Reflection
Journal #3
Information-Processing
Information-processing
is how information enters our brains and what we do with that information. Some information is held for a short time,
and some is held in our long-term memory.
There are three elements embedded in information-processing. They are sensory register, working memory,
and long-term memory. Although people
may think that we automatically remember everything, it is not true. Slavin (2018) states “the learning process is
controlled by the learner” (p. 123).
Each person can consciously control some aspects of what is experienced
and file it into working or long-term memory.
At the same time, processing information can be unconscious as
well. Sometimes a person will receive
information that immediately connects to information already stored in the
long-term memory. How a person decides
to remember something with his or her working or long-term memory is executive
process. This process determines what
effort a person will put into remember something for long term and how hard
that person will work to form new memories (Slavin, 2018, p. 123).
Sensory register
The
sensory register takes in copious amounts of information for the five
senses. That information is held for a
minuscule amount of time. If nothing
comes of the information, it is discarded.
There are two implications of sensory register. The first is people must focus if they want
to retain new information. The second is
time. Time is important when bringing to information to consciousness (Slavin,
2018).
During
the sensory register, our minds begin working on the senses that are received. Our conscious tells us what we smelled,
heard, or saw, but it is not everything that our senses received. Slavin (2018) states “they are what our senses
perceived” (p. 124). When our minds
start to perceive the stimuli, our conscious chooses what will be heard, seen,
or smelled. That is the reception of the
stimuli. When we are driving, we are
more liking to be aware and hear sirens from farther away than if we are sitting
at home watching TV.
Like when
we are driving and are paying attention, educators want students to pay
attention. Sometimes though, the students’
senses may be overloaded and cannot decipher what needs to be seen or
heard. When a teacher asks for
attention, the students who are focusing on what the teacher is saying will not
be aware of other stimuli like sounds.
Slavin (2018) asserts “once your listeners are starting to check their
iPhones, you know you’re really in trouble” (p. 124). When this happens, the attention needs to be
refocused to the teacher. This can be
done by using verbal cues, raising or lowering voices, or using hand
motions. Another way is to bring emotion
to the lesson. People are more likely to
give a speaker, TV show, etc. his or her undivided attention when emotion is
involved. Another way to gain attention
is to start with an attention grabber.
This can be a warm-up, using a movie clip as an intro, or a demonstration.
Working memory
When
a person pays attention to stimuli, that information is moved from sensory
register to working memory. Working
memory, also known as short-term memory, can hold information for a limited
amount of time. In the working memory,
the brain organizes the information. It
is either stored, rejected, or connected to other information (Slavin,
2018). The processes of the working
memory work in conjunction with the sensory register and long-term memory. If you see a dog, the sensory register sends
that picture of the dog to the working memory while the long-term memory can
identify the type of dog.
A way
to keep information in the short-term memory is rehearsal (Slavin, 2018). This can be reciting a phone number or phrase
until it is in the working memory. If it
is repeated and remembered enough, it can be moved to the long-term
memory. Therefore, practicing a new math
concept, vocabulary words, etc. is important.
By rehearsing and recalling the information will help the mind move it
to long-term memory. The working memory
has a limited capacity. Information held
in the short-term memory is limited to five to nine pieces of information
(Slavin, 2018). It is best to not overload
students with several ideas at one time unless it is very organized and cohesive
to make understanding and retention better.
Long-term memory
Long-term
memory is where information is stored for extended amounts of time. This part of our memory is the largest, and “many
theorists believe that we may never forget information in long-term memory” (Slavin,
2018, p. 127). Others believe that we
will never use all of our long-term memory.
It is also divided into three sections.
Those parts are episodic memory, semantic memory, and procedural memory.
Episodic
memory is where personal experiences are stored. A high school dance, dinner, a wedding are
all examples of what is stored in the episodic memory. Memories in this section can be hard to
retrieve because many of the memories here are repeated like eating (Slavin,
2018). Facts, concepts, rules, and
problem-solving are stored in semantic memory.
These memories are stored by ideas.
The last part, procedural memory, contains, how to drive, ride a bike,
etc. (Slavin, 2018). Here, memories are
stored by stimulus/response. For
instance, if you get on a bike (stimulus), your body reacts and does what is needed
to keep from falling off the bike. Handwriting
is another example. There is a pen or
pencil in your hand, and you write down what you need to without thinking of
how to form the letters.
Reflection
This
chapter was interesting. Depending on
what the information is, I do not have a good memory. For instance, I had a tutor for algebra in
high school. No matter how often we met,
I could not remember the formulas for specific problems. I tried my hardest and barely passed. However, take me to dinner where I meet new
people, and I will remember who I met.
Another
concept that opened my eyes to a specific lesson was overloading the students
with two many ideas. This year was my
first year teaching high school literature.
Slavin (2018) stated “you cannot present students with many ideas at once
unless the ideas are so well organized and so well connected to information
already in the students’ long-term memories that their working memories can
accommodate these ideas” (p. 127). This
statement made me think of my Romeo and Juliet unit. I introduced William Shakespeare and key terms
for the unit. There were so many key terms
that I lost the students after about 10 words.
Next year, the key terms will be broken up for the students.
Also,
I found it interesting that a myth that Slavin discusses is about learning
styles. Slavin (2018) states “research
fails to support” students learning a topic better if with a “preferred
learning style” (p. 137). Even if
students do not learn with a specific learning style, I do find it best to
present information in multiple forms to best serve the students. The students will be more likely to stay
engaged if different styles are being used in the classroom. Not only should different styles be used, educators
should give students time to rehearse and practice the new concept, so that the
information can be transferred to the long-term memory.
Overall,
a lot of this information was new and informative. I used different learning styles in the classroom
to teach to everyone instead of one student, but now I know that one specific
learning style may not be best practice even if a child learns visually. Also, the phrase “practice makes perfect”
makes more sense. I knew that repeating
information can help a person remember it, but I did not know that it could
help your brain move it to long-term. Moving
forward, I will chunk key terms and make sure to give students plenty of
practice without overwhelming them.
References
Slavin, R.
E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice. NY, NY:
Pearson. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment