The Thought Process

This week assignment was to locate at least two resources, web sites and/or online journals, on this week’s topics: the brain and learning, information processing theory, and problem-solving methods during the learning process and comment on the value of these resources.

The two sites that I found most interesting as it pertained to this week subject matter were

The Teacher’s Personal Tour Guide to the Brain by David Sousa,  http://brainconnection.positscience.com/gen/?main=conf/nov00/sousa-int and

Information Processing Theory written by Rahul Thadani,  http://www.buzzle.com/articles/information-processing-theory.html.

The sites go in-depth as it pertains to the learning theory and how the brain processes information.  Both are easy to follow and provide additional information to this week’s lessons as it pertains to how learners define and solve problems during the learning process and how the brain functions, which often explains how people learn.

The brain and learning, information processing theory and problem-solving methods during the learning process invoked a lot of thought and although irrelevant in a sense, made me think of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

NCLB is a program which supports standards-based education, which is based on the belief that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act required states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades (Wikipedia, 2011).

In the site written by Mr. Sousa, he states information is often taught in such a way that it lacks meaning for the student. Mathematics, for example, is presented as a series of equations and figures, but why these numbers and symbols are important is not explained. Yet the brain, argues Sousa, needs to attach significance to information in order to store it in long-term memory.

Students may diligently follow the teacher's instructions to perform a task repeatedly, and may even get the correct answers, but if they have not found meaning after the learning episode, there is little likelihood of long-term storage," writes Sousa.

This made me ask the question are we teaching students to test or learn.  I tried to think of my days in school and how much material did I retain say over a summer break and I can honestly say, not much.  But I can remember the words to Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven, but can remember my 9^th grade teacher Ms Wolfe Latin lessons.  Why, stairway to heaven had meaning for me, yet Latin was a dead language that I knew I would never use, so why remember.

It is my belief that these students are being taught a test to fill a square, yet are not learning, because the majority of the information will be memorized and no meaning will be attached.

Care to chime in, please do.

REFERENCES:

Wikipedia (2011) “No Child Left Behind Act”.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act

Thadini, Rahul (2009).  “Information Processing Theory”. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/information-processing-theory.html

Sousa, David (n.d.).  “The Teachers Personal Tour Guide to the Brain”.  http://brainconnection.positscience.com/gen/?main=conf/nov00/sousa-int

Welcome to my Blog, glad you stopped by.  I have developed this blog site to provide a brief overview of the type of content that can be found on instructional design blogs.  Hopefully you will find each site useful along with my critique’s as we continue to research work in the instructional design field.

The Rapid e-Learners Blog

http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/

This blog is well written and very educational and every post is extremely helpful.  The design of the blog is well thought out and easy to explore as well as being entertaining to read.   The captions over the pictures really grab your attention and make you want to continue to read more.  There are informative links to the right of the blog titled “resources”.  Here you will find information on e-learning, instructional design and audio & video tips.  A must read  “Instructional Design What Am I Suppose To Do With All This Material”.  Basically the author explains how to organize information so that the instructional designer can help people learn.

The e-Learning Coach

http://theelearningcoach.com/

This blog is packed with loads and loads of information especially for those interested in designing online educational courses.  Again the design of the blog is visually pleasing to the eye and everything is easy to find.  A must read, “What is cognitive load?”  Here the author examines working memory and long-term memory and how as instruction designers we can harness the power of both.

IDEAS: Instructional Design for e-Learning Approaches

http://ideas.blogs.com/

Although not that pleasant to read as it pertains to design, this blog offers an abundance of information and insight on e-learning strategies and instructional design.  By clicking on the links or categories to the right of the site a user has instant information to links, which cover Educational Technology to Teaching Online.  A must read “Online Course Design and Faculty Development”.  In this section, the authors examine the collaboration between faculty and professional course designers at Washington State University and the impact that this work had on the student learning experience.