Why the brain is the most incredible network of information processing and interpretation in the body as we learn things is the scope of the Cognitive Learning Theories. When we use the word "learning", we usually mean "to think using the brain". Therefore, the basic concept of learning is the main viewpoint in the Cognitive…

Background: Advance organizers are instructional materials that help students use previous knowledge to make links with new information. Short animation movies are a possible format and are well suited for physics, as they can portray dynamic phenomena and represent abstract concepts. Purpose: The study aimed to determine guidelines for the…

This report provides an overview of concept and principle-learning studies and traces the theoretical basis for schema theory, which asserts that all knowledge is assimilated into a general cognitive framework. The procedures of an original study are described, which was designed to test the hypothesis that the inclusion of a "domain…

Grade 10 students were taught a hierarchy of intellectual skills in three different contexts: skills taught in isolation; additional verbal instructions provided; and skills taught in relation to a relevant anchoring idea. Results showed that use of the anchoring idea context enhances meaningful learning of complex skills. (Author/GK)

In five experiments, novices read a computer programing text and engaged in one of these learning strategies: advance organizer, model elaboration, comparative elaboration, normal reading. Results of transfer and recall tests suggested that elaboration techniques can be applied to "real-world" materials, resulting in more integrated…

The comprehension and recall of instructional text is heavily dependent upon the contexts in which information input and retrieval occur. College students (N=44) recalled the contents of a hierarchically structured text immediately after study and again six weeks later. Total meaningful recall was better when the superordinate concepts, or cues,…

This thesis reports a study of the effects of two types of advance organizer instruction, expository (EO) and guided self-discovery (GSDO), in teaching hierarchical classification or relations to preschool children. In the study, four experimental and one control group received three 25 minute instructional sessions. Using the same materials,…

Tests the applicability of Ausubel's theory to the meaningful learning of intellectual skills. Results of three studies of high school students indicate that advance organizers enhance learning of skills related to solubility product problems. This effect was removed if prior teaching in relevant background knowledge was included. (Author/WB)

The purpose of this paper is to: (1) explore some possible explanations for the lack of empirical support of advance organizers; (2) suggest a plan for improving the empirical research on advance organizers; and (3) recommend some further investigations needed in the area of advance organizers. Some explanations for this lack of support are…

A model is proposed for memory that stresses a distinction between episodic memory for encoded personal experience and semantic memory for abstractors and generalizations. Basically, the model holds that questions influence the nature of memory representations formed during instruction, and that memory representation controls the way in which…

Cognitive theories normally applied to listening comprehension are applied to the use of visuals with mass media broadcasts for second language instruction: the visual image as advance organizer, as reinforcement of concrete information, and as an association with abstract information. A related study in Germany is cited and illustrated. (MSE)

Investigates whether an environmental program including an advance organizer component and a field experience results in an observable change in the environmental orientations of fifth- and sixth-grade students. Results show positive change. (HM)

Five instructional techniques for increasing the meaningfulness of technical or scientific information are summarized: (1) organization of prose; (2) use of concrete analogy and advance organizers; (3) use of inserted questions in prose; (4) elaboration activities such as note taking; and (5) discovery learning. Research on each technique is…