomes and Act on the strategies– Look back and Learn

Identify the Problem

• Identify that problem exists and treat it as an opportunity

Defining the Problem• Focusing attention

• Understanding the words

• Understanding the whole problem

• Translation and schema training

• Results of problem representation

Exploring Possible Solutions

• Algorithms

• Heuristics– Means-ends analysis– Working backwards– Analogical thinking– Verbalization

Anticipate, Act, Look Back

• Anticipate the consequences

• Act on the best solution

• Look back and evaluate your success

Factors that Hinder Problem Solving

• Functional fixedness

• Response set

• Lack of flexibility

Effective Problem Solvers

• Large store of domain knowledge

• Quickly recognize patterns

• Organized knowledge schemas

• Condition-action schemas

• Elaborated and well practiced knowledge

• Spend time analyzing

Novice Knowledge

• May possess misinformation

• Intuitive ideas are incorrect

• Hold on to misconceptions

Expert Students• Are cognitively engaged

• Invest effort

• Process information deeply

• Monitor understanding

Learning Strategies

• Deciding what is important

• Creating summaries

• Underlining and highlighting

• Taking notes

Applying Learning Strategies

• Learning task must be appropriate

• Valuing learning

• Effort and efficacy

• Epistemological beliefs

Transfer of Learning

• Low road and high road

• Forward-reaching• Backward-reaching• Mindful abstraction• Situated learning• Overlearning

Encouraging Transfer• Make learning meaningful

• Practical applications: real life problem solving

• Context

• Teach critical thinking skills

• Teach self-regulation skills

Stages of Transfer• Acquisition Phase

– Teach a new strategy and how to use itTeach a new strategy and how to use it

• Retention PhaseRetention Phase– Practice a strategy; Give feedbackPractice a strategy; Give feedback

• Transfer PhaseTransfer Phase– Give new problems; Use the same strategyGive new problems; Use the same strategy