Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Learning Requires Practice and Feedback
People learn to do well only what they practice doing (Schunk, 2004; Willingham,
2009). This principle is also self-evident and is supported by neurological studies
(Craig, 2003). To shoot baskets accurately we practice shooting; to become skilled
writers we practice writing; to solve problems effectively we solve many problems.
The same is true for all learning. Discussing ideas is a form of practice, and the more
people discuss and work with information, the deeper their understanding becomes.
Feedback
is information about existing understanding used to increase future
understanding. As learners construct understanding they use additional informa-
tion to determine the extent to which their understanding is valid. For instance, if
a child's understanding of dogs is based on experience with his/her family's gen-
tle, lovable pooch, he/she is likely to conclude that all dogs are friendly. When he
encounters one that growls and nips his hand, he will revise his understanding and
conclude that some dogs are friendly but others are not. The growl and nip are
feedback the child uses to revise his understanding.
As with practice, this is true for all learning. One of teachers' most impor-
tant roles is to provide students with feedback that can help them arrive at more
sophisticated understanding. In this regard, feedback is an additional experience
that learners use to enhance their learning.
These learning principles provide a foundation for helping us understand how
learning occurs, but they also raise additional questions. For example, how do peo-
ple acquire the experiences they use to construct their knowledge and how is prior
knowledge combined with new experiences? Where is the knowledge that is con-
structed and stored, and in what form is it stored? The answers to these and other
questions are the focus of the rest of this chapter.
A Model of Human Memory
While cognitive learning theorists do not totally agree on the structure of human
memory, most use a model similar to what you see in Fig. 5.1, which was initially
proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) and is often described in the framework
of
information processing theory.
Since it was originally proposed, this theory has
generated a great deal of research and has undergone considerable refinement. We
discuss this model and modifications made to it as the rest of the chapter unfolds.
The model has three major components:
•
Memory stores
•
Cognitive processes
•
Metacognition
We examine these components in the following sections.
