the information-processing approach · strategies for helping students use strategies remember it...

The Information-Processing Approach

Information-ProcessingStrategies

Metacognition and Strategies

Studying the Learning of Experts

The Learning Skills of Experts: Detecting features and meaningful patterns

of organization

Experts are better at noticing important features of problems and contexts Experts have superior recall of information because they perceive chunks of meaningful informationClassic study: child chess experts versus adult novice chess players

The Learning Skills of Experts: Organization and depth of knowledge

Experts’ knowledge is organized around important ideas or concepts Experts have a more elaborate network about their area of expertise than novices

vs.

The Learning Skills of Experts: Retrieving information with little effort

Experts retrieve information in an almost effortless, automatic manner Ease of retrieval frees up cognitive resources Example: Expert versus novice readersAutomatic decoding by expert readers enable them to devote attention to understanding what they are reading

The Learning Skills of Experts: Using effective strategies

Distributed study versus cramming Asking yourself questions about what you read or about an activityGood note-taking strategies (summarizing, outlining, concept maps)

Effective strategies help students move from the early “acclimation stage” of developing expertise

Can Children be Experts?

PRO:Children can be chess experts.

Children have “expert-like” knowledge.

e.g., knowledge about dinosaurs

knowledge about birds (see following slides)

CON:Expertise requires both knowledge and general-purpose

problem solving skills. Children are less likely to

have acquired general problem solving skills.

Expertise in Children and AdultsWaters & Waters (2009)

First Task: Evaluating overall knowledge using questions from a Bird Trivial Pursuit Deck (300 questions)

131. Are Rusty Blackbirds often found with other blackbird species

132. Where in southern New Jersey do fantastic numbers of fall migrants collect, waiting for the wind to change before they fly across the open ocean?

133. In what type of woodlands are Western Tanagers found?

134. What cuckoos have the nickname the “Tickbirds?”

9 yr old Child: 48% correct Educated Adult: 47% Less educated, more knowledgeable adult: 75%

Second Task: Asked to sort 47 bird pictures into meaningful groups (herons, birds of prey, waterfowl, chicken-like birds, shore birds, woodpeckers, thrushes, crows & jays, blackbirds & related.



Child: Child simply labeled the piles of pictures, “herons, egrets,” “woodpeckers,” “hawks, birds of prey,” etc.

Educated Adult: Very much aware of his decision-making, e.g., “There’s only one goose so I didn’t make a pile of it. So ducks and geese are similar enough they can stay together.”

Less educated, more knowledgeable Adult: Also high levels of self-monitoring, “These are shore birds but you could separate it into godwits, sandpipers and wood godwits.”

9 yr old Child: 2/3 correct Educated Adult: 2/3 correct Less educated, more knowledgeable adult: 90%


Third Task: Twenty questions with familiar birds (total of 20 birds). Below are sample protocols.

Educated Adult Expert: guessed 100% correct

1. Is it a perching bird? No2. Is it a shore bird, or a water bird? Yes3. Is it a duck? No4. Is it a goose? Yes5. Is it a North American bird? Yes6. Is it a Brant? No7. A Canada? YES!


Child Expert: guessed 55% correct

1. Is it a bird of prey? No2. Is it small? No3. Is it a blue jay? No4. Is it big? Yes5. Is it a goose? Yes6. Is it a Canada Goose? YES!


Less educated, more knowledgeable Expert: guessed 75% correct

1. Is it larger than a crow? Yes2. Would you see it on the coast? Yes3. Is it a raptor? No4. Is it confined to the water? No5. Does it have a musical song? No6. Is it a turkey? No7. Is it a goose? Yes 8. Is it a Canada Goose? YES!

Acquiring Expertise

One view is that a certain type of practice –deliberate practice – is required to become an expert.In one study, top violinists averaged 7,500 hours of deliberate practice by age 18, good violinists averaged only 5,300 hours.A number of abilities – music, math, athletic –seem to have a heritable component.

The Information-Processing Approach

Metacognition

The Good InformationProcessing Model

DevelopmentalChanges

Strategies andMetacognitive

Regulation

Metacognition

“Knowing about knowing”

Metacognitive KnowledgeKnowledge about task demands, one’s goals,

and different strategies

Metacognitive ActivityStudents consciously adapt and manage their thinking strategies during problem solving and

purposeful thinking

Developmental Changes in Metacognition - Childhood

By 4-5 yrs of age, children understand people can have false beliefsBy 5-6 yrs of age, children know that their memories can be faulty Throughout middle childhood, children become better able at evaluating their performance on memory tasks

Developmental Changes in Metacognition – Late Childhood &

Adolescence

Deepening understanding of the mind - see the mind as an active constructor of knowledgeIncreased capacity to monitor and manage cognitive resources to meet the demands of learning tasksBetter meta-level understanding of strategies

Strategies for Helping Students Use Strategies

Recognize that strategies are a key aspect of effective learning and problem-solving.

Model effective strategies for students.

Give students many opportunities to practice the strategies.

Encourage students to monitor the effectiveness of a new strategy compared to old strategies.

Strategies for Helping Students Use Strategies

Remember it takes time to learn how to use a strategy effectively – be patient and encourage repeated use.

Understand that motivation plays a role.

Encourage students to use multiple strategies.

Ask questions that help guide students’ thinking in various content areas.

Recognize that low-achieving students, students with disabilities need more time and support.

the information-processing approach · strategies for helping students use strategies remember it...

Documents