Module 1

Republic of the Philippines

Philippines
MALLIG PLAINS COLLEGES INC.
Casili, Mallig, Isabela

FACILITATING LEARNER – CENTERED TEACHING

MODULE 1

Cognitive Processes
Examples:
1.  Perception –   –  We
 We interact with an attempt to influence others. We communicate
through speech expressive gestures, and paralinguistic techniques.
2.  Attention  –   Sociologists have emphasized the symbolic aspects of social
interactions. They postulate that cross-cultural linguistic patterns indicate a
wide range of differences in the way we perceive and think about the world.
3.  Memory  –  –   We
We interpret the behaviors of others and react to them in various
ways and in terms of what is believed to be their meanings.
4.  Language   –   We communicate with and influence others in ways that are
unintentional, unconscious, non-symbolic, and non-verbal.
5.  Reasoning –   –  Interactions processes –  our
 Interactions involving our higher cognitive processes –  our ability
to listen, think critically and reflectively, use symbols, transform information,
modify knowledge to fit new situations, and transmit information from one
generation to another.
6.  Decision Making –   –  We
 We continue to communicate in various modes and decide
to share certain characteristics.
7.  Problem Solving  –   Differences in opinion, thought processes, language, or
metaphysical beliefs become major sources of problems and conflicts.
Cognition is influenced by:
   Heredity  –   At this point, it is very difficult to separate biological and genetic
makeup. Our ability to learn is influenced by neurological efficiency and genetic
component.
   Maturation  – –  it
  it is a process of becoming fully grown, experienced adult learners.
In short, this is a change brought about by biological growth and development. It
does not require an external stimulus for it is a natural occurrence within the
learners.
   Environment   –   this may include learning opportunities that provide avenues for
learning. If teachers are supportive and the environment is conducive, then learning
is sure to happen. Environmental stimuli should support and encourage learning.

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Thought Processes
There are hundreds and thousands of examples that show the complexity of our thought
 processes. The principles of association and attention guide us in encoding and decoding the
information. TOT experience or the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon that deals with the complexity
of our mental activities.

Exp ert Systems: 

Cognitive Process of Experts and Expert

1.  Special Knowledge  –  –  is

 is focused on what experts know more about certain topic than
other people. Experts have more strategies to use to acquire knowledge and use them
in meaningful ways. With the strategies they have, experts can easily deal with
 problems especially in their area of specialization.
2.  Domain  –   specifically deals with the experts’ ability to extend and advance their
thinking because they seem to produce sets where the problems are or can be
represented. They also develop a particular knowledge in a such a way that they
structure specific knowledge in solving specific problems.
3.  Analogical Reasoning  –  –   deals with the experts’ ability to use their domain-specific
domain -specific
knowledge in other situations. Reasoning by analogy is another feature of human
memory.
4.  Experts Systems –   –  deal
 deal with strategies such as chunking of facts and information into
higher order tasks that require well-organized rules and schemas. Experts see the whole
thing while novices see pieces comprising the whole thing.
5.  Creativity – 
 –  hinges
 hinges on expert knowledge and perseverance. Creative people work hard
and long; they are highly motivated. They are particularly creative in their field of
expertise.

Basic Units of Cognition:

Concepts are the building blocks of cognition; they are general labels that we attach to
categories of things and information that share common characteristics. These are mental
structures by which we represent such categories. Objects, people, and events are grouped together
according to perceived properties or characteristics.
Concepts are arranged in a hierarchy called conceptual domains. These domains are the
superordinate, basic, and subordinate. Basic concepts
conc epts are the easiest information to learn; they are
needed to acquire knowledge in the second level in the hierarchy. Superordinate concepts are those
that are abstract while subordinate concepts are detailed
de tailed in nature.
Propositions are composed of related concepts. These are units of declarative knowledge
that can stand alone as separate assertions about the observed experiences, events, or the
relationships among concepts.
Another important unit of cognition is known as schemata. All of us are eager to know

how information is organized and utilized to interpret our daily life occurrences. A schema is an

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organizational pattern of the mind. It is a mental structure that helps us organize

orga nize knowledge; it aids
us to understand all the things around us. Schemata are general knowledge structures used for
understanding. A schema  is knowledge. It is not what is true true about the world, but it is one’s
knowledge about the world. Schemata possess the following characteristics:
They are basic knowledge. 
They are highly structured. 
They are general categories of knowledge.  
They are used in comprehension. 
The other unit of cognition is called productions. Productions are basic units of procedural
knowledge. Productions are things made or created which are composed of our knowledge on how
to follow series of step-by-step procedures.
The last unit of cognition is known as scripts. These are used for our experiences which
represents the past and present events so that we may interpret future events and occurrences.
Scripts are specific knowledge structures that contain the sequence of events that usually occurs
in certain situations. Scripts are common place occurrences; they are properly structured so that
the causality of various events can be explained.

Cognitive Strategies 
Are mental plans that we apply to manage our thinking and behavior during problem
solving or learning. The following cognitive strategies are suggested:
  Student-centered instructions. Students must be actively involved in the learning process.
   Activating prior knowledge. Prior knowledge plays a major role in constructing meaning.
  Social interactions.  Social interactions are necessary for students to develop authentic
learning.
   Problem solving.  The creative process of solving problem happens when students engage
themselves in meaningful learning.
   Elaboration. We avoid the use of memorization of basic facts.
  Concept learning.  The learning equates knowledge construction. The following are

important to consider:
1.  Use core knowledge. To provide core knowledge of the different concepts, we should
introduce the necessary lessons that provide strong foundation for mastery and
understanding.
2.   Integration of concepts across curriculum.
3.  Provision of an open-ended curriculum.  Students must be encouraged to bring forth
very rich insights and experiences to the existing curriculum.
4.  Provision of cognitive flexibility.  We should identify what skills our students should
master.
5.  Provision of cognitive apprenticeship. Immersion to the real context place a major role
in learning. In the classroom, we teach all the abstract concepts and theo
theories.
ries. However,

this is not enough for they must be verified and applied outside the school setting.

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Strategic Demands on Cognitive Processing  

The major goal of instruction is student learning. Every teacher wants his or her students
to learn. The goal of instruction is to help student achieved the learning objective. The following
are the demands on cognitive processing:
  Extraneous processing. To avoid extraneous processing, teachers need to plan ahead and
organize relevant materials that support instruction and student learning. Meaningful
E’s:   empower, engage, enhance, enable. By using these four
learning requires the four E’s: 
E’s, teachers have to: 
to: 
1.  Select relevant materials for active engagement and processing;
2.  Organize the material around a coherent mental structure; and
3.  Integrate the material with prior knowledge and long-term memory
memor y system.
  Essential processing. It is needed when there is inherent complexity of the material being
learned. It is construed that if the material is too complex or difficult to comprehend,
students need more processing activities in order to fully grasp the meaning of said
material.
  Generative processing.  Should be developed when students lack the needed motivation.
Therefore, it is important that teachers develop students’ motivation by: 
by:  
  Developing clear learning objectives;
  Determining reasons for achieving said learning goals;
  Using visualization technique for reaching goals; and
  Creating a positive attitude.

Learner-centered Psychological Principles 

Psychological principles deal with the learners and how they learn. These principles depict
the learners as they actively engage in seeking knowledge by:
1)  Reinterpreting information and experience from themselves.
2)  Being self-motivated by the quest for knowledge (rather than being motivated by grades
grad es or
other rewards).
3)  Working with others to socially construct meaning.
4)  Being aware of their own learning strategies and capable of applying them to new problems
or circumstances.
Psychological factors are internal and under the control of the learners. These principles
are believed to be holistic and integrated into the learners and how they learn. These are divided
into cognitive and metacognitive, motivational and affective, developmental and social, and
individual difference factors.

Learner should possess the relevant dispositions to learn. These are indicators to be
associated to positive attitudes toward learning. Such dispositions include:

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  Independence.  Learners have to possess their own learning, in short, they must
develop their autonomy in learning.
  Creativity. Learners should possess the ability to develop new ideas especially in
an artistic way.
  Self-motivation. Learners should be responsible for their own motivations. In other
words, motivation cannot be superimposed on them for it should be something
internal and self-contained.
  Resilience. Learners should possess the ability to recover quickly from setbacks and
failures. If they lose their focus because of some inimical experiences, they have to
redirect their focus as they develop their self-motivation.

Prior Knowledge 
Prior knowledge is a mental structure that describes our knowledge
knowled ge and experiences gained
during the course of our life and how old experiences are used to understand new ones.
Schemata are cognitive structures that help us make sense of the world around
aroun d us. Schemata
are also called mental organizers.
Schema  Theories support the idea that new information is constructed to fit information
currently existing in the mind. The new information must be presented so that students fit their
new learning into their schemata. Students organize and create new meanings from the already
existing ideas in their minds. Organizational schema is one of the many approaches to understand
how our memory works. Schemata are organizational categories of information established in our
 brain that provide blueprints for perception, interpretation, and recall of incoming information.
Schema theory maintains the idea that knowledge is a set of associated concepts.
Deep learning occurs when students digest information and are nourished by their learning
and are able to make sense of it. Deep learning deals with how one is. Deep learning is used to
solve our problems. It is a transformation toward autonomy and meaning
m eaning making.
 Learner autonomy is one of the new paradigms of learning. It is concerned with the nature
rather than the substance of learning. Deep learning accounts for a greater concentration on ways
of developing learner autonomy and the meeting the requirements of life-long learning. Deep
learning is very important in providing autonomy and ownership of learning because students
acquire knowledge on how to construct meaning.

Strategies for Developing Prior Knowledge 

The following strategies may help activate our prior knowledge.
1.  Advance organizers. An advance organizer is a strategy that describes a new material to
 be learned. It is not the same with the review of what transpired during the previous
discussion or what will be discussed for tomorrow or the next lesson. Rather, it is an overall
idea of what the material contains which is presented in a simple and comprehensible way.

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2.  Conceptual and pedagogical models.  Conceptual models are any of the mental systems
we invented to make our lessons understandable. Students should first develop their
the ir mental
models before any instruction takes place.
3.  Chunking. This is a process of breaking a whole idea into small and workable components.
4.  Outlining. It gives the readers a bird’s eye view of what will be discuss in the material.
material.  
5.  Highlighting.  Highlighting can easily locate the most important points in the lesson.
Students have the chance to select what to highlight in order to connect new information
to the old ones.
6.  Questioning. We need to give the students guide questions before we expose them to that
certain task. We emphasize the following patterns which are encapsulated in the acronym
 DSEGE. 
  Describe a particular person, place, object, event, or phenomenon.
  S pecify the time element or time sequence pattern.
  Emphasize a causal relationship or a process.
  Generalize ideas, principles, and concepts with examples.
  Emphasize a concept with examples or illustrations.

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