Information Processing and New Approaches to Studying

The resources that I found this week focus on two different aspects of how humans learn and interact with information. The first is an article by W. Huitt, published in 2003 in Educational Psychology Interactive. This article is more about the theories in how the brain accepts, uses, stores, and retrieves information. The second resource is an article recently published by the New York Times. Using evidence from several university studies, the article challenges the old methods of ‘good’ study habits and how different methods may actually improve retention and retrieval of information in the brain.

Much of the information presented in Huitt’s article reinforces the material from this week’s course resources, but it also provides more detail, too. The article defines and reviews the different stages of information processing (stage theory model), including sensory input, working or short-term memory, long-term memory, and retrieval. The overview section of the article also discusses three other theories of information processing: level-of-processing, parallel-distributed processing, and connectionistic. The author provides a brief explanation of each alternate theory. The connectionistic theory, originally proposed by Rumelhart and McClelland (1986), extends the parallel-distributed processing theory and offers evidence more in line with current research data, suggesting that the brain stores new information in more than one location.

What I found most interesting about this article was the table at the very end. The table sets out examples to information processing steps for the classroom. As I read over the list included in the table, I began to think of how the same step would be adapted for a learning environment other than a traditional classroom. Step 2 on the table is entitled “Bring to mind relevant prior learning” with one example being a discussion on previous lesson’s content. In an e-learning or other digital environment, this could be replaced by interactive recall questions, or a brief overview by the presenter in the video or presentation before introducing new material.
Benedict Carey’s article about study habits brings university research findings to the public and how students today may benefit more by not following the old advice of quiet places for study habits. Various research studies showed that student performed better on tests if their study habits were changed by variables such as length of time (shorter periods over subsequent days), location (different rooms or environments possibly allowed students’ brains to build more network links to the information allowing for greater probability of recall), or mixing content (several questions of the same type vs. several questions of varying complexity on the same issue). The article is rather surprising to me, but it also makes a lot of sense. The study locations part was what caught me the most. Learners have long been told to pick quiet location, free of distractions to study. Yet this article, and the research that it cites, says that may not be the best way to remember material. Subconsciously, the brain may be associating the materials with sensory input from the environment. By studying or reviewing the material in multiple locations, the brain may form more links to the same material. The greater network of neurological links allows for a greater probability for retrieval later.

Carey, B. (2010, September 7). Forget what you know about good study habits :[Science Desk]. New York Times. (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. D.1. Retrieved September 18, 2010, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 2131438941).

Huitt, W. (2003). The information processing approach to cognition. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved September 18, 2010 from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cogsys/infoproc.html

Rumelhart, D., & McClelland, J. (Eds.). (1986). Parallel distributed processing: Explorations in the microstructure of cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Welcome to my blog! A little bit about me first: I am a high school physics teacher at a large high school just south of Washington, DC. As I am often one of the ‘last stops’ before my students head off to college, majoring in engineering and bio-medical fields, I try to incorporate many instructional practices that the students are likely to encounter in post-secondary educational settings. This includes web-based instructions, activities, and assessment tools, as well as online discussions to aide students with course material.

Up until this point, I have largely been self-taught in the use of technology with instructional design. In my explorations, I have come across several websites that have proved to be either helpful in using different techniques, thought-provoking in teaching and technology practices, or directly relate to physics instruction using non-traditional classroom methods.

Learning Physics Online is a site designed for physics instructors to use and share web-based videos illustrating physics content. The videos are often based or accessed through You-tube.com. I have used the videos and comments to shape my practice in the classroom and I have also challenged my students to create their own similar instructional or research-based videos to share with classmates. We have posted our videos on the school-based website (closed to the public) and had open discussions about the content and methods illustrated in the videos.

The Tempered Radical is a large site, containing opinions and challenges to teaching practices, the art and state of education, and the advantages of using technology in various ways in the classroom. The author not only provides instruction on implementing technology practices, but also revisits the issues and updates instructions with tips and caution points.

Cathy Moore’s blog Making Change – Ideas for Lively eLearning is geared more towards adult learners in the business world. She offers a lot of ideas to keep learning interesting and relevant from both the student’s perspective and the instructional designer’s perspective. Her writing is energetic, quick and to the point. She also uses the comments section to have open discussions with her readers on how her entries relate to their applications and to share ideas.