1. How does this topic fit into what I have learned already in this course?
Ch. 9 and 10 were pretty logical in the sense that all the technology supported learning concepts followed the principles we have learned in Ed. Psych. For example, when students build models their primary motor cortex is activated and students gain a better understanding than just seeing it. Therefore, models like the Jasper Woodbury and mostly all the other presented models, it enable students to control information using multiple senses and hands on components. By physically measuring and then inputing the information for group or global data, they are gaining ownership in their work. The chapter described the importance of scaffolding, which is key for any cognitive lesson with or without technology incorporated. Also, the model that enabled students to receive immediate and direct feedback when typing answers relates to the idea of correcting misrepresentations.
This weeks readings also fit into last weeks ideas of building classroom environments. Essentially, by using technology, students experience all four of the main environments, especially the community environment if they are sharing information with a larger group of people on the web.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
Its not that I don't understand "Classtalk" but I just don't see when it would be used in an effective manner. Chapter 9 said that it was good for getting an estimate where students ideas fall, but that seems like a huge waste of time. Why would they even include this material with the Jasper Woodbury season if it overall ineffective? I would have like to known instead what the Jasper Woodbury model proposes to use for real assessment of student work, or who class discussions and started and facilitated during projects, or even how often. To me it seems like there would be a lot of individual group discussion, but not much whole class talk until the project had been completed.
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
Well, If I want to be a "good teacher", I would apply this technology based material every day I teach! It I wanted to be a realistic teacher, I would say that effectively planning a technology project for the given subject and implementing it maybe once every 3 weeks, once a month if they were long projects, would be ideal. That way it is still exciting and different, but it occurs often enough that students gain experience working with the program and building on prior knowledge and experiences with it. I could honestly see myself doing this a technology based project to bring the real world into the classroom once every unit. Technology is a really effective skill, as practical as real life correlation, and it is increasingly demanding every year!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Week 14
1. How does this topic fit into what I have learned already in this course?
Ch.6
The concepts of learner, knowledge, assessment, and community centered classrooms all encompass different features that support different cognitive functions. In the first- learner centered classrooms, students have the opportunity to explore cognitively information and materials while asking why. I would describe learner centered as incorporating the most metacognition. The knowledge centered classroom allow students to build on what they know and use their cognition to explore information and "make sense" of the material. This creates the most opportunity for students to discuss preconceived ideas and correct misunderstanding. The assessment classroom allows students to gain feedback on their work and understanding. The last- community centered, allows for motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) by a variety of people in and outside the classroom. The community centered also produces Pollyanna principle where positive memories can stimulate recall.
Ch. 7
By covering a multitude of information on a large scale with going in depth in my mind is comparable to divided attention. The more features there are, the less focus and attention paid to each distinct concept. This can be true if multi concepts are presented at one time, or over the course of a week. Also, hands on explorations are the best way to provide in depth activities to expand knowledge.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
With the interactive lecture (p167), where students correct erroneous beliefs- how does providing examples and lecture pull all the deeply rooted information (wrong or right) from a student. When do you do this, after you have taught a lesson as a review? Wouldn't the misunderstandings than take away from what they have just gained through the lesson?
I think the concept of bridging is more accurate and students have a better opportunity to correct their misunderstandings in a linear fashion.
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
This information helps me to picture the type classroom I hope to create- in terms of which centers are most beneficial and to what extent can each be enforced. Ch.7 also reinforced the fact that allowing students to solve problems independently enables them to control their cognition while still obtaining the information through an active model.
Ch.6
The concepts of learner, knowledge, assessment, and community centered classrooms all encompass different features that support different cognitive functions. In the first- learner centered classrooms, students have the opportunity to explore cognitively information and materials while asking why. I would describe learner centered as incorporating the most metacognition. The knowledge centered classroom allow students to build on what they know and use their cognition to explore information and "make sense" of the material. This creates the most opportunity for students to discuss preconceived ideas and correct misunderstanding. The assessment classroom allows students to gain feedback on their work and understanding. The last- community centered, allows for motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) by a variety of people in and outside the classroom. The community centered also produces Pollyanna principle where positive memories can stimulate recall.
Ch. 7
By covering a multitude of information on a large scale with going in depth in my mind is comparable to divided attention. The more features there are, the less focus and attention paid to each distinct concept. This can be true if multi concepts are presented at one time, or over the course of a week. Also, hands on explorations are the best way to provide in depth activities to expand knowledge.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
With the interactive lecture (p167), where students correct erroneous beliefs- how does providing examples and lecture pull all the deeply rooted information (wrong or right) from a student. When do you do this, after you have taught a lesson as a review? Wouldn't the misunderstandings than take away from what they have just gained through the lesson?
I think the concept of bridging is more accurate and students have a better opportunity to correct their misunderstandings in a linear fashion.
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
This information helps me to picture the type classroom I hope to create- in terms of which centers are most beneficial and to what extent can each be enforced. Ch.7 also reinforced the fact that allowing students to solve problems independently enables them to control their cognition while still obtaining the information through an active model.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
week 13
1. How does this topic fit into what I have learned already in this course?
This FINAL chapter builds on what we have already learned- it is a schematic book that I thought would never end. The main themes that were-addressed were 1, and 2; cognitive processes and active and remarkable efficient and accurate. In addition, speaking and the process it entails, employs top-down functioning- a concept we learned back in chapter 1. Interestingly enough, just as we fail to notice speech errors (ch. 2), this process is identified as slips of the ears- because we fail to notice many slips of the tongue. When learning about infants memory of language, ch. 6 principles of the spacing effect was reinforced to promote the idea that children acquire more language when it is spaced out over time rather than at all once.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
I saw this video, similar to the demonstration video in the text, where a child was watching a tv and then an adult would say big bird and they would look at big bird, they would say grover and the child would look at grover, etc. This child was about 1.5 years old- at the age where you don't produce systematic language yet. Based on this video, and the one with kids looking at happy vs sad faces to correspond to the emotion- I would like to know at what age do children start to recognize and relate things. Just because they can't say anything doesn't mean that they don't understand. If this is the case, would working with children to identify descriptives- ie pick up the yellow ball- improve their cognitive performance in the future?
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
The information about children's speech was relevant to my understanding that as teachers we often have to "clarify" or ask the students to give us more information (even if we do understand) to ensure that the whole class has common ground. Likewise, the text said that less effort is made to establish common ground if there are time constraints. I agree with this statement because as teachers, we are always pressed for time- so we are often limiting our examples to one or two rather than provide many for every new concept. Perhaps if a stronger common ground was established for each new idea (using more examples/ analogies/ etc.) children would better understand the information.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Ch-12 Language Intro
1. How does this topic fit into what I have learned already in this course?
The topic of language employs many of the cognitive features we have already learned. Through language, we are using active processes that are "remarkably efficient and accurate" -Theme 2. In addition, the concept (theme 3) that humans respond more effectively to positive information than negative connects the Pollyanna Principle for Memory, the Confirming hypothesis theory for problem solving, and this weeks reading features of Negative sentence structure.
Reading requires us to recognize letters (ch 2), use eye movement- either top down and bottom up processing to read and fully understand given information (ch 3), employ working memory to retain information we are reading (ch 4) and recall information stored in long term memory (ch 5/6). We use meta comprehension to think and check our reading (ch 6), as well as using mental imagery to further comprehend the reading (ch 7). We also use semantic memory (ch 8) to understand whole paragraphs.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
I would like to know more about reading and working memory-specifically how students who have large memory spans can read more efficiently and have left over attention to remember context clues to guess unknown words. So if students do not have large working memories, what can be done so that they can still recall the context clues in addition to the information from the story?
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
I am currently working with a student with learning disabilities, trying to improve his reading comprehension and vocab. He has a poor working memory, so we have been trying to improve that though cognitive tasks! This chapter gave alot of background knowledge (most of which I was already aware of) that related to my tutoring experiences. I hope that the following chapters will begin to answer and provide more info so that I can continue to help this student become a more successful reader.
Also, I just wanted to say, that as teachers, it is our job to correct the essays using our human abilities and training- we really don't need some artificial intelligence to do it for us. Sometimes I am annoyed that we are trying to find ways to get out of our basic human functions.
The topic of language employs many of the cognitive features we have already learned. Through language, we are using active processes that are "remarkably efficient and accurate" -Theme 2. In addition, the concept (theme 3) that humans respond more effectively to positive information than negative connects the Pollyanna Principle for Memory, the Confirming hypothesis theory for problem solving, and this weeks reading features of Negative sentence structure.
Reading requires us to recognize letters (ch 2), use eye movement- either top down and bottom up processing to read and fully understand given information (ch 3), employ working memory to retain information we are reading (ch 4) and recall information stored in long term memory (ch 5/6). We use meta comprehension to think and check our reading (ch 6), as well as using mental imagery to further comprehend the reading (ch 7). We also use semantic memory (ch 8) to understand whole paragraphs.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
I would like to know more about reading and working memory-specifically how students who have large memory spans can read more efficiently and have left over attention to remember context clues to guess unknown words. So if students do not have large working memories, what can be done so that they can still recall the context clues in addition to the information from the story?
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
I am currently working with a student with learning disabilities, trying to improve his reading comprehension and vocab. He has a poor working memory, so we have been trying to improve that though cognitive tasks! This chapter gave alot of background knowledge (most of which I was already aware of) that related to my tutoring experiences. I hope that the following chapters will begin to answer and provide more info so that I can continue to help this student become a more successful reader.
Also, I just wanted to say, that as teachers, it is our job to correct the essays using our human abilities and training- we really don't need some artificial intelligence to do it for us. Sometimes I am annoyed that we are trying to find ways to get out of our basic human functions.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
I don't know, you decide...
1. How does this topic fit into what I have learned already in this course?
Ch 12 was all about deductive reasoning and decision making. Four major principles discussed in this chapter- 1. belief bias effect 2. confirmation bias 3. illusory correlation 4. anchoring and adjustment heuristic, all rely on top down processing. However, each bias has underlying factors or principles from previous chapters that effect the results. The confirmation bias uses the concept from chapter three that people prefer to recall positive stimuli rather than negative, thus the desire to confirm a prediction rather than disprove it. In addition, it is clear that these two concepts: deductive reasoning and decision making, clearly relate and impact one another.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
I don't know what my problem is, but I have read and reread the confirmation bias example multiple times and I still don't believe that the 7 card is "just as valuable as the information on the other side of the E card". I agree that the 7 card can disprove the theory, but it can also not do anything for the theory if there is a consonant on the other side of the card. Therefore, I think that if you could only turn one card over, then the E card would have to be it because it is either going to accept or reject the rule.
Another thing, I dont believe in the law of numbers... I think that 60% of the children born at any give hospital will be boys, regardless if there are 500 people at one and 20 at another. If we are looking at random occurrences, the number should not change the probability. We don't say that there is a better chance that if we flip a coin 20 times, 10 will be heads than if we were just to flip it once and receive heads. Either way our probability is 1/2!
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
Well, a big part of education is teaching children to solve problems and make decisions- in math, geography, and science. Teaching the reasoning behind the method enables students to control their thoughts and predictions, rather than just go on "instincts". It also provides students with better opportunities to think about the outside factors impacting the situation rather than just what is presented in the curriculum. If all of these factors, bias, and heuristics are truly effecting our decision making, I think it is best to confront and think about them rather than ignore and silently let them distort our ideas and perceptions!
Ch 12 was all about deductive reasoning and decision making. Four major principles discussed in this chapter- 1. belief bias effect 2. confirmation bias 3. illusory correlation 4. anchoring and adjustment heuristic, all rely on top down processing. However, each bias has underlying factors or principles from previous chapters that effect the results. The confirmation bias uses the concept from chapter three that people prefer to recall positive stimuli rather than negative, thus the desire to confirm a prediction rather than disprove it. In addition, it is clear that these two concepts: deductive reasoning and decision making, clearly relate and impact one another.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
I don't know what my problem is, but I have read and reread the confirmation bias example multiple times and I still don't believe that the 7 card is "just as valuable as the information on the other side of the E card". I agree that the 7 card can disprove the theory, but it can also not do anything for the theory if there is a consonant on the other side of the card. Therefore, I think that if you could only turn one card over, then the E card would have to be it because it is either going to accept or reject the rule.
Another thing, I dont believe in the law of numbers... I think that 60% of the children born at any give hospital will be boys, regardless if there are 500 people at one and 20 at another. If we are looking at random occurrences, the number should not change the probability. We don't say that there is a better chance that if we flip a coin 20 times, 10 will be heads than if we were just to flip it once and receive heads. Either way our probability is 1/2!
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
Well, a big part of education is teaching children to solve problems and make decisions- in math, geography, and science. Teaching the reasoning behind the method enables students to control their thoughts and predictions, rather than just go on "instincts". It also provides students with better opportunities to think about the outside factors impacting the situation rather than just what is presented in the curriculum. If all of these factors, bias, and heuristics are truly effecting our decision making, I think it is best to confront and think about them rather than ignore and silently let them distort our ideas and perceptions!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
week 10
Chapter 11- Problem Solving and Creativity
1. How does this topic fit into what I have learned already in this course?
The first step for problem solving is to select which information is relevant, which employs attention, memory, and decision making which are part of our cognitive processes. Problem solving is influenced by many factors that we have previously studied in the text, including: bottom-up processing; top-down processing; expertise impacting working memory, long term memory, and concepts; preconceived schema; and their ability to self monitor.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
I would like to know if the nature of stereotype threat affects all forms of minorities (race/ economics/ sex) besides the ones they conducted on females. Do males produce the same elevated blood pressure? How do the tester's make the testee's aware of their classification prior to testing? Also, I would be interested to see if student's could improve their scores based on positive stereotypes- does an asian male perform higher if he reminded that he is very good in math?
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
I think that this information is really good to consider when planing lessons, because as teachers we provide the problems, situations, steps, and answers. By recognizing that students take different approaches to solving problems, we can analyze their progress and not just their ends. Furthermore, how we provide and how much we provide can inhibit their potential and creativity to challenge themselves and find solutions without step by step directions. This chapter also helps to remind me that everyone has their own learning style and that we should allow them to learn and work through problems the way they feel comfortable, which may mean that we provide only the basics and then back off! Sometimes acting as a resource is the best way to let them learn on their own.
1. How does this topic fit into what I have learned already in this course?
The first step for problem solving is to select which information is relevant, which employs attention, memory, and decision making which are part of our cognitive processes. Problem solving is influenced by many factors that we have previously studied in the text, including: bottom-up processing; top-down processing; expertise impacting working memory, long term memory, and concepts; preconceived schema; and their ability to self monitor.
2. What am I still not clear on in this week's reading(s)?
I would like to know if the nature of stereotype threat affects all forms of minorities (race/ economics/ sex) besides the ones they conducted on females. Do males produce the same elevated blood pressure? How do the tester's make the testee's aware of their classification prior to testing? Also, I would be interested to see if student's could improve their scores based on positive stereotypes- does an asian male perform higher if he reminded that he is very good in math?
3. Under what conditions would I apply this material to my own teaching/work?
I think that this information is really good to consider when planing lessons, because as teachers we provide the problems, situations, steps, and answers. By recognizing that students take different approaches to solving problems, we can analyze their progress and not just their ends. Furthermore, how we provide and how much we provide can inhibit their potential and creativity to challenge themselves and find solutions without step by step directions. This chapter also helps to remind me that everyone has their own learning style and that we should allow them to learn and work through problems the way they feel comfortable, which may mean that we provide only the basics and then back off! Sometimes acting as a resource is the best way to let them learn on their own.
Monday, March 2, 2009
chapter 8
1. How can I summarize this reading in a few sentences?
This chapter is about our general knowledge broken into the two sections of structure of semantic memory and schemas and scripts. In semantic memory, there are 4 possible approaches or models that we use to classify and connect a new stimulus to our past knowledge. In the section on schemas and scripts, it was explained how information is selected (when we apply more than what is given), abstracted (how we remember verbatim in whole context vs summarizing the gist of the info) inferred (how stereotypes and persuasion effect our understanding) and integration (delayed recall and limited memory capacity).
2. How does it fit into what I have learned already in this course?
Semantic memory and Schemas build on the concepts of:
ch. 2- senses gather stimuli from outside world and we are left to interpret this
ch. 3- attention difficulties and assigning order of importance
ch. 4-7 - working memory, long term memory, information organization, and rotation/spatial representation of information all effects our semantic memory.
3. What am I still not clear on?
I would like to know how levels of categorization (superordinate, basic, and subordinate) affect students recall rate and accuracy in answering classification questions. Are their negative to being more specific in classifications?
4. How would apply this to my own teaching/work?
We are constantly using scaffolding to build prior knowledge, which in essence employs the semantic memory approaches as well as taking into account student's schema and ways of processing the information into their memory.
5. What proof does the author offer that makes me believe this is valid? Do I believe it? Why?
I believe most of what the author is describing through the examples and my own past experiences. However, when he says: "Once sentences are fused in memory, we cannot untangle them into their original component and recall those components verbatim". I don't believe this is true because in the case of a play, actors recall specific dialogs and scenes verbatim without reciting the entire play. I think that different memories work in different ways and that this sentence is not an accurate portrayal of this possibility.
6. Why is this important? What does it help improve or explain or predict?
This helps to explain how physical use of graphic organizer can mentally help students sort out classification in their semantic memory! It also provided me with a greater understanding of why students may take longer to classify certain categorical information based on the amount of nodes they have acquired and the approach they are using. The information on script also helps to explain why certain reading questions trick students because of the expected vs unexpected information.
7. When would I actually use this – under what kind of circumstances and for what kind of students?
I would take this information into consideration for my whole class, but specifically work on exercises that focus on semantic processing with students with learning and attention disorders to strengthen the links in their webbing or listing processes.
8. Are there other ways to accomplish the same thing that are faster, cheaper, and/or better?
For semantic memory, you could physically make classification systems, but this would not be faster/cheaper/ or better. However, if you were not sure about the classification of a certain stimuli, you could make a semantic chart to identify if the stimuli meets to pro typical image and or qualification listed. Although this process takes longer, it is a more accurate way of answering the question if their is not a preconceived web or list already derived in your head.
This chapter is about our general knowledge broken into the two sections of structure of semantic memory and schemas and scripts. In semantic memory, there are 4 possible approaches or models that we use to classify and connect a new stimulus to our past knowledge. In the section on schemas and scripts, it was explained how information is selected (when we apply more than what is given), abstracted (how we remember verbatim in whole context vs summarizing the gist of the info) inferred (how stereotypes and persuasion effect our understanding) and integration (delayed recall and limited memory capacity).
2. How does it fit into what I have learned already in this course?
Semantic memory and Schemas build on the concepts of:
ch. 2- senses gather stimuli from outside world and we are left to interpret this
ch. 3- attention difficulties and assigning order of importance
ch. 4-7 - working memory, long term memory, information organization, and rotation/spatial representation of information all effects our semantic memory.
3. What am I still not clear on?
I would like to know how levels of categorization (superordinate, basic, and subordinate) affect students recall rate and accuracy in answering classification questions. Are their negative to being more specific in classifications?
4. How would apply this to my own teaching/work?
We are constantly using scaffolding to build prior knowledge, which in essence employs the semantic memory approaches as well as taking into account student's schema and ways of processing the information into their memory.
5. What proof does the author offer that makes me believe this is valid? Do I believe it? Why?
I believe most of what the author is describing through the examples and my own past experiences. However, when he says: "Once sentences are fused in memory, we cannot untangle them into their original component and recall those components verbatim". I don't believe this is true because in the case of a play, actors recall specific dialogs and scenes verbatim without reciting the entire play. I think that different memories work in different ways and that this sentence is not an accurate portrayal of this possibility.
6. Why is this important? What does it help improve or explain or predict?
This helps to explain how physical use of graphic organizer can mentally help students sort out classification in their semantic memory! It also provided me with a greater understanding of why students may take longer to classify certain categorical information based on the amount of nodes they have acquired and the approach they are using. The information on script also helps to explain why certain reading questions trick students because of the expected vs unexpected information.
7. When would I actually use this – under what kind of circumstances and for what kind of students?
I would take this information into consideration for my whole class, but specifically work on exercises that focus on semantic processing with students with learning and attention disorders to strengthen the links in their webbing or listing processes.
8. Are there other ways to accomplish the same thing that are faster, cheaper, and/or better?
For semantic memory, you could physically make classification systems, but this would not be faster/cheaper/ or better. However, if you were not sure about the classification of a certain stimuli, you could make a semantic chart to identify if the stimuli meets to pro typical image and or qualification listed. Although this process takes longer, it is a more accurate way of answering the question if their is not a preconceived web or list already derived in your head.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
ch. 7
1. Summary
Chapter 7 focused on the subject of mental imagery and cognitive maps. Within mental imagery, the chapter explains the analog code (pictorial representation) and the propositional code (descriptive representation) and the effects of rotation (both mentally and physically), size, and on a person's mental visual image. The chapter also describes factors of imagery interference and ambiguity. In the second section, the chapter explains how background information, relative position, physical representation, and distance have a great impact on individual's ability to form cognitive maps.
2. Scaffolding Information
Mental imagery connects the ideas of top down processing (ch.2 ) and the perceptual process (ch. 3) to explain how mentally imagery is formed and then perceived. The second section provides justification of individual errors on cognitive mapping. As explained in chapter 1, errors formed in cognitive processing can be traced to rational strategies. Based on this previous information, the text explains both the errors and the strategic rational for differences.
3. Questions
I don't understand why people are unable to store information in terms of mental images due to the lack of space it requires (p. 225). Doesn't the mnemonic strategy of the keyword method employ mental imagery for recall? If our brains are limited in their space, why would this mnemonic still be effective and there is still room for us to recall many other mental images?
4. Application
This information on cognitive mapping is useful in my own life as well as my future classroom. In my life, the explanation of cognitive mapping and its factors of distance and my relative position help to explain how I can form better cognitive maps for remembering things like where I parked my car. In addition, it provides insight to how students are thinking when they are learning about mapping in social studies and their personal biases from background information.
5. Real of fake
I believe that mental imagery is affected by many factors, as addressed in the book. However, I do not believe that our mind is limited to the amount of imagery we can store. There is no proof provided in the form of a statistic or experiment, so the author's claim is very hard to believe. Based on my personal experiences with recalling new locations and remembering ever-changing factors, the section on cognitive mapping seemed valid and accurate in its explanations.
6. Importance
Mentally imagery has a huge impact on our lives, both in the academic and real world setting. If we don't have a mental image for things like how much can fit in our freezer, problems result from our inability to accurately judge space versus what we buy at the grocery store. Cognitive mapping essentially enables us to find our way in a constantly changing environment.
7. Actual use for students
Students could apply mental imagery in many life skill lessons- is there enough room for you to push your chair through without bumping into others? This application is great for visual learners and I think could have positive effects on students with learning disabilities. The skill of cognitive mapping can be applied to many reading or social studies lessons to help students prepare their minds for physical recall of locations.
8. Other options
Beyond using mental imagery or cognitive mapping, physical imagery and mapping could be used. In these situations, the results could be more accurate because personal factors and biases would not come into play, allowing us to determine exactly what will fit in a space and where a location is. However, more time and energy is spent in the process of physically carrying out the activities.
Chapter 7 focused on the subject of mental imagery and cognitive maps. Within mental imagery, the chapter explains the analog code (pictorial representation) and the propositional code (descriptive representation) and the effects of rotation (both mentally and physically), size, and on a person's mental visual image. The chapter also describes factors of imagery interference and ambiguity. In the second section, the chapter explains how background information, relative position, physical representation, and distance have a great impact on individual's ability to form cognitive maps.
2. Scaffolding Information
Mental imagery connects the ideas of top down processing (ch.2 ) and the perceptual process (ch. 3) to explain how mentally imagery is formed and then perceived. The second section provides justification of individual errors on cognitive mapping. As explained in chapter 1, errors formed in cognitive processing can be traced to rational strategies. Based on this previous information, the text explains both the errors and the strategic rational for differences.
3. Questions
I don't understand why people are unable to store information in terms of mental images due to the lack of space it requires (p. 225). Doesn't the mnemonic strategy of the keyword method employ mental imagery for recall? If our brains are limited in their space, why would this mnemonic still be effective and there is still room for us to recall many other mental images?
4. Application
This information on cognitive mapping is useful in my own life as well as my future classroom. In my life, the explanation of cognitive mapping and its factors of distance and my relative position help to explain how I can form better cognitive maps for remembering things like where I parked my car. In addition, it provides insight to how students are thinking when they are learning about mapping in social studies and their personal biases from background information.
5. Real of fake
I believe that mental imagery is affected by many factors, as addressed in the book. However, I do not believe that our mind is limited to the amount of imagery we can store. There is no proof provided in the form of a statistic or experiment, so the author's claim is very hard to believe. Based on my personal experiences with recalling new locations and remembering ever-changing factors, the section on cognitive mapping seemed valid and accurate in its explanations.
6. Importance
Mentally imagery has a huge impact on our lives, both in the academic and real world setting. If we don't have a mental image for things like how much can fit in our freezer, problems result from our inability to accurately judge space versus what we buy at the grocery store. Cognitive mapping essentially enables us to find our way in a constantly changing environment.
7. Actual use for students
Students could apply mental imagery in many life skill lessons- is there enough room for you to push your chair through without bumping into others? This application is great for visual learners and I think could have positive effects on students with learning disabilities. The skill of cognitive mapping can be applied to many reading or social studies lessons to help students prepare their minds for physical recall of locations.
8. Other options
Beyond using mental imagery or cognitive mapping, physical imagery and mapping could be used. In these situations, the results could be more accurate because personal factors and biases would not come into play, allowing us to determine exactly what will fit in a space and where a location is. However, more time and energy is spent in the process of physically carrying out the activities.
Monday, February 16, 2009
1. How can I summarize this reading in a few sentences?
This reading explains in great detail the system of mnemonics, including keyword method, method of loci, chunking, hierarchy technique, and first letter technique. The chapter also explains how memory can be improved through techniques approach, and involving attention/focus, practice, imagery, and the multi modal approach.
The chapter also focuses on metacognition, or the way that people think about their cognitive process. The chapter describes factors that affect memory, such as the allocation of time based on the difficulty of the task. Also, the tip of the tongue phenomenon, including the feeling of knowing
2. How does it fit into what I have learned already in this course?
Chapter 6 and 13 did an excellent job of reviewing the information from previous chapters to build on the effects/styles/ and approaches we have already discussed. In chapter 6, the Tip of the Tongue phenomenon is affected by consciousness (discussed in chapter 3).
3. What am I still not clear on?
In the metamemory on total score basis, it shows how people in the top and third quartile were accurate in their test score prediction, but the lower group did not know their limitations and often had overconfidence, not knowing if they know the material or not. While this effect has been reported, what about the students who under predict their scores- how does this affect the metamemory?
4. How would apply this to my own teaching/work?
The system of mnemonics and the understanding of metamory/metacognition greatly affects the way that we as teachers plan lessons and teach material for recall. If we are asking students to memorize a series of information that is of low level processing, teaching them the system and options of mnemonics increases their ability to recall the information for a test setting or random classroom review. Likewise, understanding metamemory helps us to help our students comprehend how they are doing and how they think about the tasks they need to accomplish. If students are overconfident that they know material, problems arise in the difference between what they know and what they don't know.
5. What proof does the author offer that makes me believe this is valid? Do I believe it? Why?
The author provides examples, for a lot of the principles identified in the chapters. Through personal experience, I am able to confirm that his points are valid on mnemonics and the metamemory system. However, most of his tests are [performed with college level students, which raises my skepticism towards things like the metamemory on total score basis. College students often have different mindsets than children and adults, therefore I don't believe his study on the subject can generalize the effects on children and adults.
6. Why is this important? What does it help improve or explain or predict?
This information is important because it helps us to understand our students on a higher level, opening the ability to teach them effective methods for learning and studying, rather than just presenting them with the material that they must learn and study. By teaching them how to learn/think of a task mentally, they are able to apply these techniques to any material and improve their success throughout their career.
7. When would I actually use this – under what kind of circumstances and for what kind of students?
I would use this information with everyone- no age limit defining use. For students I would teach them mnemonics to remember ROY G BIV, as a college student I use the system myself, and as an adult I might use the memory strategies to help colleagues remember my first name upon meeting them for the first time.
8. Are there other ways to accomplish the same thing that are faster, cheaper, and/or better?
Well... I am not very good at the palm pilot business or writing stuff in my phone, so technological advancements do not seem ideal for me personally. The personal recorder seems effective, but time consuming, knowing that you have to replay and listen to everything twice- definitely not faster or more efficient. I would say that writing notes is the best way to accomplish the task, other than using memory strategies. If i don't have to memorize a grocery list, why should I? Writing stuff on a piece of paper takes less time than devising a mnemonic and is more reliable!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Chapter 5- long term memory
1. This chapter focused on the long term memory and how information is stored and received both effectively and non effectively with. This chapter focuses on the episodic memory, which includes personal memories for events that happened, allowing for the individual to travel back and re-experience these moments through their memory recall. The reading explained how memories are encoded into our memories, how they are retrieved, and how information is storied in our autobiographical memory for everyday life.
2. The explanation of distinctiveness, meaning the stimulus is different from all other memory traces, correlates to lasts weeks idea of proactive interference. Like PI, distinctiveness helps to set apart information that is being processed, using unique characteristics to store the memory, for short or long term use. Thinking about this, it would be much harder to recall the names of three identical triplets than to recall three names of people who are unique and the distinctive principle can be applied.
3. I am still not clear on consistency bias in that I don't really believe that this quality is true for all individuals. With the example of thinking back to high school about a particular stance I had, I am aware that I change my emotions and ideas, as does everyone. When I recall an event from my schema, I don't think that you have a consistency bias if you first recall your emotions/ thoughts at the time, in addition to your thoughts/ideas at the present time.
4. I think the part of this chapter that is most applicable to teaching is the Pollyanna Principle and how mood affects recall of memories. When thinking about my education, I agree with the Pollyanna Principle- that I am more likely to remember the pleasant times in learning over the negative, or boring times. As teachers we worry about NCLB and time and feel like we have to teach the information just to get it over with, not always making it the most pleasant and exciting that it can be. While students may remember this information in their short term memory, a lot of it does not make it to the long-term, or can not be recalled in later years, because of presentation. Instead, if we spend a few more minutes, become a little more energetic, ensure that our students have a positive attitude in the classroom. and teacher material using unique strategies, students will learn the content and have a better recall of it in future years.
5. The explanation of the levels of processing approach states that meaningful information processing leads to more permanent retention than shallow sensory processing. This explains why some information is more easily recalled when a self-reference is use. This is very valid and believable to me, because I personally have a greater sense of recall if I use self-referencing when memorizing or applying concepts/theories to my own life. This class is a great example- without self referencing, I would not be able to recall examples or ideas as easily if I did not actually do them and relate them to my personal life.
6. This information is important for me right now because I am learning all the most effective ways and scenarios that students can recall information, which is going to be my job as a teacher. While we say that we can't control outside factors, we can accommodate factors inside the classroom to create positive and educational atmospheres where the potential to encode, store, and recall information is ideal.
7. I would use these techniques in a any elementary classroom. To create a positive mood with pleasant memories does not conflict with any students learning styles. Teaching students self-referencing and helping them apply information to their own lives is essential for elementary students to that they understand the information, it is important to them, and it is more easily recalled. As for implicit/explicit memory, I think using a combination of both techniques is beneficial to reinforce learning and allow students to learn the information through different styles and strategies.
8. There are other ways that information can be "ingrained into our long term memory" as I have heard other teachers say so often, but that produces a negative image of drilling and rote practices to teach students information that they could learn better though positive self-referencing strategies. Sure, not all of the information is going to be stored in our longterm memories, no matter how positive of self centered they may be. To accommodate for this, portfolios containing important information and work from the year as well as scrapbooks and academic journals can be used to assist in the long term memory recall.
2. The explanation of distinctiveness, meaning the stimulus is different from all other memory traces, correlates to lasts weeks idea of proactive interference. Like PI, distinctiveness helps to set apart information that is being processed, using unique characteristics to store the memory, for short or long term use. Thinking about this, it would be much harder to recall the names of three identical triplets than to recall three names of people who are unique and the distinctive principle can be applied.
3. I am still not clear on consistency bias in that I don't really believe that this quality is true for all individuals. With the example of thinking back to high school about a particular stance I had, I am aware that I change my emotions and ideas, as does everyone. When I recall an event from my schema, I don't think that you have a consistency bias if you first recall your emotions/ thoughts at the time, in addition to your thoughts/ideas at the present time.
4. I think the part of this chapter that is most applicable to teaching is the Pollyanna Principle and how mood affects recall of memories. When thinking about my education, I agree with the Pollyanna Principle- that I am more likely to remember the pleasant times in learning over the negative, or boring times. As teachers we worry about NCLB and time and feel like we have to teach the information just to get it over with, not always making it the most pleasant and exciting that it can be. While students may remember this information in their short term memory, a lot of it does not make it to the long-term, or can not be recalled in later years, because of presentation. Instead, if we spend a few more minutes, become a little more energetic, ensure that our students have a positive attitude in the classroom. and teacher material using unique strategies, students will learn the content and have a better recall of it in future years.
5. The explanation of the levels of processing approach states that meaningful information processing leads to more permanent retention than shallow sensory processing. This explains why some information is more easily recalled when a self-reference is use. This is very valid and believable to me, because I personally have a greater sense of recall if I use self-referencing when memorizing or applying concepts/theories to my own life. This class is a great example- without self referencing, I would not be able to recall examples or ideas as easily if I did not actually do them and relate them to my personal life.
6. This information is important for me right now because I am learning all the most effective ways and scenarios that students can recall information, which is going to be my job as a teacher. While we say that we can't control outside factors, we can accommodate factors inside the classroom to create positive and educational atmospheres where the potential to encode, store, and recall information is ideal.
7. I would use these techniques in a any elementary classroom. To create a positive mood with pleasant memories does not conflict with any students learning styles. Teaching students self-referencing and helping them apply information to their own lives is essential for elementary students to that they understand the information, it is important to them, and it is more easily recalled. As for implicit/explicit memory, I think using a combination of both techniques is beneficial to reinforce learning and allow students to learn the information through different styles and strategies.
8. There are other ways that information can be "ingrained into our long term memory" as I have heard other teachers say so often, but that produces a negative image of drilling and rote practices to teach students information that they could learn better though positive self-referencing strategies. Sure, not all of the information is going to be stored in our longterm memories, no matter how positive of self centered they may be. To accommodate for this, portfolios containing important information and work from the year as well as scrapbooks and academic journals can be used to assist in the long term memory recall.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
ch.4 the working memory
1. This weeks readings focused on how the working memory (aka short term memory) works, focusing specifically on employing the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, the central executive, and the episodic buffer. The chapter also clarifies previous thoughts, predictions, and studies performed regarding the amount, quantity and time, as well as the content of information that are best utilized in the working memory.
2. Based on previous readings, the clarification of proactive interference helped to explain why cross modal tasks work and don't work in regard to processing different types of information. This chapter also gave me a better understanding of why we remember certain pieces of information (based on quantity and quality) and why others are forgotten or slip into inattentional blindness.
3. I understand the role of the central executive and the functional components, but I am still not certain of how it physically works in our minds. I am assuming that all individuals are different, and that central executives are stronger for some people than others. Is the central executive the reason why people are classified as having attention disorders? Also, can the central executive be strengthened through application and practice?
4. Working memory, including its rules, strategies, and approaches, is an essential factor that teachers have to consider when planning daily lessons. We have to plan lessons in a way that students can process information appropriately without overload; we need to focus on how much students can take in accurately for recall. Also, we need to challenge students to use their phonological loop, their viseosketchpads, and their central executives, to train them for independent academic use.
5. Prior to reading, I was familiar with the 7+ or - 2 theory. However, I did not fully understand this concept because with phone numbers, you either remember two chunks or three when employing the working memory. Therefore, chunking system made more sense to my personal application of working memory. However, as I kept reading, the explanation of why certain information is retained more often (using proactive interference and semantic similarity) affects our working memory. Applying the information to my own experiences helped to me focus on specific examples of each scenario and how our working memory is ever changing.
6. This information helps us to best understand our capabilities of processing and recalling information to maximize our working memory. Knowing what kind of information and its quantity can be recalled in certain situations enables us to design and carry out academic and daily tasks accordingly.
7. I plan on using this information as much as possible! From remembering telephone numbers, to asking students to picture things using their visuosketchpads, to explaining why a student has difficulty reading long words based on their phonological loop. Once we are able to understand why a certain situation is or is not working, we can help students to correct and maintain the most effective strategies for using their working memory.
8. There are definitely other ways to using the working memory more accurately- the simplest is to manually record the information we are trying to remember. However, although this process is more time consuming and more expensive, it has a higher success rate. There are a lot of things you can do make your working memory better- ie, eating breakfast, taking prescribed attention medicine, exercising, decreasing anxiety, etc. The one thing that could not be replaced is the ability to read using the working memory- if you don't have a proper working phonological loop, I think reading would be impossible.
2. Based on previous readings, the clarification of proactive interference helped to explain why cross modal tasks work and don't work in regard to processing different types of information. This chapter also gave me a better understanding of why we remember certain pieces of information (based on quantity and quality) and why others are forgotten or slip into inattentional blindness.
3. I understand the role of the central executive and the functional components, but I am still not certain of how it physically works in our minds. I am assuming that all individuals are different, and that central executives are stronger for some people than others. Is the central executive the reason why people are classified as having attention disorders? Also, can the central executive be strengthened through application and practice?
4. Working memory, including its rules, strategies, and approaches, is an essential factor that teachers have to consider when planning daily lessons. We have to plan lessons in a way that students can process information appropriately without overload; we need to focus on how much students can take in accurately for recall. Also, we need to challenge students to use their phonological loop, their viseosketchpads, and their central executives, to train them for independent academic use.
5. Prior to reading, I was familiar with the 7+ or - 2 theory. However, I did not fully understand this concept because with phone numbers, you either remember two chunks or three when employing the working memory. Therefore, chunking system made more sense to my personal application of working memory. However, as I kept reading, the explanation of why certain information is retained more often (using proactive interference and semantic similarity) affects our working memory. Applying the information to my own experiences helped to me focus on specific examples of each scenario and how our working memory is ever changing.
6. This information helps us to best understand our capabilities of processing and recalling information to maximize our working memory. Knowing what kind of information and its quantity can be recalled in certain situations enables us to design and carry out academic and daily tasks accordingly.
7. I plan on using this information as much as possible! From remembering telephone numbers, to asking students to picture things using their visuosketchpads, to explaining why a student has difficulty reading long words based on their phonological loop. Once we are able to understand why a certain situation is or is not working, we can help students to correct and maintain the most effective strategies for using their working memory.
8. There are definitely other ways to using the working memory more accurately- the simplest is to manually record the information we are trying to remember. However, although this process is more time consuming and more expensive, it has a higher success rate. There are a lot of things you can do make your working memory better- ie, eating breakfast, taking prescribed attention medicine, exercising, decreasing anxiety, etc. The one thing that could not be replaced is the ability to read using the working memory- if you don't have a proper working phonological loop, I think reading would be impossible.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
ch.3 -perceptual process
1. This chapter focuses on: the 3 types of attention ( divided, selective, and saccadic eye movement); theories and explanations on attention; and our consciousness. This chapter also focuses on the restrictions caused by medical impairments towards each of the key topics.
2. Expanding on the previous chapter about the physical (both visual and auditory) perception of how we perceive objects, this chapter goes in depth on the mental aspects of the process. While we may understand that we can take in multiple sources, this chapter explains that how regarding the way we process each piece of information and why we may recall certain things easier than others.
3. I had a question regarding unilateral neglect due to brain lesions. In figure 3.3 where the man was able to draw the right portion of the clock but not the left, why did he finish the circle outline? When I was reading it, I compared it to only seeing out of one eye, but when you close one eye, you can still see all the components before you, just in a short range of peripheral vision than with both eyes. Would it be more like if you closed one eye and put a notebook in front of your face, along your nose, to block half of your vision?
4. The component that I thought would be most relevant to teaching was the information on cross-modal and divided attention tasks. After reading this, and performing the examples using the colors, I was more aware of the importance off focusing on one thing at a time. In our world where we are fighting against time we hand papers out while giving instructions, allowing the students to record their names, which takes away from them listening to us, inevitable, loosing more through the divided attention aspect than you would have lost focusing on one thing at a time!
5. I believe everything the author says, especially after doing all the examples! I sometimes read the paragraph before flipping the page to do the example. Sometimes it is hard to believe the results until you do it yourself! In regard to that, I have difficulty understanding/ believing that people with brain lesions only see half of a picture or that they may miss half of the food on their plate. I guess it is one of those things you have to experience to really understand (which I don't really want to do!)
6. This chapter helped to explain why I can do certain things simultaneously (ie- type and watch tv) but not others (ie- read and watch tv). In one scenario you may be able to take in information either through divided attention or selective, but in another scenario it is easier to take in one source (hearing it) and say the answer (by visually writing it).
7. This information is applicable to EVERY situation- in the classroom how I might ask students to do two tasks of listening and writing or in my life when I am talking on the phone and driving. My mother ALWAYS knows when I am on the computer while I am talking to her on the phone... it drives her nuts :) Apparently I don't have the divided attention I thought I had!
8. Are there other ways to accomplish processing this information better.... maybe in the next hundred years when humans become computerized they will have multiple source- automatic recall systems... but for now, I think that practice is our only way to improve our abilities to divide attentions.
2. Expanding on the previous chapter about the physical (both visual and auditory) perception of how we perceive objects, this chapter goes in depth on the mental aspects of the process. While we may understand that we can take in multiple sources, this chapter explains that how regarding the way we process each piece of information and why we may recall certain things easier than others.
3. I had a question regarding unilateral neglect due to brain lesions. In figure 3.3 where the man was able to draw the right portion of the clock but not the left, why did he finish the circle outline? When I was reading it, I compared it to only seeing out of one eye, but when you close one eye, you can still see all the components before you, just in a short range of peripheral vision than with both eyes. Would it be more like if you closed one eye and put a notebook in front of your face, along your nose, to block half of your vision?
4. The component that I thought would be most relevant to teaching was the information on cross-modal and divided attention tasks. After reading this, and performing the examples using the colors, I was more aware of the importance off focusing on one thing at a time. In our world where we are fighting against time we hand papers out while giving instructions, allowing the students to record their names, which takes away from them listening to us, inevitable, loosing more through the divided attention aspect than you would have lost focusing on one thing at a time!
5. I believe everything the author says, especially after doing all the examples! I sometimes read the paragraph before flipping the page to do the example. Sometimes it is hard to believe the results until you do it yourself! In regard to that, I have difficulty understanding/ believing that people with brain lesions only see half of a picture or that they may miss half of the food on their plate. I guess it is one of those things you have to experience to really understand (which I don't really want to do!)
6. This chapter helped to explain why I can do certain things simultaneously (ie- type and watch tv) but not others (ie- read and watch tv). In one scenario you may be able to take in information either through divided attention or selective, but in another scenario it is easier to take in one source (hearing it) and say the answer (by visually writing it).
7. This information is applicable to EVERY situation- in the classroom how I might ask students to do two tasks of listening and writing or in my life when I am talking on the phone and driving. My mother ALWAYS knows when I am on the computer while I am talking to her on the phone... it drives her nuts :) Apparently I don't have the divided attention I thought I had!
8. Are there other ways to accomplish processing this information better.... maybe in the next hundred years when humans become computerized they will have multiple source- automatic recall systems... but for now, I think that practice is our only way to improve our abilities to divide attentions.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Chapter 2 weekly reflection
This week's reading provided a lot of information about how we process everyday concepts through visual and auditory recognition. It's eye opening to read about the factors that contribute to the mental process of seeing and hearing, a process that occurs naturally with development, is something that many take for granted, including me.
With this being the first chapter to analyze, I'd have to say that so far the information is all logical and appropriate for the class. Based on what I have learned through previous research about cognition, learning about how the mental process of how we connect to the objects and noises we hear makes sense so far!
A question that I still had regarding this chapter was why some people are better at unscrambling words than other people. Are they more cognitively developed in a certain part of the brain? Is it something that people can improve on?
The chapter is very easily applied to everyday life, for example, how I pick out a shirt from the drawer without pulling all of them out, but rather just using a portion of the shirt to recognize its whole. Through processing we are able to move at quicker speeds and recognize objects by their color and shape in comparison to others. If ever spice was in the exact same container, same color, same shaped bottle, it would take me twice as long to cook because I wouldn't be able to rely on my shortened processing information.
I liked that the author included the example about the person not recognizing changes when an obstacle obstructs their view. Providing the examples and case studies makes it really believable.
This information is helpful in explaining why students have difficulty reading, why memories lapse with old age, and the overall importance of thinking about a situation from another's point of view- one who can not visually or auditorally process information as most people can. I think that I could apply this information in a classroom by using it to explain to children the importance of watching a person when they are speaking.
I don't think there are other ways of accomplishing this task any faster or cheaper. Video taping provides a second resource, but it is more expensive and much slower than visual and auditory process recognition.
This week's reading provided a lot of information about how we process everyday concepts through visual and auditory recognition. It's eye opening to read about the factors that contribute to the mental process of seeing and hearing, a process that occurs naturally with development, is something that many take for granted, including me.
With this being the first chapter to analyze, I'd have to say that so far the information is all logical and appropriate for the class. Based on what I have learned through previous research about cognition, learning about how the mental process of how we connect to the objects and noises we hear makes sense so far!
A question that I still had regarding this chapter was why some people are better at unscrambling words than other people. Are they more cognitively developed in a certain part of the brain? Is it something that people can improve on?
The chapter is very easily applied to everyday life, for example, how I pick out a shirt from the drawer without pulling all of them out, but rather just using a portion of the shirt to recognize its whole. Through processing we are able to move at quicker speeds and recognize objects by their color and shape in comparison to others. If ever spice was in the exact same container, same color, same shaped bottle, it would take me twice as long to cook because I wouldn't be able to rely on my shortened processing information.
I liked that the author included the example about the person not recognizing changes when an obstacle obstructs their view. Providing the examples and case studies makes it really believable.
This information is helpful in explaining why students have difficulty reading, why memories lapse with old age, and the overall importance of thinking about a situation from another's point of view- one who can not visually or auditorally process information as most people can. I think that I could apply this information in a classroom by using it to explain to children the importance of watching a person when they are speaking.
I don't think there are other ways of accomplishing this task any faster or cheaper. Video taping provides a second resource, but it is more expensive and much slower than visual and auditory process recognition.
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