Introduction: The purpose of this unit is to introduce you to the study of learning and instruction. This study includes such topics as: What is learning and instruction? What are some different theoretical approaches to learning and instruction? How does the role of the learner differ in each approach? How can we help people learn and transfer knowledge? Our goal is to prepare you to use the information about learning and instruction in your own workplace so that you become a more successful practitioner in the teaching-learning process. One of the many cognitive approaches to learning is the Information Processing Model. You will be introduced to the Information Processing System and learn that the purpose of instruction is to move knowledge into long-term memory so it will not be forgotten. Many students complain that they forget information on examinations. However, the real problem often is that they never learned the information in the first place. An important focus of this unit is to encourage you to assess how you learn and how you can use different learning strategies to make you a more effective learner. The Information Processing System is not a theory of learning but is instead a model based on an analogy between our mind and the computer. The computer analogy has helped us understand some of the complex simultaneous and successive cognitive and perceptual events that occur when people learn. It helps us understand some of the ways that memory operates when we both store information and recall it. While our minds are certainly not computers, it is sometimes useful to think of people as having memory storage devices (long term memory), read only memory coupled with processing space (short term or working memory), input devices such as video (visual perception), audio (aural perception) and an operating system (for example what are called meta cognitive processes such as planning, connecting new information with prior knowledge, and monitoring our progress towards goals). The computer model has also been very useful for understanding how our goals drive our attention and cognitive processing. By bringing relevant information into our awareness, the operating system helps us process the information in ways that enables us to achieve our goals. We monitor and edit the results of the processing and store the resulting information (declarative and procedural knowledge) in our long term memory for later retrieval and use. Thus, the application of the information-processing model has primarily emphasized two areas: 1) the relationship between attention and memory (and ways to support encoding and retrieving information) and 2) to help us understand the limits of our ability to process large amounts of information – a phenomenon called “cognitive load.” Our limited cognitive processing ability leads us to explore ways to avoid overloading others or ourselves with information as we try to learn something. Learning Objectives For This Unit Differentiate between learning and instruction.Identify the key components of the information processing system and how they function in the learning process.Describe the sequence of events that occur during cognitive processes – your description should begin with a learning or performance goal, extend to the way that perception and attention processes influence various types and stages of memory, include working memory, and result in the learning (storage and retrieval) of new, goal relevant knowledge.Identify (diagnose) and solve a variety of learning and performance problems in diverse settings that are related to memory issues and caused by a failure to provide necessary support for information processing.Explain how the behaviorist, social cognitive and cognitive perspective account for learning.Explain the different perspectives on how to enhance the transfer of learning. 7. Describe the three types of cognitive load and explain how each influences learning 8. Apply methods of reducing and managing cognitive load in instruction Learning Strategies For This Unit · View the VoiceThread recorded lecture. (Write down questions about anything you do not understand.) · Complete the readings in the order listed in the syllabus, writing down a one- or two-sentence synthesis of major ideas. · Self-assess your knowledge of the Information Processing Model. o Download and print out the blank Information Processing Model slide in the folder for this unit. o Then, without looking at the class slides or the Mayer text, label and draw arrows for each stage of the diagram and write down a phrase describing the process at each stage. § Check your work against the VoiceThread slide about the Information Processing System. · Think about how the principles of the Information Processing System could help close the performance goal gap in your case study. In-class Practice and Feedback · Application scenarios small group work · Work on individual gap analysis: What assumed causes does IPS and CLT provide for your performance gap? How can the principles of cognitive theory help close your performance gap? Advance Organizer For The Next Unit · Knowledge types · Thinking about thinking: Metacognition · Cognitive learning strategies