Activation Of Prior Knowledge Research Articles

The Effect of the “Ohio Schools Going Solar” Project on Student Perceptions of the Quality of Learning in Middle School Science

In an era of continuing developments in science and technology, teachers are faced with an increasingly challenging task of helping K–12 students become and remain scientifically literate. Effective science instruction involves activation of prior knowledge, hands-on learning, and continuous reflection. Technology has the potential to play a supporting role, and the Ohio Schools Going Solar project (OSGS) is one example of what is available. This study examines the effect of the OSGS project on student perceptions of the quality of science learning as defined by Newmann’s framework of authentic intellectual work. Results indicate a positive effect in the areas of disciplined inquiry and construction of knowledge.

Students? Assessment of Problems in a Problem-Based Learning Pharmacology Course

Problem-based learning has been widely employed in Medical Education. One of its main components is that students construct their knowledge working with problems. Therefore, in literature special attention has been given to the design of problems, while assessment has not received the same emphasis. To assess problems implies determining to which extent the resulting work fulfills the purposes that the designers of problems had planned, based on theoretical rationale. This study was developed to determine: if working with the problems allowed the students to carry out the expected learning activities; if the conditions in which they worked were suitable and if the problems were correctly structured. Participants were second-year medical students, enrolled in a problem-based learning pharmacology course. They were asked to assess each problem they used, by means of a questionnaire. The results suggest that when students worked with the problems they carried out activities related to elaboration of knowledge and activation of prior knowledge. They reported to have doubts after working with problems; this can probably be attributed to deficiencies in the students' prior knowledge. Furthermore, the type of problem in which students had low preference were those where they have to analyze tables and charts taken from pharmacological experiment reports; neither the time available to gather the information and to prepare the study issues was sufficient, nor was to study for other subjects. The information produced by assessment is useful for the designers of problems and as feedback to the educational process. The students' participation in the evaluation phase is a way to keep the congruence with a student-centered approach.

Connecting Greek and Canadian Schools through an Internet-based Sister-class Network

This paper first outlines the basic theoretical principles underlining a sister-class project undertaken between schools in Canada and Greece. The objectives of the project, the problems that arose during the implementation as well as the outcomes thus far are discussed. Central to the success of the project was the creation of a learning environment that offered cognitively demanding educational tasks, assured contextual support, and promoted the activation of students' prior knowledge.

Thinking about learning: implications for principle-based professional education.

The understanding of teaching and learning in medical education has increased to improve medical education at all levels. Selected approaches to understanding learning provide a basis for eliciting principles that may inform and guide educational practice. In this article, these approaches are discussed from two perspectives: the cognitive and the environmental. The cognitive perspective includes activation of prior knowledge, elaboration of new learning, learning in context, transfer of learning, and organization of knowledge. The environmental perspective includes the dynamic interaction of learners with their environment, observational learning, incentives and rewards in the environment, goal setting and self-monitoring, self-efficacy, and situated learning. Implications are presented for facilitation of effective learning and support of the learning environment throughout the continuum of medical education.

Differences between successful and less successful students while working with the CONTACT-2 strategy

The CONTACT-2 strategy is characterised by CONTinuous, computer-assisted ACTivation of the conceptions of individual learners while they are processing expository texts. A previous study showed that the CONTACT-2 strategy was effective as an instructional strategy aimed at supporting processes of prior-knowledge activation and conceptual change. The present study was designed to explore the (quantitative and qualitative) differences in learning activities between students who were successful and less successful while working with the CONTACT-2 strategy. Subjects were 10 fifth- and sixth-graders (primary education). The way in which the second CONTACT-2 step on “comparing and contrasting their preconceptions with the new information” was being performed by the students appeared to be crucial for the effectiveness of the CONTACT-2 strategy as a whole. Recommendations for future research and educational practice are formulated.

Cognitive constraints on multimedia learning: When presenting more material results in less understanding.

In 4 experiments, college students viewed an animation and listened to concurrent narration explaining the formation of lightning. When students also received concurrent on-screen text that summarized (Experiment 1) or duplicated (Experiment 2) the narration, they performed worse on tests of retention and transfer than did students who received no on-screen text. This redundancy effect is consistent with a dual-channel theory of multimedia learning in which adding on-screen text can overload the visual information-processing channel, causing learners to split their visual attention between 2 sources Lower transfer performance also occurred when the authors added interesting but irrelevant details to the narration (Experiment 1) or inserted interesting but conceptually irrelevant video clips within (Experiment 3) or before the presentation (Experiment 4). This coherence effect is consistent with a seductive details hypothesis in which the inserted video and narration prime the activation of inappropriate prior knowledge as the organizing schema for the lesson.

The Role of Explicit Moral Points in Fable Reading

Using a qualitative methodology and 2 authentic fables, the aim of this study was to describe the role of explicit moral points in fable reading. Previous research on explicit summarizing statements has defined 3 potential functions of these statement types: activation of prior knowledge, enhanced integration of textual content, and refocusing of attention. Traditionally, explicit moral points in fables have been de-fined as having the additional function of persuading readers to accept a socially supported interpretation of human behavior. Ninety-nine adult readers read the narrative section of a fable and then gave written interpretations before and after reading the explicit moral point. The analysis of the written data revealed 7 different progressions of written categories, 4 of which can lead to a convergence of responses toward the authorized explicit moral point. Results show that the explicit moral point fulfills the function of offering enhanced integration and refocusing of attention on new information.

The Real-World Reading Practices of Adults

This study used a diary method to obtain detailed information about the reading practices of a sample of adult readers with diverse educational and occupational experiences. Reading practices were identified in two principal settings, home and work. Participants were found to read periodicals and books at home both to engage in leisure and to perform a variety of functional tasks. They read informational materials, correspondence, and functional texts at work to perform workplace-related tasks. Readers' efforts at and enjoyment of the reading tasks they engaged in varied depending on the texts and purpose for reading. Several strategic actions were reported when adults were reading to learn and remember text information, but most readers relied on activation of prior knowledge, rereading of text, and note taking. The study also examined the role of the social contexts of age, educational attainment, and occupation in contributing to adult reading behavior. A significant three-way interaction was found between reading source, setting, and occupation only. The results support the findings of previous readership studies and further illustrate how specific social context factors account for differences in adults' reading practices.

Problem-based learning: The Maastricht know-how

Critical perceptions and implications of the problem-based learning are discussed from the point of view of the participant of Summer-course at the University of Maastricht. Problem-based learning is a relatively new form of instruction with a long intellectual history. This approach of learning emerged in conjunction with the cognitive revolution in psychology. University of Maastricht uses this non-traditional system from his very founding in 1976. The principles of problem-based learning can be summarized as following: prior knowledge activation and elaboration through small-group problem analysis; the construction of problem-oriented semantic networks, including contextual cues derived from professionally relevant problems; and the fostering of epistemic curiosity. A number of studies provide empirical support for the assumptions underlying problem-based learning. The „seven jump" is an obligatory procedure for the analysis of each problem. Besides the professional knowledge and skills, the group discussion provides with the skills of more free communication.

The link between knowledge and remembering in Alzheimer's disease.

Current research on the influence of cognitive support (e.g., activation of task-relevant prior knowledge, item organizability, retrieval cues) on episodic remembering in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is reviewed. Examining the effects of cognitive support on memory may shed light on the relationship between knowledge and remembering, and also provides relevant information pertaining to the development of cognitive intervention procedures. A series of studies from our own and other laboratories reveal a number of interesting empirical regularities. First, AD results in problems in utilizing cognitive support for improving memory. Conceivably, this reduction in cognitive reserve capacity is due to both the overall severity of the episodic memory impairment in AD, as well as to dementia-related deficits in the semantic network that guides encoding and retrieval of information. Nevertheless, AD patients are able to utilize cognitive support in episodic memory tasks, although they typically need more support than their healthy aged counterparts to show memory facilitation. Specifically, it is critical to provide support at both encoding and retrieval in order to demonstrate performance gains in AD. Moreover, successful utilization of retrieval support in this disease is most likely to occur when the encoding requirements force the individual to engage in elaborative cognitive activity (e.g., generation of task-relevant knowledge, categorical organization). Finally, a reduction in cognitive reserve capacity occurs later in the pathogenesis of AD than a generalized episodic memory impairment. This observation reflects the insidious nature of AD, and suggests that the transition from normal aging to AD may be continuous rather than discrete.

The many faces of problem-based learning: a framework for understanding and comparison

There is much literature on problem-based learning (PBL), both within and outside medical education. The literature addresses such questions as what is PBL and how does it work, and many examples are given; yet it is often difficult to determine from these descriptions whether the educational approach being described is actually PBL. The goal of this article is to provide planners and/or assessors of PBL curricula with a framework that would facilitate analyses of this educational approach. We propose to categorize educational activities as PBL or non-PBL according to three core principles: (1) the problem acts as a stimulus for learning; (2) it is an educational approach, not an isolated instructional technique, and (3) it is a student-centered approach, and four criteria concerning their effect on student learning: (1) active processing of information; (2) activation of prior knowledge; (3) meaningful context; and (4) opportunities for elaboration/organization of knowledge). Beyond this, PBL curricula vary along a set of dimensions that is useful to analyze, to describe and to compare different PBL practices. The usefulness of this analytical framework is illustrated with examples from three different schools.

Prior knowledge activation: Inducing engagement with informational texts.

Prior knowledge activation: Inducing engagement with informational texts.

Prior knowledge activation: Inducing engagement with informational texts.

Failure to engage with informational texts is a problem frequently noted at the high school level, at which students are expected to read independently. As a means of addressing this issue, a prior knowledge activation strategy (PKA) was taught to ninth-grade students in which they were encouraged to make spontaneous connections between their personal knowledge and informational texts. Students who learned to use the PKA strategy consistently outperformed students in a main idea (MI) treatment group and those in a no-instruction control group on application-level comprehension questions but not literal-level questions. A second study replicated the operations of the first study, with the addition of an MI-PKA treatment designed to combine both strategies. Both the PKA and the MI-PKA combination groups performed higher on application-level comprehension questions and demonstrated more positive attitudes toward reading than the other groups.

A strategy for teaching and learning in the PBL clerkship

There has been a move in many traditional medical schools to make the transition to a PBL curriculum. Much effort has centred on developing PBL strategies for use in the early years of the course. Few schools have successfully incorporated the principles into the later clerkship years. A model integrating structured teaching with the clerkship is presented to address the multiple learning needs in the clinical years of the PBL curriculum. Structured teaching is based on two complementary methods: SCORPIO sessions and the patient-based PBL tutorial. The former is a medium to teach clinical psycho-motor skills, while the latter is structured for students to learn clinical reasoning in the context of patient management. The preceptor plays a central role in the process, helping students integrate the structured learning experiences with clinical exposures in the hospital environment. The efficacy of the model is based on the theory that learning will be enhanced by Activation of prior knowledge, teaching in Context and subsequent student Elaboration (acronym ACE).

The Effects of Prior Knowledge and Schema Activation Strategies on the Inferential Reading Comprehension of Children with and without Learning Disabilities

The present study compared the reading comprehension abilities of students with learning disabilities (LD) and those of both their age peers and their reading-level peers. Reading passages included familiar and unfamiliar topics, so as to assess the use of prior knowledge under varying conditions. All passages tested inferential reading ability, since the answers to test questions could be inferred from content, but were not explicitly stated. Subject activation and experimenter activation of prior knowledge were also compared. All groups benefited from experimenter activation of prior knowledge, but these benefits were most noteworthy for subjects with LD, and when passage topics were unfamiliar. The subjects with LD performed very similarly to their reading-level peers, as opposed to their age peers. Thus, the findings shed some light on the nature of learning disabilities. Implications for instruction are explored.

The effect of prior knowledge activation on text recall: an investigation of two conflicting hypotheses

Two hypotheses, the cognitive set‐point and the selective‐attention hypothesis, try to account for the facilitation effects of prior knowledge activation. These hypotheses appear to be mutually exclusive since they predict different recall patterns as a result of prior knowledge activation on text recall. However, in experiments supporting these hypotheses different knowledge structures were activated, resulting in different ways of text processing. In this study the assumption was tested that differences in the nature of the prior knowledge activated can result in these different ways of text processing, which, in turn, can explain the divergent recall patterns; thus, that the cognitive set‐point and the selective‐attention hypothesis could co‐exist.One group activated prior knowledge that was represented in a schema, which would result in processing and recall patterns as predicted by the selective‐attention hypothesis. The second group activated prior knowledge that had not evolved into such a fixed cognitive structure, which would lead to the patterns predicted by the cognitive set‐point hypothesis. The results of these experimental groups, opposed to a control group, largely confirmed the postulation that differences in the nature of the prior knowledge activated can result in different information processes and recall patterns.

Vocabulary Instruction during Reading Lessons in six Classrooms

This study was conducted to explore two research questions: (a) How do teachers teach meaning vocabulary during reading lessons? and (b) What are teachers' stated purposes for teaching meaning vocabulary? The data were collected in six classrooms, three each at the fifth- and sixth-grade levels, in a large urban school district. Reading instruction in each of the six classrooms was observed over the course of 4 months, for a total of 47 observations. At the end of the observation period, participating teachers were interviewed. Data analysis consisted of a search for dominant themes through open and axial coding. A taxonomy of methods for teaching vocabulary was developed in order to further describe the nature of observed instruction. New words were taught most often as a prereading activity and there was a distinct pattern of discourse surrounding word meaning instruction. Teachers typically used more than one method for teaching words, most frequently employing definitional and contextual types of instruction. Characteristics associated with effective instruction in the research literature such as activation of prior knowledge, multiple exposures, and provision of strategies for independent word learning were rarely observed. Teachers' stated purposes for vocabulary instruction were congruent with the requirements of the basal reading series used to teach reading in their school district. Teachers defined the importance of vocabulary knowledge in terms of the immediate classroom environment and requirements thereof, and not within the context of larger environments such as the school or society.

Making reading for information more accessible to children with learning difficulties

Maureen Lewis and her colleagues at Exeter report on a 2‐year research project into the processes of children's interactions with texts, particularly non‐fiction texts. Using case studies, they look at the problems children with learning difficulty face and the alternatives to passive copying. Some research strategies are proposed based on the activation of prior knowledge. The authors conclude that these are best deployed within the framework of regular class activity rather than in decontextualised situations.

Sublexical components in implicit memory for novel words.

Five experiments investigated the role of sublexical components in implicit memory for novel words. Priming on an implicit word judgement task occurred consistently for nonwords formed out of familiar linguistic components (morphemes and syllables) but minimally for nonwords formed out of unfamiliar pseudosyllabic components. This effect was dissociable from explicit memory and insensitive to changes in the surface features of the stimuli. Moreover, it depended on unitization of stimulus components as opposed to priming of individual components. Results are interpreted in terms of the activation and integration of prior linguistic knowledge and as evidence against the role of new (perceptual or episodic) representations in implicit memory for new information.

Foundations of problem-based learning: some explanatory notes.

The present article elaborates on cognitive effects of problem-based learning put forward by Schmidt, De Volder, De Grave, Moust & Patel (1989) and Norman & Schmidt (1992). Its purpose is to discuss, in some detail, the theoretical premises of this approach to learning and instruction. It is argued that problem-based learning, above all, promotes the activation of prior knowledge and its elaboration. Evidence is reviewed demonstrating that these processes actually occur in small-group tutorials and that the processing of new information is indeed facilitated by discussion of a relevant problem. These effects must be attributed to a reorganization taking place in the knowledge structures of students as a result of problem-oriented study. In addition, a cognitive process called epistemic curiosity (or intrinsic interest) is enabled. Some directions for further research are outlined. The contribution starts, however, with a discussion of the philosophical and pedagogical roots of problem-based learning.