Teaching Cognitive Learning Strategies to College Students

1. Teaching Cognitive Learning Strategiesto College Students Shirley L. Yu Department of Educational Psychology University of Houston slyu@uh.edu 713-743-9822

2. Outline • Activity • Some principles of information processing theory • Defining cognitive learning strategies • Issues in teaching college students to be self-regulated learners • Integrated cognitive strategy instruction

3. Activity • Rate the sentences I will read according to the scale on your handout.

4. Some Principles of Information Processing Theory

5. Levels of Processing • Deeper processing focused on meaning of information results in better recall than does • Shallow processing focused on superficial aspects of information (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)

6. Effortfulness in Processing • The more difficult decisions and thinking required during learning, the better the learning • (related sidebar) Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives

7. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives – Cognitive Domain • Knowledge • Comprehension • Application • Analysis • Synthesis • Evaluation (Bloom, Engelhart, Frost, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956)

8. Bloom’s Taxonomy – Revised (2001) The Cognitive Process Dimension The Knowledge Dimension Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create Factual Knowledge Conceptual Knowledge Procedural Knowledge Metacognitive Knowledge

9. Elaboration in Processing • Generating more information and adding it to the target information helps in learning • Links target information to prior knowledge

10. Encoding Specificity • When trying to recall information, cues start the retrieval (search) process • When same cues are present at time of presentation (encoding) AND at time of testing/use (retrieval), recall is better (Tulving, 1983; Tulving & Thomson, 1974)

11. Defining Cognitive Learning Strategies

12. Teaching Strategies vs.Cognitive Learning Strategies • Teaching strategies • Utilized by the instructor/teacher to teach • Cognitive learning strategies • Utilized by the student to learn

13. Cognitive Learning Strategies • Conscious behaviors and mental activities used by students in order to learn (Alexander, Graham, & Harris, 1998; Weinstein & Mayer, 1986)

14. Rehearsal • Repeating information over and over • E.g., Re-read textbook; Review lecture notes

15. Organization • Making connections between and among information • E.g., Make outline; Create concept map Cognitive Learning Strategies Elaboration Rehearsal Organization Mnemonics

16. Elaboration • Generating more information and adding it to the target information • E.g., Create an example; Restate into own words; Relate information to own experience or something learned previously; Use a mnemonic strategy

17. Mnemonic Strategies • Memory tricks • E.g., Rhymes and songs; 1st letter technique; Keyword method

18. Keyword Method • For vocabulary; foreign language; etc. pato = duck 1) Acoustic link pato sounds like pot (keyword) 2) Visual link duck sitting in a pot

19. Issues in Teaching College Students to be SRL (Hofer, Yu, & Pintrich, 1998)

20. General Assumptions of a Self-Regulated Learning Perspective Active construction Potential for control Use of goals/criterion/standards Mediates between personal and contextual characteristics and actual achievement (Pintrich, 2004)

21. Integrated vs. Adjunct Course Design • Adjunct course • Stand-alone course • Example at University of Houston HDFS 1311: Development of Self-regulated Learning (Cr. 3) • Theory and research on cognitive, motivational, and behavioral factors related to academic success; emphasis on application to students' development.

22. “Learning to Learn” Course • Lectures – principles, concepts, research findings • Laboratories – demonstrations, group work, activities to enhance application and practice (Hofer & Yu, 2003; Hofer, Yu, & Pintrich, 1998; Pintrich, McKeachie, & Lin, 1987; Weinstein, Husman, & Dierking, 2000)

23. Advantages - Adjunct Course • Dedicated course time • Instructor interest, knowledge, expertise • Improvements in Self-regulated learning • Motivation • Cognitive learning strategy use • Metacognition Achievement

24. Integrated into Course • Strategies instruction embedded in curriculum (metacurriculum) • Example • HDFS 1300: Development of Contemporary Families • A multidisciplinary integration of historical, psychological, and sociological approaches to the study and understanding of diversity in family forms and influences that shape a family's values, beliefs, and behaviors.

25. Advantages - Integrated into Course • Communicates value of strategies in context • Provides opportunities for immediate and authentic use • May increase probability of transfer of strategy use

26. Transfer of Learning • Learning in one context enhances performance in another context (Salomon & Perkins, 1989) • Both integrated and adjunct courses – issue of transfer of strategies to other disciplinary courses (Hofer, Yu, & Pintrich, 1998)

27. Components and Design of Intervention • Definition of self-regulated learner • Components to include • Cognitive strategies • Metacognitive strategies • Motivation • Behavior

28. Integrated Cognitive Strategy Instruction

29. Direct Explanation Approach WHO? Teachers teach students to use cognitive learning strategies WHAT? Variety of different strategies WHEN? When to use different strategies for different tasks/information WHERE? In a variety of contexts; for different subjects HOW? Model and give students practice WHY? Importance/value of using cognitive strategies (Pressley & McCormick, 1995) 29

30. State Those Objectives Specifically • On syllabus, in class, by TAs • E.g., Active learning; Students will become more effective in their learning processes

31. Label and Discuss Strategies Explicitly • Make metacognition and strategies part of classroom discourse • Learning is not “something that happens mysteriously” (Pintrich, 2002)

32. Model and Explain Strategy Use • Demonstrate your own use of strategies and explain why it is useful • E.g., While solving a problem, provide mental modeling by talking aloud about your thought process; Provide a mnemonic for hard-to-remember information (Duffy & Roehler, 1989; Pintrich, 2002)

33. Provide Opportunities for Student Practice • Embed cognitive learning strategies as assignments • Conveys the importance • Encourages participation

34. Organization • Assignment example: Write an outline for one of the textbook chapters • Jigsaw method • Students get in groups of 4-5 • Each student writes outline for 1 chapter • Students distribute and review copies of their outline to group members

35. Elaboration • Assignment example: Generate examples of concept X; Relate course concepts to your own experience

36. Writing Strategies • Teach procedural knowledge related to writing papers • Break down task into smaller subgoals (and collect for feedback) prior to due date • Peer review • Revise, edit

37. Final Thoughts • Cognitive strategies (as part of self-regulated learning) improve performance • College students can be taught to use strategies • Faculty can begin this process on a small scale and build up