Cognitive Learning Theories and Instructional Strategies

            Dr. Orey (Laureate Education, n.d.) stressed that it is important that teachers provide their students with opportunities to connect with the content.  The more pathways the content can be connected that better chance our students have remembering what they have been taught, and actually be able to apply what they have learned into real life.  Two ways teachers can accomplish this is by using good questions and organizers, and leading students through summarizing and note taking. 

            Orey (Laureate Education, n.d.) said that long term memories are stored in networks of memories.  It is important that teachers help their students tap in to the appropriate network.  This can be accomplished by a teacher clearly stating what the purpose of a lesson is (Pitler, Hubbell, &Kuhn, 2012).   When this is done it allows the students to access the appropriate networks in their mind that will give them the biggest chance of success.  Elaboration is believed to be the primary method for storing information in long-term memory (Laureate Education, n.d.).  Elaboration can be accomplished by asking vary questions that coincide with Bloom’s Taxonomy.  Pitler et al. (2012) noted that the more a student thinks critically about something the better chance they have committing their learning into long-term memory. 

            Another learning strategy that is known to improve memory is dual coding.  Dual coding operates under the premise that people remember images better than they do text (Laureate Education, n.d.).  If a teacher were able to take an image and attach a label to it a study will have a better chance to remember it.  Using graphic organizers is one way to practice dual coding.  As a teacher is teaching a lesson on the water cycle they could have their students complete an organizer illustrating the steps as they go through them. 

            Summarizing and note taking provides a student to opportunity to process the information that they are learning and break it down to its most important parts (Pitler, Hubbell, &Kuhn, 2012). This is a difficult task that requires modeling and practice.  Pitler et al. recommends that teacher’s gives students prepared notes.  This operates under the assumption that the teacher as determined learning outcomes and has set up their notes in a way that will achieve them.   A teacher can also lead their student through the rules of writing a summary and guide them through this process.  If note taking and summarizing are done properly it will force the students to really think about the content so that they can break it down into its simplest parts.  This process will help the students store knowledge into long-term memory. 

            Moving forward, it is important that I clearly define the purpose for the lessons that I am teaching, and that I ask higher order thinking questions before and during a lesson so that I can help my students think critically about what they are learning.  It is also important that I use proper graphic organizers and notes so that I can help my students access and store the information that they are learning properly. 

References:

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Cognitive learning theories [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.