ITEC 800, Tuesday, September 25, 2007

ITEC Administrative Notes

Take a look at the new ITEC Web site:
Check out the Graduate Approval Program (GAP)
Degree requirements have changed. Choosing one of 3 tracks is no longer required. Instead, 5 classes are required (one includes a research class), an e-portfolios will be required, and the rest of the classes are electives. 30 credits equals the Master’s degree.
To get the specific graduation requirements, go to www.sfcu.edu. Click Our Program Graduation Process and then downlad the GAP documents package.
Start thinking about your creative project, which is needed for graduation
At the beginning of 3rd semester, you will need to write a project proposal. Don’t wait: Start thinking about what you will do now. You can choose to work on that project throughout your semesters. You can redo the project throughout the semesters and you will find that it is much easier and faster for the final.

ePortfolio: You can post the work you do in your classes in an ePortfolio. You can show it to employers and others you want proof of your skills.

Cognitive Information Processing Model
What is the difference between a theory and a model?
Theory: Tested (proven) statements or principles that explain a natural phenomenon.
Model: Tests a theory, accounts for known characteristics of a theory and can be used for additional study.

Information Processing Model: Input->processing->output

Sensory Information

Gestalt learning theory:
With Gestalt theory, our mind tries to organize. Behaviorism does not talk about the mind.
Organizational processes in cognition are important to perception, learning and problem solving.[1]
perception, applies to sensory memory, how to we make/interpret meaning, even if we make it up or have to fill it in
grabs attention
our mind fills it in with our perceptions. This explains why we can interpret incomplete objects, such as a triangle that is missing part of its sides or a worn letter on a grave marker, can still be understood. We naturally fill in the missing parts to properly interpret the object.

The triangle diagram: shows how we group together, complete the incomplete.
Also, chunking, labeling.
3 Memories

Sensory Memory: First stage of information processing. It is associated with the senses, holds information long enough to be processed, .5 seconds
Working Memory (short-term memory): Stage at which additional processing of information is done and makes information ready for long-term memory. It’s likened to consciousness. limited amount, limited duration: George Miller: 7 +/- 2 bits of information @ a duration of 30 seconds
Long-Term Memory: Permanent storage of information can hold infinite amount of information; it is assumed that information in LTM is never lost.
Five different models of LTM:
· Semantic networks
· Feature comparisons
· Propositional networks
· eg. Dual-code processing as a separate processing of audio/visual.
· Parallel distributed processing

Long-term memory STORES: episodic (event driven) vs. procedural (swimming) (this was not mentioned in the book) vs. semantic/declarative (general information recalled independently of how it was learned)

Retrieval Process
Bring from long term memory into working memory:
This is directly analogous to bringing information from hard drive into RAM.

Dr. Foreman demonstrated the retrieval process:
I say, “banana” and what do you think?
One student said, “yellow” another said, “monkey.”
Dr. Foreman said that you go to long term memory to bring yellow and monkey to your working memory.

Learning is organizing and re-organizing the knowledge.

Group Exercise #1: Class Memory Competition
Group A, ½ the class, stayed in the room, Group B, the other half, went in the hall and waited.

Group A: Dr. Foreman told the group to memorize the objects that she placed inside a box and then be able to jot down a list of the objects. She opened the box, the group looked inside and attempted to memorize. Then when time was up, 60 seconds, she closed the box and Group A had to write down a list of the objects they saw.

Dr. Foreman then went out into the hall and told Group B that they had to memorize objects that are in a box. She explained that she took 5 objects from her office, 5 objects from her bathroom, 5 objects from her kitchen, and 5 from her junk drawer. She then invited Group B into the room to memorize the objects in the box for 60 seconds and then write down a list of what they saw.

Group A encoded objects into their own categories, people organized and reorganized, some people rehearsed and concentrated on items that were previously unfamiliar to them.
We each tried to make the objects meaningful to us in order to better remember them.
Carlos brought up the strategy of an associative string, eg, swallow the Tylenol with the coffee.

The results show not much difference between the two groups. In a larger sample group, you would tend to see that Group B recalled more objects than group A because Group B was prompted with categories before they saw the objects. When you remember things in categories, you can recall more easily.
Different encoding strategies emerged:
Some people in Group B said they organized according to the categories they were given.

Conclusion: Our minds actively process, organize, and re-organize. Our mind creates our own way to organize and strategize. We all have personal favorite strategies.

We reviewed page 76 in the textbook, table 3.1:
Sensory register is large, but we need to pass it through a small channel (our short-term store) in order to selectively process it and then transfer it to the large, permanent space in our long-term memory.

Group Exercise #2: Share Mind Maps
We broke into small groups to compare our learning strategies in the assignment:
Some people simplified, others expanded and added detail.

Janet used a hierarchical strategy that she was familiar with from work, whereas Chris and Miles used the chapter outline as a heading for the nodes of the mind map.
Janet’s map

It was interesting how we each came up with different, creative ways to organize the same thing.
A common theme that came up was detail level. How much is too much to the point where the information loses personal meaning?

Meta-cognition: you are thinking about your thinking, monitoring, or reflecting on how you think as a tool to make yourself a more effective learner.
Video

Our group focused on sensory memory: what is added:
Awesome Phillip Zimbardo video
How much you concentrate and how much you rehearse, broken by interference.

Ebbinghaus:
List making, and the curve of forgetting:
By getting rid of meaningful memories, he stripped himself of the ability to use cues of familiarity to recall. This was why he forgot so quickly, the curve was so steep.

Encoder->short term memory->long term memory

Retrieval
Associative networks: each node is linked to others that have common processes
Gordon bower, a Stanford Psychologist, used the peg word mnemonic. You learn cues, set of reminders, dovetail the mnemonic.
Schemas are our frameworks of our preconceptions. Relate new information to familiar schemas, groups of learned information.
Schemas can sometimes have a cultural or professional mismatch.
We want to strive for cognitive flexibility.

Group Exercise #3: Summarize Parts of Chapter
Class broke up into teams. Each team summarized different aspects of memory.

Sensory Memory Group
Automaticity
Selective Attention
Similarity of tasks makes a difference
Task complexity makes a difference
Spread attention across 2+ tasks
Attention control differs w age, intelligence, hyperactivity, and learning disabilities
Pattern Recognition and Perception
Template Matching Model pairs mental copies
Principles of organization, context and experience
Feature Analysis matches specific features
Prototype Model matches abstracted idea

Working memory group
· Imagery relates pictures to text material.
· Mnemonics and mediation links ideas together in a story.
· Concept of Organization groups related pieces of information.
· Self-questioning

Different Long-term Memory Models
· Feature Comparison Models of LTM
· Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) Models of LTM
· Propositional Models of LTM
· Network Models of LTM
· Duel-Code Models of LTM

Forgetting
Failure to encode
Failure to retrieve
Interference

Retrieval
Recall
Free recall
Queued recall (e.g., a leading question)
Recognition: make a decision or judgment about something.

Application

· Provide Organized Instruction: Teachers should organize information to help students learn it.
· Arrange Extensive and Variable Practice: One should practice in order to learn (“Practice makes perfect.”). Varied practice helps attach more cues to information, which will help recal later.
· Enhance Learners’ Coding and Memory: Use a variety of learning strategies to improve student’s ability to encode. See strategies in Table 3.3 of book, page 106.
· Enhance Learner’s Self-Control of Information Processing: Metacognition is one’s awareness of thinking and the self regulatory behavior that accompanies awareness.[2] Being aware of how one learns helps adjust and improve study skills.

Assignment for Next Week
Read the assignment on iLearn.
Bring your notes to class.
[1] Driscoll, Psychology of Learning for Instruction (New York: Pearson, 2005) 73
[2] Driscoll, pg. 107.