Cognitive Psychology/Information Processing Case Study

Case Study 1

1. After participating in this activity, what do you think the students will remember? How might those memories differ from those students would have if they only read about the Civil War in their textbook?

The students will have a clear understanding of the civil war and the events that happened, which leads to remembering a lot of information. The students are re-enacting the Civil War which allows them to participate in cooperative learning. They are physically role playing the war and the events which allows them to make connections. The students that read the textbook will not remember as much information because the textbook loses their attention and does not build interest. The students are not able to make as clear of connections as those that are acting it out and making it a personal experience by wearing the clothing and participating in the events.

2. How does Mr. West’s use of a Civil War re-enactment engage students’ emotions? What is the relationship between emotions and learning?

Mr. West engages his students emotions by re-enacting as it brings an emotion of appreciation and admiration for those that fought in the war. It allows them to feel something they may never have felt before or it may recall past experiences which brings along the emotions felt during that time. When the students re-enact, they are able to focus and connect to the stories and situations which are real life. Emotion plays a huge role in the way people learn. If someone is having a hard time in life, they are going to struggle with remembering or having interest. If someone is happy and positive, those emotions will allow the learning to be easy because their brain is not "foggy" or unclear. They can focus on what is important. People need to be conscious of what is happening around them as well as what is happening deep within. Each of these situations can cause different emotions that can either hurt or help someone to succeed and learn.

3. Based on the principles of dual-coding theory, what activities would be effective for Mr. West to use as a follow-up to the re-enactment?

Some activities that would be effective would involve both using visual objects as well as verbal. These are both great ways to assess his students. For visual activities, he could have his students make posters or draw something they got out of the Civil War. Both pictures would have to include something that was meaningful to them. As for the verbal activities, he could have his students get into groups and discuss what they learned and what they found to be important. As his students are discussing, this would be a great opportunity for him to walk around and listen to their conversations. He would get a better understanding on whether his students learned anything from the re-enactment.

Case Study 2

4. Who do you think provides better instruction for his students? Support your answer from an information processing perspective.

I think Mr. Richards is a better instructor because he is teaching his students in different ways so all would be able to understand. Even though his students may not know what is happening in class the day before, they do know what is expected of them and what will be happening the minute they get in the classroom and read the board. Mr. Richards keeps learning active and entertaining which will help hold the students attention longer. He is also teaching with different processing perspectives by using role-playing, lectures, videos, group projects and demonstrations. These help the students gain a clearer understanding in the best form they learn in. He also assesses his students by giving a standard format on all the tests. The students also know what that format is.

5. How would you expect the students’ learning outcomes to differ depending on which teacher they had?

If Mr. Dunkin had all linguistic learners in his classroom his outcomes and scores would be greater but then we look at reality and that is all students are different and learn differently. I would say Mr. Dunkin would benefit from reading books together but it still would not come close to the outcome Mr. Richards students would have. Mr. Richards students would be well prepared, eager, and ready to learn. They would understand and remember what happened in class and what information was important to recall at another time. Mr. Richards is helping his students have positive transfer by using what was learned in the past to learning something now. He is also working more with a constructivism idea where his students actively use their knowledge from personal experience with others and the environment. Mr. Richards gives motivation to his students by making learning fun!