WELCOME TO

MRS.

BROWN’S SCIENCE

CLASS!

W H E R E AL L L

E A R N I NG S

T Y L E S AR E S

U P P O R T E D

active

reflective

sensing

intuitive

visual

globalverbal

sequential

C H R I S T I N E B R O W N - E D U 5 1 0 : T H E C O G N I T I V E S C I EN C E O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G - D R . A S H

USE OF LEARNING THEORIES IN SCIENCE CLASS• Behaviorism – teacher centered; dominant in the first half of

the 20th century but limited in its ability to develop innovative thinkers• You will use behavioral techniques such as following step-by-step

instructions when carrying out lab experiments because you will need to create reproducible results that can be verified by everyone.

• Cognitivism – student centered; teacher as the facilitator in activating a learner’s prior knowledge using creative mechanisms and analogies• I will facilitate cognition by chunking information and providing

authentic opportunities for you to encode, retain, and then retrieve the newly acquired information.

• Constructivism – inquiry based learning; knowledge cannot be transmitted from one person to another but rather must be reconstructed by the learner in both individual and group settings• I will respect your need to actively interact with the content in this

course so that you may bring your own prior knowledge and experiences to bear as you construct meaning from this course.

C H R I S T I N E B R O W N - E D U 5 1 0 : T H E C O G N I T I V E S C I EN C E O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G - D R . A S H

MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS• Logic – Why do we make the inferences that we do?• Rules - Why do people have different intelligent behaviors?• Concepts - Why do people have particular kinds of

intelligences?• Analogies/Cases - Why do we reason as we do?• Images - Why are images so important to us and why do we

process them as we do?

C H R I S T I N E B R O W N - E D U 5 1 0 : T H E C O G N I T I V E S C I EN C E O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G - D R . A S H

LOGIC, RULES AND CONCEPTSLogic – deductive and inductive reasoning leads to inferencesYou would use logic to solve the Liar’s Paradox -> A says B is

lying; B says C is lying; C says A and B are lying. Who is lying and who is telling the truth?

Rules – if-then statementsIf I do an amazing job on all of my assignments, then I should

get an A!Concepts – abstract idea or mental image; can be learned or

innateEvery day when I walk to school I see a statue of a man and

the plate on the statue identifies the man as Abe Lincoln. One day I am looking at a nickel and I see the same face and know I am looking at Abe Lincoln.

C H R I S T I N E B R O W N - E D U 5 1 0 : T H E C O G N I T I V E S C I EN C E O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G - D R . A S H

ANALOGIESAnalogies – used prolifically in poetry and literature,

analogies are a powerful tool to form long-lasting mental representations.

Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.Chuck Smith, Woodbridge

She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again. Rich Murphy, Fairfax Station

The mental imagery of an analogy can be unforgettable!

C H R I S T I N E B R O W N - E D U 5 1 0 : T H E C O G N I T I V E S C I EN C E O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G - D R . A S H

IMAGESImages – used prolifically in poetry and literature, analogies

are a powerful tool to form long-lasting mental representations.

A picture can be worth a thousand words!

Courtesy of: FanPOP: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/lol/images/29943894/title/funny-mouse-operating-mouse-photobigfatmeanie

C H R I S T I N E B R O W N - E D U 5 1 0 : T H E C O G N I T I V E S C I EN C E O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G - D R . A S H

I would like to leave you with this interesting piece of research that ties together the way geometric area may be calculated by our brains. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

C H R I S T I N E B R O W N - E D U 5 1 0 : T H E C O G N I T I V E S C I EN C E O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G - D R . A S H

REFERENCESBurgess, N. (2011). How your brain tells you where you are. TED Talks. Retrieved on

September 14, 2011. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/neil_burgess_how_your_brain_tells_you_where_you_are.html

Worst Analogies ever written in a High School Essay Contest" in the Washington Post Style Invitational. Retrieved on September 15, 2012 from http://www.etni.org.il/farside/analogies.htm

Ash, D. (2012). EDUC 510: The Cognitive Science of Teaching & Learning Unit 1 Presentation Transcript. Retrieved on September 14, 2012.

Ash, D. (2012). EDUC 510: The Cognitive Science of Teaching & Learning Unit 2 Presentation Transcript. Retrieved on September 14, 2012.

Ash, D. (2012). EDUC 510: The Cognitive Science of Teaching & Learning Unit 3 Presentation Transcript. Retrieved on September 14, 2012.

Larson, G. Farside Gallery . Image.

C H R I S T I N E B R O W N - E D U 5 1 0 : T H E C O G N I T I V E S C I EN C E O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G - D R . A S H

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!

Gary Larson, Farside Gallery