What is learning?
Learning begins with this hard-wired power strip in our brains called "schema." As we learn, we plug in smaller cords to the schema. The cords begin to branch out and overlap. If we try to learn something that is similar to a cord that is already plugged in, the learning sticks.
How can learning be best effectuated by the teacher?
When teachers teach new concepts, they need to continually make references to things that might already be in a students' schema. For example, BJ mentioned in his lesson plan how coterminal angles can be taught using skateboarding/snowboarding tricks. I often refer to slope as climbing a mountain or driving on a steep road. Another example I used recently, when trying to explain absolute value inequalities, was that sometimes your mom keeps you on a leash (this stemmed from a story of my husband and I going to the state fair and seeing a large number of children on "leashes") so you stay within a certain distance while other times your mom may say that you need to not bother her for a minute and must stay at least a certain distance away (like "I'm fixing dinner and I need you to stay out of the kitchen"). By bringing up these abstract, yet common ideas, students can better understand the math concepts.
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Schema theory makes common sense but it's always good to know the scientific explanation why. Your examples are things that we all can relate to. This is especially powerful in math where students can tend to get lost in the abstract.
ReplyDeleteI like the power strip example... it seems that in this analogy it would be useful for instructors to find appropriate adapters to plug-in new cables (information) into the existing connections (schema).
ReplyDeletethat is an interesting analogy...if I read this right you are saying that teaching according to schema theory is largely using analogies to induce learner's schema....are there any other ways to invoke schemas?
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