Chapter 2: Meaningful Learning in an Information Age

Chapter 2 is intended to provide a broad justification for the suggested learning activities discussed in other chapters. The focus is on the goals of education and the nature of learning.

Content experts suggest educational goals in the form of standards and issues related to establishing standards and using standards to evaluate individual student accomplishment and school success have received a great deal of attention in recent years. Without weighing in on the political issues related to standards, we attempt to discuss standards in order to:

• help you develop a deeper understanding of what experts believe students should learn
• encourage you to consider how specific uses of technology might facilitate or inhibit desirable learning outcomes

This chapter emphasizes cognitive models of learning because such models focus on the mental activities of learners and how learning tasks influence these mental activities.

The following questions are addressed:

• What do assumptions about the structure of long-term memory imply for the successful storage and use of knowledge?
• How do external tasks influence internal mental practice?
• What are authentic tasks, and what is necessary for classroom experiences to be more authentic?
• What are the characteristics of skilled problem solving and critical-thinking behavior, and how does the selection of learning activities influence the development of these characteristics?
• Why does existing research not demonstrate the general positive educational benefits of technology that some think to be necessary to justify the money that is spent?

I. Cognitive models of School Learning (pp. 38-59)

The cognitive perspective attempts to understand the mental behaviors involved in thinking and learning. Cognitive models emphasize how students acquire information and skills, solve problems, and engage in such academic tasks as reading, writing, and mathematical reasoning.

Chapter two describes thinking and learning on two levels:

• a fundamental level which attempts to understand the details of storage and information processing
• a conceptual level which takes a less reductionistic approach and operates on the level of skills and learning activities more familiar to teachers

I.A Fundamental properties of mental activity

Learning and thinking activities can be described in terms of multiple memory stores, the processes or actions used to think and learn, and some executive mechanisms allowing for management and quality control functions. (A more extended discussion)

I.A.1 Memory stores

Memory stores hold information. Two stores, short term memory and long term memory, are particularly relevant to the topics we discuss.

I.A.1.a Short term memory

Short term memory might be understood as consciousness - the thoughts, ideas, and images which a person is aware of at any point in time. Short term memory is also frequently called working memory because this store holds the information actively used in thinking and learning.

Perhaps the most relevant characteristics of short term memory for educators involve limits. Short term memory has both limited capacity and holds information for a limited duration. In educational settings, these limits can be exceeded when the learner must attempt to perform tasks that have not been mastered, when attempting to do too many things at once, or when new information is encountered at a pace that does not allow adequate processing. The system can overcome some these challenges through extended experience (practice) with a particular skill. With extended practice, specific skills become automatized (require very little capacity to execute) allowing the available capacity to applied to other tasks or information. One category of computer software to be discussed in Chapter 4 - Drill and Practice - is a way to provide this extended practice.

I.A.1.b Long term memory

Long term memory contains a person's permanent store of knowledge and skills.

Contents of long term memory

• Imagery
• Episodic memory - a stored representation of an experience. Episodic memories are rich in detail and related to a particular place and time.
• Declarative knowledge - factual knowledge
• Procedural knowledge - stored methods for performing tasks

Network structure

Much of the information in long term memory appears organized through links. This arrangement is often described as a network. The process of learning not involves the storage of more units of knowledge (images, episodes, declarative nodes, etc.) but the forming of links among these units (nodes). Links function to bring into awareness (short term memory) stored experience and knowledge associated with the particular node that is actually the focus of attention.

I.A.2 Processes - Mental tools for doing the work of thinking and learning

Researchers have attempted to identify the basic actions functioning within the cognitive system. We have attempted to drastically simplify this work by identifying categories of actions that seem to exist. We describe these categories as mental tools.

• attend to - bring idea into consciousness; maintain idea in consciousness
• link - connect units of information
• elaborate - creates or discovers new knowledge from the logical combination of active memory components
• test - determines whether a situation is as desired or expected

I.A.3 Metacognition

Metacognition is sometimes refered to as the executive function. It involves the capacity to engage the cognitive system in a planful, coordinated, and self-adjusting manner. It answers the questions of "How does the cognitive system know what to do?" and "How can the system respond when something goes wrong?"

Metacognition is described in terms of a combination of metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive control functions.

I.A.3.a Metacognitive knowledge

Metacognitive knowledge refers to personal insights into how cognitive tasks are to be accomplished. It involves stored information recognizing what it takes to do different things, what makes specific tasks easy or difficult in specific situations, and knowledge of personal characteristics. For example, adults recognize that random information (a telephone number) is difficult to remember and take action because of this (write the number town, repeat the number to remember it). This insight is something that has been learned.

I.A.3.b Metacognitive control functions

Metacognitive functions are the skills involved in planning, regulating and evaluating behavior. These cognitive behaviors have great importance in academic performance. For example, while reading, it is common to "lose one's train of thought" or to fail to understand what the author is trying to say. In most cases, we are capable of recognizing that we have failed to comprehend and take an efficient remedial action by rereading the confusing content. The ability to evaluate and then readjust the original behavior allows improved comprehension.

One unique area in which issues of metacognitive functioning apply to computer-based instruction involves the distinction between learner and computer control. The computer can be programmed to perform certain rudimentary metacognitive functions for the learner. The comparison of computer and learner control is sometimes made by researchers to determine which system of regulation produces the best results.

I.B Conceptual models of school learning

I.B.1 Meaningful learning - Ausubel

Meaninful learning occurs when new experiences are related to what a learner already knows. Meaningful learning can be contrasted with rote learning in which learning occurs with little attention to meaning.

Meaningful learning assumes:

• students already have some knowledge that is relevant to new experiences they encounter
• students are willing to do the mental work necessary to create connections

In addition to contrasting meaningful and rote learning, Ausubel also differentiated reception learning from discovery learning. In reception learning, the ideas to be learned are presented to the learner in a well-organized fashion. In discovery learning, students must work to identify key ideas to be learned and then must store this information.

When proposing meaningful learning, Ausubel was concerned that educators not assume meaningful and discovery learning were necessarily the same thing. To see this, it is helpful to see meaningful-rote and reception-discovery as independent dimensions. We feel future teachers can learn a lot by attempting to place specific learning activities within the space defined by these two dimensions. Of course, not everyone will agree on the placement of a particular activity and it is then informative to consider how different learning tasks are perceived.

I.B.2 Generative Learning (Wittrock)

Like Ausubel, Wittrock emphasizes that importance of connecting new experiences with what is already known. Although learning is accomplished by the learner, Wittrock recognizes that external tasks can play a role in encouraging generative mental behaviors. Most of his work concerned external activities that could improve reading comprehension.

I.B.2.a Computer tools and thinking behavior

Computer tools (word processors, spreadsheets, multimedia authoring, etc.) may engage learners in generative learning in the manner described by Wittrock. Computer tools were designed to facilitate certain activities (writing, mathematical analysis) or to create certain products (web pages). As learners engage in these activities and create these products, the tools may offer some benefits to learning.

Writing may provide an example. Obviously, a computer and word processing program are not necessary for writing. When students write with the benefit of technology, their behavior may change. The ease with which students can revise their work may encourage students to write more and revise more frequently. Writing with technology thus would offer a direct benefit that may improve the product students generate. Perkins (1985) describes a second way technology may alter writing behavior and help students learn to become more competent writers. If revision no longer is a great burden, students may write differently in the first place - they might write in a way that goes beyond the conservative style they feel comfortable with. Exploring how to communicate may help develop new skills. Technology offers opportunities with less risk (Perkins describes the potential as the "opportunities get taken" hypothesis).

I.B.3 Constructivism

The word "constructivism" appears frequently in educational circles. One danger is that constructivism implies different things to different educators. Here, we are focused on some of the more generally accepted principles of constructivism:

• what is known by each individual is not passively perceived, but actively assembled by the learner
• what is already known influences the "meaning" constructed for new experiences
• learning serves an adaptive function and helps the learner operate within his/her personal world

II. From Theory to Practice: Teaching, Learning and Technology (pp. 59-62)

This section is an effort to recognize some important implications of the conceptual models of learning in classroom settings.

II.A Authentic activities

The catalyst for changing the learning experience at a fundamental level will be centering more of the learner's time on authentic, challenging activities.

Authentic activities are defined in the book in terms of practices that would be considered ordinary practices within an identifiable culture. The difficulty pointed out by this way of thinking about authentic activities is the mismatch between the culture of the classroom and the culture of practice. What tend to be ordinary practices for the culture of "biology student" are very different from the ordinary practices for the culture of "biology practitioner." Hence, the context in which information and skills are acquired encourages methods of constructing understanding that are not ideally suited to the intended context of application.

One solution is to provide students more frequent opportunities to function within the intended "culture of practice" (biologist, historian, writer, etc.).

II.B Inert knowledge

One unintended negative consequence of the "disconnect" between the "culture of student" and the intended "culture of practice" is inert knowledge.

Inert knowledge describes the condition in which information and skills relevant to a task exists, but are not activiated for use even though the knowledge and skills would be appropriate. The problem is not a failure of retrieval (i.e., I tried to remember and I cannot) , but rather a situation in which the context fails to trigger the stored information. Work done with "naive science" even indicates that we may sometimes store multiple information sources appropriate to the same domain. We may have formalized knowledge stored as a consequence of educational experiences and "naive beliefs" stored as a consequence of daily experience. In some cases these stores may be somewhat contradictory (naive conceptions may be slightly inaccurate or incomplete in contrast to formalized knowledge). However, because formalized knowledge has been developed in a decontextualized manner (i.e., disconnected from experiences within the "culture of practice"), the context in an applied setting may not trigger recall of the formalized knowledge.

III. Higher Order Thinking and Transfer (pp. 62-68)

The attributes of higher-order thinking behaviors include:

• complexity - the process typically unfolds in stages without a complete course of action being evident from the beginning; often several alternative courses can be taken
• commitment of effort - higher-order thinking tasks require conscious effort
• self-regulation - metacognitive planning and monitoring are required
• exercising judgment - conflicting information must frequently be resolved

Problem-solving and critical thinking are identifiable skills qualifying as higher-order thinking. The characteristics just outlined apply in both cases.

Characteristics of the two types of behavior are identified in the following chart. Often, tasks involve both problem-solving and critical thinking.

IV. Social context of learning (pp. 68-75)

While the constructionsist position places responsibility for learning on the actions taken by the learner, the social context of learning can be very influential in the type of processing learners do.

IV.A Cognitive Apprenticeship

Complex cognitive behaviors are difficult to explain. For example, do elementary teachers actually explain to students how to read? They may require that students read and then provide feedback on their oral reading or comprehension. Such feedback may encourage to make adjustments but does not actually explain what readers might "do" differently.

The idea in reciprocal teaching, a form of cognitive apprenticeship, is to model important reading processes and allow readers to gradually take on responsibility for the multiple processes involved in reading comprehension. The social context provides the opportunity to gain insight into actual mental behaviors (as they are externalized by the more skilled reader) and to try out individual skills within a group context allowing the opportunity for feedback and distribution of the workload.

A collaborative social environment can provide the opportunity to external important cognitive behaviors. Externalizing behavior allows more skilled practitioners to model skills that may be difficult for the uninitiated to conceptualize.

IV.B Cooperative learning

In cooperative learning, students work together to accomplish a learning task. While it cannot be assumed that students know how to accomplish tasks cooperatively, the skills can be learned and the process has some unique benefits.

Learning to work with others develops skills that are important in applied setting.

The interaction required in cooperative tasks requires individuals to externalize their thinking. Students benefit from this process because it requires them to put ideas into a more concrete form and because of the feedback that is available.

Many of the projects described in this book could be implemented using the "group investigation" method.

Consulting, a cooperative activity in which experienced individuals provide guidance to less experienced individuals, represents a unique approach to classroom applications of technology.

IV.C Project-based learning

Projects provide an ideal setting for cooperative learning. When students work together to complete a project, they confront the ideas of others and are forced to voice and explain their own beliefs.

Good projects:

• encourage learners to make decisions
• encourage "what-if" questions
• require discussion and communication
• allow a final product or solution
• are flexible to allow students to move beyond the original charge

The application of learning theory - avoid extremism 

How do you respond when a textbook presents several theories that attempt to explain the same phenomena? Do you assume that one must be correct and the others must be wrong? In some cases, it may be more useful to consider what issue or issues each theory addresses particularly well.

American Psychological Association Educational Reform Guidelines

V. Research Evaluating Technology in Schools (75-76))

There have been recent charges that research does not support the massive commitment that schools have made to technology.

The claim that a research literature does not exist is somewhat surprising to many who work in the area because there is a cumulative body of literature going back many years and consisting of hundreds of studies.

The difference in perspective exists because there are few studies that provide the kind of simple and concrete answers some desire. Some want to see studies that demonstrate the way technology is used in typical classrooms benefits students in ways that might be obvious on traditional standardized tests.

Research tends to be focused on issues and tasks that are easier to isolate and evaluate. Conducting research in applied settings has often involved compromises that limit generalizability.

Research, especially large-scale studies, is expensive and given the stakes (the amount of money being spend, the importance of quality education) too little money has been invested.

10/10/05