Infographic 1
Infographic 2
Learning Situation
Observation Checklist
Reflection
Infographic: Cognitivism Basics 
Infographic: Cognitivism in Instructional Design
Meaningful Reception Theory Link
The Nine Events of Instruction Link
Learning Situation: Balancing a Checkbook
Learning Situation: A Bank employee (Georgia) teaches a college student (Ringo) how to balance a checkbook.
A young man walks into his bank.
“Hello, how may I help you today?” Says the Bank Manager, Georgia.
“My mom told me to come set up a checking something-“ explains Ringo.
“That would be a checking account,” Responds Georgia, “do you know how to use a checkbook.”
“I don’t think I learned that in school,” Ringo says.
“Ringo, balancing a checkbook is an important process to learn in order to be in control of your finances,” Laughed Georgia.
Ringo protests, opening the banking app on his phone. “… and can be used even with online banking.” Responds Georgia. “Plus, the process only takes a few minutes each month.”
As Georgia pulls up a fake bank account on her computer, she shows Ringo how to record the transactions from his account as they occur, including account deposit/ withdrawals, debit card transactions, and bank fees.
“See what I’m doing?” Georgia asks. She enters the date in the first column, transaction in the second column, and amount in the third. Then, Georgia pulls out a matching Bank statement, “here, Ringo, add up the transactions from this column, and tell me how much should be in this bank account.”
Ringo adds up the numbers, “Is $998 correct?” He guesses.
“Let’s check the bank statement,” Georgia responds. The Bank statement reveals a different number, $1,023.00.
“Look, on the transaction for July 18, you subtracted a deposit instead of adding it.” She shows Ringo the row where he made a mistake.
“Does it make sense why these numbers don’t match?” Asks Georgia. “How about you try again?”
Ringo nods in agreement and adds up the transactions in the checkbook.
“Is this supposed to match the statement?” Ringo inquires.
“Yes, that means you did it correctly!” Praises Georgia.
“Okay, that’s all I have to do, right?” Ringo asks, as he sighs with relief.
“Yes,” confirms Georgia, “and for opening a new checking account with us this month, you receive a $20 Amazon gift card.”
Ringo leaves, with a half-hearted promise to balance his checkbook every month. In his next bank statement, Georgia includes a note to Ringo, reminding him to balance his checkbook. When Ringo receives the note he balances his checkbook correctly immediately.
From a Cognitivist’s perspective, the banker’s, Georgia’s, instruction has been done well. She gains Ringo’s attention by telling him that balancing his checkbook is beneficial to his financial future and easy to do. Ringo. This has made the instruction meaningful to the learner, Ringo. As Georgia begins instruction on how to balance a checkbook, using a model account, she points out important numbers and labels, using phrases such as, “Look on the transaction for July 18,” directing this material into Ringo’s sensory register. After Ringo adds up the transactions in the checkbook, he has the process in his short-term memory, and he asks Georgia if he has done it right. When Georgia says he has done it correctly, Ringo encodes the information into his long-term memory. The next month, when Ringo receives his bank statement and note from Georgia, he retrieves the process from his memory and balances his checkbook correctly immediately.
Observation Checklist
| Yes | No | Step of Instruction: |
| Instructor gained learner’s attention? | ||
| Instructor informed learners of objectives? | ||
| Instructor reminded learners of prior learning? | ||
| Problem was presented? | ||
| Instructor guided learning of specific concept? | ||
| Performance was elicited from learner(s)? | ||
| Feedback was provided? | ||
| Performance was assessed? | ||
| Instructor enhanced transfer and retention? |
Reflection
As I was writing the reflection for behaviorism, I lamented my chagrin to my friend, Wes. Wes, a current high school social studies teachers in Lansing, MI and holder of a Social Studies Education degree from Ohio University. I asked him what I should talk about in my cognitivism paper:
“That’s the one with Pavlov’s dogs’ behaviors, right? People are not dogs. The End…. That’s your paper.”
I chuckled to myself. I asked him about the other learning theories. No offense to any theorists, he didn’t like any of them. He told me his professor had made them color-in their notes during cognitivism instruction, because color and cognitivism both start with ‘C’. He remembered social learning was pretty much a combination of the other two, because the two theories play together nicely, socially (I told him he was definitely wrong on that).
Two weeks later, I was reading the cognitivism chapters, when I messaged Wes again, “You’re a cognitivist!” J’accuse.
I explained that he had used mnemonics to recall each of the learning theories from his memory: “Pavlov’s dogs’ behavior,” ‘C’ for color and cognitivism, and social learners playing well together.
I prefer the theory of cognitivism much more than the theory of behaviorism because it is more widely used and applicable, and it takes mental processes into account during learning. First, I believe students need to be actively involved in learning to register the material. This way, they are focusing their attention on the correct sensory experience. Secondly, I believe humans organize knowledge. Think about someone trying to learn your name. They will ask questions such as “what letter does it start with?” or “where did we last meet?” to retrieve your name from their memory. Lastly, I believe the major characteristic separating humans from other organism is our complex mental processes and adaptability. There is no doubt in my mind that cognitive processes have a role in our ability to adapt; therefore, we should not exclude them in our study of learning.
I personally use a lot of cognitive techniques when I am learning. When studying, I will organize concepts into diagrams or color-code my notes. I will look at the objectives of a textbook chapter so I know what to focus on while reading. Lastly, I personally learn best when the information is made meaningful or interesting; I will organize my schema to connect it in that meaningful way.
In class, many cognitive instruction techniques were used. As always, objectives were reviewed before the lesson began. Vocabulary terms were cued with fill-in-the-blank exercises. Professor Koszalka also had us think about our own personal experiences with instruction. Other techniques were the use of color coding, graphic organizers, and concept maps.
Cognitivism explores the brain more deeply than Behaviorism, but every learner and instructor is entitled to his/her opinion. I will continue to integrate strategies of behaviorism and cognitivism into my instructional strategies. I look forward to exploring social learning and evaluating the usefulness of its instruction.
References
Instructionaldesign.org,. ‘Conditions Of Learning – Gagne’. N. p., 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.
Scribd,. ‘Ausubel Theory’. N. p., 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.
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