Chapter 30: Using Rich Media Wisely
On of the most important topics discussed in Chapter 30, of which was repeated throughout the entire chapter multiple times, was the fact that we must activate prior knowledge if we expect our students to participate in a learning environment that is effective. As a teacher, I have been taught this and have experienced this over and over again. No matter how often I and others hear it, I feel it is definitely worth repeating time and time again. Clark and Mayer point out that “the more related knowledge that is stored in long-term memory, the larger chunks working memory can absorb” (p. 314). As teachers, especially at the secondary level, fight with more and more content and less and less time in the classroom with students, it is important to realize that taking the time to build on and create background knowledge is important for the successful learning of our students. Clark and Mayer also point out that choosing which prior knowledge to be used in certain lessons is an important job as “seductive details could exert their negative effects by … activating inappropriate prior knowledge” (p. 319). Getting off task, however fun it might be, doesn’t always help teachers to teach and learners to learn.
In relation to the importance of prior knowledge, another important application of using rich media wisely in the classroom that really struck home was how design principals and specific media can affect the “low-knowledge” learners and “high-knowledge” learners differently. In knowing our students and their “levels” of knowledge and experience, teachers at any level can really begin to design learning activities in a differentiated fashion, as Clark and Mayer say, “The learner’s level of prior knowledge is the single most important individual difference variable involved in learning, and is the most important characteristic to know to help you design appropriate training” (p. 320). Although I know deep down I have recognized this fact, and have probably encountered it somewhere during my educational training, it really hit me as important when Clark and Mayer put to words that “high-knowledge learners are able to compensate for poor presentation methods whereas low-knowledge learners are not” and how “instructional guidance helps low-knowledge learners by substituting for missing schemata, whereas it might interfere with high-knowledge learners by increasing unneeded cognitive load” (p. 320). I really appreciated the comment about the affects on high-knowledge learners and the many distractions they may face throughout their learning environments. So often we are worried about the low-knowledge learners that we fail to pay needed attention to the opposite end of the spectrum, as well.
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2 comments:
I agree that prior knowledge is very important. Many students lack prior knowledge when introduced to new topics. Therefore, making it hard from them process new information. Before each new lesson, I brainstorm with my students in an effort to gather prior knowledge of a subject. I am sometimes amazed that my little 3 year-olds have quite a bit of background knowledge. Great reflection.
Your reflection was so accurate, I was reading it and thinking about the way I teach in the classroom. Do I really teach to both high and low knowledge learners independently or do I over teach high knowledge and underteach low knowledge learners? I had an experience in high school chemistry like this. I think I am a fairly high knowledge learner, well the teacher spent almost a month eplaining how to balance simple equations, and an idea that I understood early became so hard for me in the end.
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