Cognitivism in Practice

There are sometimes that teachers often attempt to reinvent the wheel. Some of the basic practices that have been used over the years still work. Now often we see our pedagogy as outdated but some of the basic strategies that we use everyday are tried and true strategies.

Recall is an important stage of one's learning, and is often overlooked for a higher cognitive level of thinking. Basic recall can help to establish long term memory and create good habit. These questions and cues given to the student at the appropriate times can create instances in which the student can then build upon the knowledge with higher level cognitive abilities. The first strategy works towards these goals and uses additional types of organizers to achieve these goals.

The second strategy, note taking and summarizing, allows students to create the skills necessary to compact and organize information. This will lead to increased cognitive ability in ways such as a more effective system of studying and recall. All of these steps are additional tools that will give a student a more complete focus on a subject and will allow them to be able to access a more stable amount of long-term memory. This is the most important goal of any cognitive strategy.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.