"Cognitive Views of Learning"

Cognitive views of learning focuses on how information is processed. When thinking about the cognitive views some questions might appear such as; how do students learn new information, what is the role of practice for learning, why do students forget information and what is metacognition?

Students learn new information by using meaningful learning, which is when students "learn new information by making connections between the new information and their prior knowledge" (Moreno, 203). Meaningful learning is the opposite to rote learning. Rote learning is when a student can recall information; however the information has no meaning to it. As a student I could see why students would use rote learning methods (I know I use it in some classes). However, as a future teacher I do not see it as an effective way of learning. I would much rather see my students use meaningful learning methods, this way I know that they understand the topic completely and are not just memorizing it.

The role of practice in learning is that in order to learn new information you must use the “Three Times” rule; which is when you go over the information three times in order for it to stick in your memory. For example when studying for a test; first read the chapter, then you review the chapter in class and lastly you re-read the chapter. 

Students will sometimes forget new information because they did not process the information once it entered the sensory memory. The chart below is an example of the information-processing model. Psychologists believe that this is how students process information. As it shows in the chart if a student does not process the information to the working memory it will be lost. Long-term memory and short-term memory also come into play here. 

                                               Citation: "Memory." AP Psychology Community. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.   

                                         <http://www.appsychology.com/Book/Cognition/Memory/memoryintro.htm>.

          As a teacher we need to be aware of how much information students or humans in general can comprehend. This will help in a classroom because now that we are aware of how humans process information we can make sure we do not overload our students with important information, instead slowly work in the new information. In a way this can be compared to metacognition. Metacognition is, knowing about knowing, it is knowing how and what works best for ourselves.