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Learning Scenario
I think the learning experience I discussed from college relates to cognitivism in an interesting way. For that particular assignment we were learning how to write detailed instructions that would be easy to follow so, if you think about it, we were actually learning how to apply
cognitivism ourselves. One of the major underlying theories of cognitivism is Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), which was developed by
John Sweller in 1988. CLT explores how the mind processes information and focuses on using working memory efficiently. When information first enters our mind, extraneous information is filtered out and then the processed information enters our working memory where it is either eventually pushed out and forgotten or processed further through repetition until it enters our long-term memory. The important thing to understand is that working memory is limited in size and can only process so much information at a time. Feeding too much information into working memory at one time can cause mental overload which is why it is important to consider cognitive load when creating lessons (Mind Tools Content Team, n.d.). We had to consider CLT when writing our instructions because throwing too much information at the person who was reading our instructions could lead to overload and prevent them from being able to complete the task we were trying to help them accomplish. In order to prevent overload, we had to consider techniques to reduce cognitive load. One of the main techniques for reducing cognitive load is to chunk content rather than presenting it all at once. This allows the mind to process the information in phases and ensures that people are only seeing information that is relevant to what they are currently focusing on. Another way to reduce cognitive load is to take complex problems and divide them into smaller steps. This allows people to fully absorb each step before moving onto the next one. This is again something that we had to keep in mind when writing our instructions. We could not have any step that was too complex or else the person following our instructions might become confused and frustrated (Pappas, 2016).
In terms of our professor trying to teach us how to write effective instructions, that process made use of social cognitivism (aka social learning theory). Social cognitivism places emphasis on the idea that people learn by observing behaviors and then imitating those behaviors to see what feedback they get based on their actions. In other words, people learn by example. When it came to writing instructions, we were able to reflect back on our past experiences dealing with instructions. All of us have had to follow instructions at some point in our life, and based on that we were able to recall what aspects of instructions we found most effective and which aspects we thought were not effective. Based on this observation we were able to imitate the aspects from our past experiences to make our own instructions better (Mcleod, 2016). Also, the fact that our professor acted out our instructions in front of the class helped reduce our cognitive load. There are a lot of rules to remember when writing effective instructions and by using a physical demonstration the professor took advantage of the auditory and visual channels in our working memory to help us better process and retain the information (Mind Tools Content Team, n.d.).
References
Mcleod, S. (2016, February 05). Social Learning Theory. Retrieved December 09, 2018, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
Mind Tools Content Team. (n.d.). Cognitive Load Theory Helping People Learn Effectively. Retrieved December 09, 2018, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/cognitive-load-theory.htm
Pappas, C. (2016, April 17). 7 Tips To Reduce Cognitive Overload In eLearning. Retrieved December 09, 2018, from https://elearningindustry.com/7-tips-reduce-cognitive-overload-elearning