Eight Components of Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)

1. Preparation 

English Language Learners need to be prepared for learning by being able to communicate about the learning experience. They need to be able to ask for help when they need it. They should know the following basic learning phrases or sentences:
•    “I don’t understand.”
•    “Would you please explain that to me?”
•    “Would you please show me how?”
•    “What information do I need to remember?”
•    “Is that important for the test?”
•    “What is the most important part?”
Learning a new language mirrors the process we go through when we acquire our first language. English learners typically start with a pre-production, or silent period, when first introduced to English. During this period, students begin to comprehend English, but do not yet attempt to speak it. This period can last from a few days to many months, depending on the student. As ELLs continue to learn English, they begin to produce one or two word phrases, and then move to sentences. As students are acquiring English, they will often struggle with grammar and pronunciation, but our emphasis should be on conveying meaning, not grammatical perfection.

2. Building Background

 Teachers can build background connections for English Language Learners by making purposeful connections to prior learning, by teaching the most important vocabulary, and by trying to connect the content to something the student may have already experienced. Building background can be accomplished through use of the following:
•    KWL Charts - Students chart what they KNOW, what they WANT to know, and what they LEARNED
•    Pre-Reading Activities - Walk through the text discussing the topics and photos before reading, or looking through a chapter backwards for the big picture view of the entire text.
•    Using Symbols - students use post it notes with check marks, question marks, and plus signs to label a new text during the first reading. Check marks mean, ”I understand this part.” Question marks mean, “I need help with this part.” Plus signs mean, “This is something new I’ve learned.”
•    Student Journals -
•    Personal Dictionaries -
•    Four Squares Vocabulary - paper folded into 4 parts: part 1 includes an illustration, part 2 includes a sentence, part 3 includes a definition, and part 4 includes the vocabulary word.
•    Similar Words - Similar Words - Palabras Similares Booklet includes 1000 varied reading level words that are similar in spelling and pronunciation in both English and Spanish. Print front to back.
•    Making Predictions - students survey the text and predict what they think they will be learning.
•    Text to Self Connections - Research clearly shows that prior knowledge (including experiences and emotions---or schema---is a major factor in students being able to comprehend what they read.
•    Text to Text Connections - Research shows that students who are explicitly taught and use strategies that activate prior knowledge comprehend better than students who don’t.
•    Guided Comprehension - students learn comprehension strategies in a variety of settings using multiple levels and types of text. It is a three-stage process focused on direct instruction, application, and reflection. Current studies demonstrate that when students experience explicit instruction of comprehension strategies, it improves their comprehension of new texts and topics (Hiebert et al., 1998).
•    Concepts and Vocabulary - includes strategies and scaffolding for pre-reading
•    Vocabulary - When teaching ELL students new vocabulary, it is important to select the key vocabulary for any given lesson or unit. Here are some guidelines to help you decide which words to teach. The next section will provide some ideas from Northshore School District in Bothell, Washington on how to teach new vocabulary.
Tell the student the word and move on if:
o    The word does not represent a new concept
o    Students need to understand for this activity but are not likely to need it again
Teach the student the word if:
o    The word represents a new concept
o    The word crosses content areas or has multiple uses
o    The word is important for students outside of this activity

Teaching Vocabulary to ELLs
o    Pronounce the word
o    Provide a definition (show, paraphrase, act out, create experience)
o    Post definition for reference
o    Introduce in context in which it occurs or in a familiar context
o    Relate word to students' prior experiences. Create an experience that demonstrates meaning
o    Word walls
o    Generate and record sentences (building from original context or familiar context)
o    Use word often in instruction. Point it out in other content areas, have students find it in other contexts, classes, out of school.
o    Add to word bank or student-made dictionaries
o    Use first language to clarify
o    Word webs
o    Semantic-analysis chart, concept maps.
o    Act out, use visuals or real objects (realia)
•    General Principals for Teaching ELLs - Language acquisition theories have highlighted four key principles that can be directly applied to the mainstream classroom. These principles are important for all students, but are of particular importance to English language learners (Jameson, 1998)

3. Comprehensible Input

Teachers should make assignments clear by using vocabulary students can understand, and by providing a variety of instructional experiences including:
•    Total Physical Response - teachers use hand gestures, facial expressions, and whole body movement to illustrate concepts or vocabulary words. Students emulate the movements.
•    Vocabulary Cards -  Vocabulary Cards - Tarjetas del Vocabulario - 1500 most commonly used words in English with Spanish translations. Words are clustered by category and fold to the size of a business card.
•    Similar Words and Opposite Words - Similar Words - Palabras Similares - includes 1000 varied reading level words that are similar in spelling and pronunciation in both English and Spanish.
•    Vocabulary Picture Puzzles - Picture Puzzles - when printed from to back, these vocabulary games allow students to work alone or in pairs or small groups to discuss targeted vocabulary words in a social setting while playing a game.
•    Confusing Words Bulletin Board - students add commonly used slang phrases and idioms to a chart for other students to interpret.
•    Read Along Audio Files -
•    Video Resources -
•    Web Resources - ESL Websites Strategies - 26 sites (A-Z) that support teachers in teaching English Language Learners.
 

4. Student Strategies for Success

English Language Learners can benefit from knowing specific strategies to use that increase comprehension including the following:
•    Survey, Question, Read, Review Recite - Classroom Posters display the steps in each stage of SQRRR
•    Questions in a Can - teacher or student-created questions ranging from lower to higher level questions are placed in a can. Students draw questions and answer in a team discussion.
•    Gallery Walks - Students write or draw the most important ideas from a section of assigned text.
•    Split Page Note Taking - Before reading, students write who, what, when, where, or why questions on the left side of the page and after reading, students write answers on the right side.
•    Similarities and Differences Using a Venn Diagram
 

5. Interactions

 Student-to-teacher and student-to-student interactions can be enhanced through the following:
•    Sufficient Wait Time - In most classrooms, students are typically given less than one second to respond to a question posed by a teacher. Research shows that under these conditions students generally give short, recall responses or no answer at all rather than giving answers that involve higher-level thinking. Increasing the wait time from three to seven seconds results in an increase in:
1) the length of student responses
2) the number of unsolicited responses
3) the frequency of student questions
4) the number of responses from less capable children
5) student-student interactions
6) the incidence of speculative responses. In addition to pausing after asking questions, research shows that many of these same benefits result when teachers pause after the student's response to a question, and when teachers do not affirm answers immediately.
•    Group Consensus - the teacher asks specific review questions. Students seated in groups of 4 or 5 write their answers and share them with other group members. Groups must discuss until they reach consensus. The group answer is submitted to the teacher. Points can be scored if the teacher chooses to make the review competitive.
•    Find Your Partner - each student is given a vocabulary card with either a definition or a term written on it. Students are asked to find the matching card. Then students share with the class the pairs they have made.
•    Academic Relays - See examples on the D11 web: Grades K-2 Academic Relays  and Grade 3-5 Academic Relays
 

6. Lesson Delivery

 Effective lessons clearly state for English Language Learners both the content standard and the language standard. Effective lessons are paced to accommodate the learner and keep the learner engaged for at least 90% of the lesson.
•    Classroom Tips - includes research-based strategies for listening, speaking, reading, writing, and ELL Advocacy from experienced ELL students.

English Language Learners need hands-on materials, opportunities to practice and to apply concepts learned, and opportunities to integrate reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

•    Bingo - provides students a hands-on opportunity to review vocabulary or math facts. BeanGo Cards Small and BeanGo Cards Large - students can review Spanish and English vocabulary words or mat families, or other basic content by completing their own bingo cards. Dried beans can be used as playing pieces.
•    Graphic Organizers
•    Compare and Contrast
•    Fishbone Diagram - used to identify causes and effect or main idea and supporting details
•    Concept Webs Using Inspiration software
•    Pizza Pieces - parts of stories or events over time are assigned o individuals or small groups which must write summaries of the assigned part of the story. Students or groups share their part as the pizza pieces are reassembled to make a whole.
•    Review Games for ESL Students - PowerPoint is used as the method for providing vocabulary review. the PowerPoint files can be adapted by teachers to include specific vocabulary words for a content area.
•    Vocabulary Card Review Games - Ways to Use Vocabulary Cards includes 5 minute fillers and other strategies to help students learn vocabulary words. The decks of cards listed below by category are in Microsoft Word format so teachers can create word lists of 13 words for any content
•    Pyramid Game - Major facts and concepts from a unit are written on 6 papers which are taped to the wall in a pyramid shape face down. First students form pairs to play the first round of pyramid. One student (Clue Giver) is given a review sheet and one minute to see how many of the vocabulary terms or concept the Clue Receiver can accurately name. Play continues with the Giver and Receiver changing roles and passing the review sheet. After several rounds the two players with the highest scores move to the final round. The Clue Caller faces the wall with the pyramid shaped pages on it. The Clue Receiver faces the classroom. The teacher begins play by turning over the bottom left-hand card. The Caller gives clues and the Receiver guesses. After a correct answer the teacher turns over the next page and play continues until all pages have been revealed or time runs out.
•    Computer Review Games - includes PowerPoint vocabulary review games that can be played alone or in pairs. Students keep score for their partners.
Unit 1  Unit 2  Unit 3  Unit 4   Unit 5   Unit 6   Unit 7   Unit 8  Unit 9   Unit 10   Unit 11   Unit 12
 

8. Review and Assessment

 a comprehensive and deliberate review of vocabulary, and key content area concepts, and language standards will enable ELL students to demonstrate mastery. Expecting students with a limited vocabulary to perform well without intentional support or “sheltered instruction” will undoubtedly guarantee frustration and failure.
•    Table Discussion Groups - students discuss answer to questions similar to those that will be on the assessment.
•    Simultaneous Roundtable - students help each other review by writing their team number on a paper that is passed from one student to the next. Each student adds a fact about a given concept then passes it on to the next writer. Teams are given a short time frame to complete the task i.e. 2 minutes.
•    Find a Person Who Knows - students are given review sheets with as many questions as there are students in the class. Students move around the room finding someone who knows an answer. Students can receive only one answer from each person.
•    Pyramid Game - Major facts and concepts from a unit are written on 6 papers which are taped to the wall in a pyramid shape face down. First students form pairs to play the first round of pyramid. One student (Clue Giver) is given a review sheet and one minute to see how many of the vocabulary terms or concept the Clue Receiver can accurately name. Play continues with the Giver and Receiver changing roles and passing the review sheet. After several rounds the two players with the highest scores move to the final round. The Clue Caller faces the wall with the pyramid shaped pages on it. The Clue Receiver faces the classroom. The teacher begins play by turning over the bottom left-hand card. The Caller gives clues and the Receiver guesses. After a correct answer the teacher turns over the next page and play continues until all pages have been revealed or time runs out.
•    Check My Work - the teacher writes a list of review statements or facts on a transparency. The sentences include incorrect information much like a mad lib. For example, “Sponge Bob was the first president of the United States, and was elected in 1997.” Students point out the mistakes and say fill in the correct information for the class. 

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Article Review

Each article review should have a minimum of four paragraphs.  The formats for each paragraph are as follows:

1st Paragraph

In this paragraph you should state which article you are summarizing and the author of the article.  Next, read the summary for the article on the main article page. (The page you are directed to after you click Science of the Week).  Read this summary and find out the main ideas within the paragraph.  Restate this summary using your own words to be the body of the 1st paragraph.

2nd and 3rd and maybe 4th paragraph

These paragraphs must address the main ideas of the article.  Read the article and highlight or copy the ideas which “stick out” as important.  Narrow down these ideas into two or three main ideas.  After you copy and paste these ideas into a document, create spacing between each of the ideas.  Then, within these spaces look for facts, quotes and/or examples which will help support the ideas.  Once this is completed you should have the structure for each of these paragraphs.  Now all you have to do is write a few sentences to connect the main idea to the supporting information and the paragraph is complete!

Summary Paragraph

In this paragraph you should explain why you chose this article.  Then, give your opinion as to what you feel you learned from this article.  Also, express how the information in the article changed or added to your knowledge about the subject.  Finally, how will this knowledge help with having a better understanding of this subject in the future?      

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Cross-linguistic Influence in SLA

Here is the general content of my presentation on "Cross-linguistic Influence in SLA". You can find the presentation at the bottom of the page.

All L2 acquirers, by definition, possess complete knowledge of an L1, and often knowledge of other languages, when they begin learning an additional one.

The Question:

If knowledge and capabilities for component language use are already available to L2 learners through the mother tongue and other languages they may know, how do they affect the development of the new language?

Knowledge of the L1 impacts on L2 acquisition subtly and selectively, sometimes resulting in strikingly different negative and positive consequences for different learner L1 backgrounds, at different stages of development or proficiency and for different areas of the L2.

On L1-L2 Differences and Similarities

• Contrastive Analysis: Comparing similarities and differences between given language pairs
• Error Analysis
• Performance Analysis

Sometimes certain L1-L2 similarities do not help.
Spanish, Portuguese and French: Negation is achieved pre-verbally.
In English and Swedish negation is achieved post-verbally.
Research on 160 Swedish beginning learners of handled negation perfectly.
Swedish learners of L1 Turkish L1 background seemed to benefit from the similarities between Turkish and Swedish (both post-verbal negation)
Some differences may result in no attested learning difficulty
English has post verbal pronoun I see them
French has pre-verbal pronoun Je les vois
L1 French background learners of English do not have difficulty in this and they do not say I them see
International Identifications
Crucial Similarity Measure: Not only differences but even more often misleading similarities between L1-L2 are at the root of attested learning difficulties.
an more are in the presentation below:

Cross-linguistic Influence

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THE ROLE OF DREAMING AND SLEEPING IN THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS

This is my article for "The Rise and Development of English Novel" course. I publish just the abstract part. If you need any help about the same topic just send me an e-mail.

THE ROLE OF DREAMING AND SLEEPING IN THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS

Ugur Ger

International Burch University

ABSTRACT

The Pilgrim’s Progress, the most famous allegory of the British literature, tells about the physical and spiritual journey of a man. Being an allegoric story, it contains many motifs and symbols. The author, John Bunyan, prefers to hide the facts behind the symbols. In this study, I tried to explain the role of sleeping and dreaming in The Pilgrim’s Progress. To be able to give a better explanation of these symbols I  preferred to mention about the life of John Bunyan, a brief summary of The Pilgrim’s Progress and the role of symbols in literature. 

Keywords: symbols, motifs, dreaming and sleeping

Here is a link from youtube for a movie. There is also Hollywood version of "The Pilgrim's Progress". You can find the trailer at the bottom of the page.

Hollywood Version Trailer

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A Chirstmas Carol

 A mean-spirited, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his counting-house on a frigid Christmas Eve. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers in the anteroom because Scrooge refuses to spend money on heating coals for a fire. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, pays his uncle a visit and invites him to his annual Christmas party. Two portly gentlemen also drop by and ask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge reacts to the holiday visitors with bitterness and venom, spitting out an angry "Bah! Humbug!" in response to his nephew's "Merry Christmas!"

Later that evening, after returning to his dark, cold apartment, Scrooge receives a chilling visitation from the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. Marley, looking haggard and pallid, relates his unfortunate story. As punishment for his greedy and self-serving life his spirit has been condemned to wander the Earth weighted down with heavy chains. Marley hopes to save Scrooge from sharing the same fate. Marley informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him during each of the next three nights. After the wraith disappears, Scrooge collapses into a deep sleep.

He wakes moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a strange childlike phantom with a brightly glowing head. The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the past to previous Christmases from the curmudgeon's earlier years. Invisible to those he watches, Scrooge revisits his childhood school days, his apprenticeship with a jolly merchant named Fezziwig, and his engagement to Belle, a woman who leaves Scrooge because his lust for money eclipses his ability to love another. Scrooge, deeply moved, sheds tears of regret before the phantom returns him to his bed.

The Ghost of Christmas Present, a majestic giant clad in a green fur robe, takes Scrooge through London to unveil Christmas as it will happen that year. Scrooge watches the large, bustling Cratchit family prepare a miniature feast in its meager home. He discovers Bob Cratchit's crippled son, Tiny Tim, a courageous boy whose kindness and humility warms Scrooge's heart. The specter then zips Scrooge to his nephew's to witness the Christmas party. Scrooge finds the jovial gathering delightful and pleads with the spirit to stay until the very end of the festivities. As the day passes, the spirit ages, becoming noticeably older. Toward the end of the day, he shows Scrooge two starved children, Ignorance and Want, living under his coat. He vanishes instantly as Scrooge notices a dark, hooded figure coming toward him.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come leads Scrooge through a sequence of mysterious scenes relating to an unnamed man's recent death. Scrooge sees businessmen discussing the dead man's riches, some vagabonds trading his personal effects for cash, and a poor couple expressing relief at the death of their unforgiving creditor. Scrooge, anxious to learn the lesson of his latest visitor, begs to know the name of the dead man. After pleading with the ghost, Scrooge finds himself in a churchyard, the spirit pointing to a grave. Scrooge looks at the headstone and is shocked to read his own name. He desperately implores the spirit to alter his fate, promising to renounce his insensitive, avaricious ways and to honor Christmas with all his heart. Whoosh! He suddenly finds himself safely tucked in his bed.

Overwhelmed with joy by the chance to redeem himself and grateful that he has been returned to Christmas Day, Scrooge rushes out onto the street hoping to share his newfound Christmas spirit. He sends a giant Christmas turkey to the Cratchit house and attends Fred's party, to the stifled surprise of the other guests. As the years go by, he holds true to his promise and honors Christmas with all his heart: he treats Tiny Tim as if he were his own child, provides lavish gifts for the poor, and treats his fellow human beings with kindness, generosity, and warmth.

A Christmas Carol

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Elaboration of Western Anatolian Turkish Dialect and a comparison with Standard Turkey Turkish

Abstract

Since the very beginning of their appearance in history, the Turks have spread to a vast geographical area from central Asia to the centre of Europe and from Arctic Sea to Tibet. Spreading in such a huge geographical area caused Turkish Language to interact with many other languages, nations and cultures. Turkish language both affected the neighboring countries  and was affected from all the social factors of being existed in such a huge area and many dialects were created accordingly. In this study, I will introduce a brief history of Turkish language and then compare today’s modern standard Turkey Turkish with my local vernacular of Western Anatolian dialect.

Key words: History of Turkic Languages, western Anatolian Turkish dialect, standard Turkey Turkish

Key words: History of Turkic Languages, western Anatolian Turkish dialect, standard Turkey Turkish

 

Ugur Ger 

International Burch University 

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Comparison of Three Schools of Thought

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Education Psychology Additional Notes

Authentic learning says that...we should learn what happens in the "real world", and become "cognitive apprentices" to the experts.  When we learn about math, we learn to think like mathematicians.  When we learn about the weather, we learn to use tools that a meteorologist would use.  When we learn to draw, we are taught techniques that real artists use.  But how is this possible?  How can everyone have access to experts at all times? 

Instructional scaffolding is a learning process designed to promote a deeper learning. Scaffolding is the support given during the learning process which is tailored to the needs of the student with the intention of helping the student achieve his/her learning goals (Sawyer, 2006).The support includes

  resources

  a compelling task

  templates and guides

  guidance on the development

The notion of scaffolding is increasingly being used to describe the support provided for students to learn successfully in classrooms, especially the use of project- or design-based activities to teach math and science

Reciprocal teaching refers to an instructional activity in which students become the teacher in small group reading sessions. Teachers model, then help students learn to guide group discussions using four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting. Once students have learned the strategies, they take turns assuming the role of teacher in leading a dialogue about what has been read.

A stimulus or combination of stimuli that is followed by a particular response will, upon its reoccurrence tend to be followed by the same response again. Thus, S-R connections gain its full strength on one-trail (Ormrod, 1999) or on the first pairing of the S-R connection: “contiguity, and not frequency!

It typically consists of self-teaching with the aid of a specialized textbook or teaching machine that presents material structured in a logical and empirically developed sequence or sequences. Programmed instruction may be presented by a teacher as well, and it has been argued that the principles of programmed instruction can improve classic lectures and textbooks.^[Programmed instruction allows students to progress through a unit of study at their own rate, checking their own answers and advancing only after answering correctly. In one simplified form of PI, after each step, they are presented with a question to test their comprehension, then are immediately shown the correct answer or given additional information. However the objective of the instructional programming is to present the material in very small increments. The more sophisticated forms of programmed instruction may have the questions or tasks programmed well enough that the presentation and test model—an extrapolation from traditional and classical instruction—is not necessarily utilized.

computer-assisted instruction (CAI), a program of instructional material presented by means of a computer or computer systems.

The use of computers in education started in the 1960s. With the advent of convenient microcomputers in the 1970s, computer use in schools has become widespread from primary education through the university level and even in some preschool programs. Instructional computers are basically used in one of two ways: either they provide a straightforward presentation of data or they fill a tutorial role in which the student is tested on comprehension.

There is a school of thought that presumes all children can learn if they are provided with the appropriate learning conditions. Learning for mastery or mastery learning, are terms coined by Benjamin Bloom in 1968 and 1971 respectively. Bloom hypothesized that a classroom with a mastery learning focus as opposed to the traditional form of instruction would reduce the achievement gaps between varying groups of students (Guskey 2007). In Mastery learning, "the students are helped to master each learning unit before proceeding to a more advanced learning task"  in contrast to "conventional instruction".

Precision teaching is a precise and systematic method of evaluating instructional tactics and curricula. It is one of the few quantitative analyses of behavior forms of applied behavior analysis. It comes from a very strong quantitative scientific basis and was pioneered by Ogden Lindsley in the 1960s based largely on Skinner's operant conditioning. Precision teaching is a type of programmed instruction that focuses heavily on frequency as its main datum. By focusing on fluency, the teacher can then adjust the curricula for each learner to maximize the learning based on the learner's personal fluency measurements. The instruction can be by any method or approach. For example, the most effective applications of Precision Teaching have been when it is combined with Direct Instruction. Children as young as five have charted their fluency measurements and utilized precision teaching to increase their learning. According to Owen White,Precision Teaching "has been used successfully to teach the progress of learners ranging from the severely handicapped to university graduate students, from the very young to the very old."

Applied behavior analysis (ABA), previously known as behavior modification, is a type of behavior analysis based on the traditional theory of behaviorism to modify human behaviors as part of a learning or treatment process. Behavior analysts focus on the observable relationship of behavior to the environment to the exclusion of what they call "hypothetical constructs". By functionally assessing the relationship between a targeted behavior and the environment, the methods of ABA can be used to change that behavior.

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Chapter 6 Final Notes

HOW DO METACOGNITIVE SKILLS HELP STUDENTS LEARN

Metacognition is Knowledge about one's own learning or about how to learn (thinking about thinking) Thinking skills and study skills are examples of metacognitive skills. Ss can be taught assessing their own understanding, figuring out how much time they will need to study something. Self-questioning strategies are learning strategies that call on students to ask themselves who, what, where, and how questions as they read material. 

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WHAT STUDY STRATEGIES HELP STUDENTS LEARN?

Research on effective study strategies is confusing at best. Few forms of studying are found to be always effective, and fewer still are never effective.

·         Note-taking: A study strategy that requires decisions about what to write.

·         Underlining

·         Summarizing: Writing brief statements that represent the main idea of the information being read.

·         Writing to learn: Ss writing the content they are learning.

·         Outlining and Mapping: Outlining is representing the main points of material in hierarchical format. Mapping Diagramming main ideas and the connections between them.

·         PQ4R Method: A study strategy that has students preview, question, read, reflect, recite, and review material.

HOW DO COGNITIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES HELP STUDENTS LEARN?

Making Learning Relevant and Activating Prior Knowledge (propose a  strategy for stimulating the prior knowledge of students described in a particular)

Advance Organizers: David Ausubel (1963) developed a method called advance organizers to orient students to material they were about to learn and to help them recall related information that could assist them in incorporating the new information. An advance organizer is an initial statement about a subject to be learned that provides a structure for the new information and relates it to information students already possess.

Analogies: Images, concepts, or narratives that compare new information to information students already understand.

Elaboration: Cognitive psychologists use the term elaboration to refer to the process of thinking about material to be learned in a way that connects the material to information or ideas that are already in the learner’s mind. The process of connecting new material to information or ideas already in the learner's mind

Organizing Information

Using Questioning Techniques: One strategy that helps students learn from written texts, lectures, and other sources of information is the insertion of questions requiring students to stop from time to time to assess their own understanding of what the text or teacher is saying.

Using conceptual Models: Another means that teachers can use to help students complex topics is the introduction of conceptual models, or diagrams showing how elements of a process relate to one another. Graphs, charts, tables, matrices, and other means of organizing information into a comprehensible, visual form, have all been found to aid comprehension, memory, and transfer.

Summary

What Is an Information-Processing Model?

The three major components of memory are the sensory register, short-term or working memory, and long-term memory. The sensory registers are very short-term memories linked to the senses. Information that is received by the senses but not attended to will be quickly forgotten. Once information is received, it is processed by the mind in accord with our experiences and mental states. This activity is called perception.

Short-term or working memory is a storage system that holds five to line bits of information at any one time. Information enters working memory from both the sensory register and the long-term memory. Rehearsal is the process of repeating information in order to hold it in working memory.

Long-term memory is the part of the memory system in which a large amount of information is stored for an indefinite time period. Cognitive theories of learning stress the importance of helping students relate information being learned to existing information in long- term memory.

The three parts of long-term memory are episodic memory, which stores our memories of personal experiences; semantic memory, which stores facts and generalized knowledge in the form of schemata; and procedural memory, which stores knowledge; of how to do things. Schemata are networks of related ideas that guide our understanding and action. Information that fits into a well-developed schema is easier to learn than information that cannot be so accommodated. Levels-of-processing theory suggests that learners will remember only the things that they process. Students are processing information when they manipulate it, look at it from different perspectives, and analyze it. Dual code theory further suggests the importance of using both visual and verbal coding to learn bits of information. Other elaborations of the information-processing model are parallel distributed processing, and connectionist models.

Technology that enables scientists to observe the brain in action has led to rapid advances in brain science. Findings have shown how specific parts of the brain process specific types of information in concert with other specific brain sites. As individuals gain expertise, their brain function becomes more efficient. Early brain development is a process of adding neural connections and then sloughing off those that are not used.

What Causes People to Remember or Forget?

Interference theory helps explain why people forget. It suggests that students can forget information when it gets mixed up with, or pushed aside by, other information. Interference theory states that two situations cause forgetting: retroactive inhibition, when learning a second task makes a person forget something that was learned previously, and proactive inhibition, when learning one thing interferes with the retention  of things learned later. The primacy and recency effects state that people best remember information that is presented first and last in a series. Automaticity is gained by practicing information or skills far beyond the amount needed to establish them in t long-term memory so that using such skills requires little or no mental effort. Practice strengthens associations of newly learned information in memory. Distributed practice, I which involves practicing parts of a task over a period of time, is usually more effective than massed practice. Enactment also helps students to remember information.

How Can Memory Strategies Be Taught?

Teachers can help students remember facts by presenting lessons in an organized way and by teaching students to use memory strategies called mnemonics. Three types of verbal learning are paired-associate learning, serial learning, and free-recall learning. Paired-associate learning is learning to respond with one member of a pair when given the other member. Students can improve their learning of paired associates by using imagery techniques such as the keyword method. Serial learning involves recalling a list of items in a specified order. Free-recall learning involves recalling the list in any order. Helpful strategies are the loci method, the pegword method, rhyming, and initial-letter strategies.

What Makes information Meaningful?

Information that makes sense and has significance to students is more meaningful ma1 inert knowledge and information learned by rote. According to schema theory, individuals’ meaningful knowledge is constructed of networks and hierarchies of schemata.

How Do Metacognitive Skills Help Students Learn?

Metacognition helps students learn by thinking about, controlling, and effectively using their own thinking processes.

What Study Strategies Help Students Learn?

Note-taking, selective directed underlining, summarizing, writing to learn, outlining, and mapping call effectively promote learning. The PQ4R method is an example of a strategy that focuses on the meaningful organization of information.

How Do Cognitive Teaching Strategies Help Students Learn?

Advance organizers help students process new information by activating background knowledge.  Analogies, information elaboration, organizational schemes, questioning techniques, and conceptual models are other examples of teaching strategies that are based on cognitive learning theories.

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WHAT CAUSES PEOPLE TO REMEMBER OR FORGET?

Most forgetting occurs because information in working memory was never transferred to long-term memory. However, it can also occur because we have lost our access to information that is in long-term memory.

Interference: Inhibition of recall of certain information by the presence of other information in memory. Interference happens when information gets mixed up with, or pushed aside by, other information. One form of interference occurs when people are prevented from mentally rehearsing newly learned information. Retroactive inhibition:  Decreased ability to recall previously learned information, caused by learning of new information.

Reducing Retroactive Inhibition

There are two ways to help reduce retroactive inhibition for students. The first is by not teaching similar and confusing concepts too closely in time. The second is to use different methods to teach similar concepts.

Proactive inhibition: Decreased ability to learn new information, caused by interference from existing knowledge. (Driving left-right)

Proactive facilitation: Increased ability to learn new information due to the presence of previously acquired information. Learning Spanish first may help an English speaking student later learn Italian, a similar language.

Primacy and Recency Effects

The tendency to learn the first things presented is called the primacy effect; the tendency to learn the last things is called the recency effect. The most common explanation for the primacy effect is that we pay more attention and devote more mental effort to items presented first.

Automaticy: A level of rapidty and ease such that tasks can be performed or skills utilized with little mental effort. (Readin

Practice

The most common method for committing information to memory is also the most mundane: Practice

·         Massed practice: Technique in which facts or skills to be learned are repeated often over a concentrated period of time.

·         Distributed practice: Technique in which items to be learned are repeated at intervals over a period of time.

·         Enactment: A learning process in which individuals physically  carry out tasks

HOW CAN MEMORY STRATEGIES BE TAUGHT?

Many of the things that students learn in school are facts that must be remembered. These form the framework on which more complex concepts depend. Factual material must be learned as efficiently and effectively as possible to leave time and mental energy for meaningful learning, such as problem-solving, conceptual, and creative activities.

Verbal Learning

Learning of words (or facts expressed in words). There are three types of verbal learning;

1.       Paired-associate learning: Learning of items in linked pairs so that when one member of a pair is presented, the other can be recalled.( e learning the states' capitals) In paired-associate learning, the student must associate a response with each stimulus. Techniques;

·         Imagery Mental:  visualization of images to improve memory.

·         Mnemonics:  Devices or strategies for aiding the memory. 

·         One of the most extensively studied methods of using imagery and mnemonics (memory devices) to help paired-associate learning is the keyword method,  which was originally developed for teaching foreign language vocabulary  but was later applied to many other areas

2.       Serial learning involves learning a list of terms in a-particular order. (Memorization of the notes on the musical staff). Techniques;

·    Loci Method A mnemonic device for serial learning that was used by the ancient  Greeks employs imagery associated with a list of locations

·    Pegword Method: Another imagery method useful for serial learning. . To use this mnemonic, the student might memorize a list of pegwords that rhyme with the numbers 1 to 10. To use this the student creates mental images relating to items on the list to be learned with particular pegwords. (first 10 U.S. presidents, you might picture George Washington eating a bun (1) with his wooden teeth, John Adams tying his shoe (2), Thomas Jefferson hanging by his knees from a branch of a tree (3), and so on.)

· Initial-letter strategies: Strategies for learning in which initial letters of items to be memorized are made into a more easily remembered word or phrase

3. Free-recall learning tasks also involve memorizing a list, but not in a special order. Recalling the names of the 50 states

Rote versus Meaningful Learning

Rote learning refers to the memorization of facts or associations, such as the multiplication table. Meaningful learning is mental processing of new information that relates to previously learned knowledge.

Inert Knowledge: This is knowledge that could and should be applicable to a wide range of situations but is applied only to a restricted set of circumstances. Usually, inert knowledge consists of information or skills learned in school that we cannot apply in life. For example, you may know people who could pass an advanced French test but would be unable to communicate in Paris.

Schema Theory

Theory stating that information is stored in long- term memory in schemata (networks of connected facts and concepts), which provide a structure for making sense of new information.

Hierarchies of Knowledge It is thought that most well-developed schemata are organized in hierarchies similar to outlines, with specific information grouped under general categories, which are grouped under still more general categories.

The Importance of Background Knowledge one of the most important determinants of how much you can learn about something is how much you already know about it.

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