Date:         Mon, 14 Feb 2000 13:17:34 -0500
Reply-To:     CS92-L List <CS92-L@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU>
Sender:       CS92-L List <CS92-L@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU>
From:         Benjamin White <Benjamin_White@BROWN.EDU>
Subject:      cs92 - svinicki - Feb 15
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All,


First, a reminder that we'll be meeting tomorrow in the Reference
Room of the Rock rather than the classroom at the CIT.


The four main learning models with which Svinicki concerns himself in
this article are behaviorist, cognitive, metacognitive, and
constructivist. We'll define briefly each of the above in class; here
are some general questions about the models for you to ponder.


1. We have discussed in previous classes the various effects that
instruction is desired to produce: transmission of bodies of
knowledge, formation of character, etc. Does the behaviorist model
favor a particular effect?


2. The cognitive model(s) requires the learner to be more active in
receiving the information and processing and associating it into
long-term memory. Assuming that the capacity of the "working memory"
(pg 10) is indeed relatively small and that and any brainpower
expended to shuttle information in and out of the working memory is
not available for processing and associating that information, what
role might the computer play? Does a computer require more brainpower
to use than a book? A pen? Listening to a lecturer?


3. Metacognition involves "thinking about thinking" (pg 11). Is this
process innate in humans? How might an instructor foster it?


4. William Gibson, a popular (science) fiction author once described
cyberspace as "a consensual hallucination experienced daily by
billions". This broadly describes constructivism, a model in which
individuals are said to be "constructing their own worldview" (pg
13). This model holds group learning to be a most valuable method
because it gives individuals "more open access to their own
understanding and think processes" (pg 14)? What about this specific
model yields this more so than the other models?


Enjoy,


BEN

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