I always thought my students came from a different planet and it turns out they do…according to cognitivism.

Everything we learn is based on our understanding of the information we are trying to learn, the information that we already have stored in our brains, and our attention on and motivation to take in new materials (Novak & Cañas, 2008). Even if we are motivated to learn the information we can only attend to a small number of items at one time and therefore it is important that a teacher does not overwhelm a learner with too much information according to Dr. Orey (Laureate, 2008a). So where does that leave us? Well, it leaves us with a starting place to discuss cognitivism in the classroom, and with the realization that our students are literally living on a different planet than we are because they understand their world differently.

If teachers know that students go through a specific process when they are constructing their understanding of information being presented, and if teachers know that part of that process is dependent on making connections to previously learned information, then teachers should be able to create learning experiences that prep students for success. It is also important for teachers to recognize that there are limits to the amount of attention even the most motivated students can provide to tasks in a classroom and, therefore, teachers need to be aware of how much information is being thrown at the students. It also means that there are certain activities that will lend themselves to deep student thinking if the questions and information sought from the student is clearly defined and of a deep and inviting construction.

Teachers need to think about the kinds of assignments they are asking their students to complete and the level of questions that are being asked of those students. Without explicitly teaching students about using good note taking strategies, many students fall into the habits, be they good or bad, that teachers have explicitly taught them in the past. Unfortunately, many of those explicit teachings of note taking were based on outdated research that does make use of the current technological tools such as wikis, blogs, organizing software, and word processor templates as Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) suggest. As technology changes, and our understanding of the way that students take in, process, and synthesize changes, teachers must make changes to their instruction in order to help students make connections and intricate understandings of the relationships between the information presented to them in a variety of settings. Teachers also need to understand that students will have a better grasp of the information presented if it is presented through different modalities because it gives the students more ways to connect information which is important for retention according to Dr. Wolfe (Laureate, 2008b).

Students also need to know what it is that they are trying to learn as well. Without a clear purpose, it would be easy for students to attend to the wrong information being presented to them. Since their attention is the first step in them understanding the information it is imperative that they fully understand and attend to the goal for the learning experience if meaning is to become engrained in their minds. This can be accomplished by providing the students with cues, organizers, and intentional questions. All of these are strategies that help the students identify their purpose and attend to specific information that is deemed of value (Pitler, et al., 2007). Through specific technology programs like Inspiration, spreadsheets, and word processors, students can be provided with a structure within which to explore ideas (Pitler, et al., 2007).

That structure is important because it allows a teacher to control the forum in which the learning is taking place so the learning can be modified for the instructional purpose at hand. This is also true in the case of providing background knowledge through virtual field trips and concept maps. By providing students an opportunity to explore a location inaccessible because of distance, time, or money, the students can still experience, in a limited form, a location or set of information without having to physically attend the site. A class studying Beowulf might be able to take a virtual tour of the British library in a single class period instead of having to board a plane, fly to England, and physically walk into the library. In this way, students who might never have the opportunity to see the original manuscript would not be denied, in totality, the experience of interacting with the text.

In the same way, a teacher could then have the students build a concept map about the story which could include images, the information from the virtual field trip, the Hollywood interpretations of the text, the teacher’s interpretation of the text, and any other information that the student might already have about the text into a single document. This would illustrate the student’s ability to synthesize information from a variety of sources and formats, provide an insight into the connections that they have made between those sources, and the level of knowledge that they have about the text. When combined with other students’ concept maps, this would provide an impressive tool that a teacher could expand on in future lessons and provide students with access to a wealth of information from their peers (Novak & Cañas, 2008).

At the end of the day, the teacher has a multitude of ways to try to engage students in their lessons. The first step is to get the students to clearly understand and then attend to the lesson though. Assuming that the teacher can fulfill these requirements, using strategies like those listed above will lead to a deeper understanding of information from students. Teachers need to understand how the brain works and what learning strategies are effective for the specific instructional goal that they have. Once they are clear on what they are trying to accomplish and understand how the brain functions, the more likely it is that they will pick the appropriate instructional strategy to accomplish that learning objective and the clearer they will be able to identify that objective for their students.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008a). Program five. Cognitive Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008b). Program two. Brain Research and Learning [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Novak, J. D. & Cañas, A. J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008. Retrieved from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Web site: http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.