EDHE 6050

10/06/2009

Chapter 4: Information Processing

several handouts

• read "Why Don't Students Like School?" for next week, in addition to chapters

discussion of using song, acronyms to learn/remember concepts

• alphabet song, Schoolhouse Rock, 50 states song, etc.
• treble clef lines: "every good boy does fine"

to truly be learned, information must be transferred to the long-term memory

• may not be in the conscious, surface memory, but deep down--can eventually be recalled (inactive memory stage; p. 142)

savants, innate talents, multiple intelligences

• different ways to learn music--some by ear, some by sheet music

attention & learning

• presence or absence of other stimuli has different effects on people's ability to focus
• reading out loud--preferred by some, not others
• can "review your mental tapes" -- you heard something, but didn't absorb it at that moment when your attention was elsewhere

different types of perception (p. 150)

• eyewitness accounts are the least reliable type of evidence in a court (because of our various methods of perception, filtered through various experiences, prejudices, etc.), yet they are what juries are most swayed by

sensory registers

• smell is one of the strongest sensory recallers of memory; strong, vivid memories often accompanied by emotion

memory and learning are related, but are not the same thing.

testing often tests memory more than learning.

"we're not going to learn all about it; we're going to learn what it's all about."

Chapter 5: Cognitive Learning Processes

(we skipped discussion of this chapter)

Chapter 10 (8 in the new book): Development & Learning

discussion of varying views of children as innately "good" or "bad" or morals as changeable depending on the culture (nude beaches acceptable in some cultures, but not others); Lord of the Flies, etc.

nature vs. nurture; p. 439 (genetics vs. environment affecting development, personality, etc.)

stability vs. change; p. 440

different methods of teaching English as second language in the classroom...

• ESL, bilingual, multilingual, etc.
• learning concepts in a foreign country; may grasp language well, but often not the class subject
• theory is often couched in cultural terms and concepts
• in language aquisition: speaking first, listening second, and writing comes third (in how you grasp the concepts)
• at a young age, we acquire all the sounds we will learn; this is why it's important to learn language very young (some people have an ear for language and can pick it up at an older age, but that is atypical)