Cognitive View of Learning

Cognition refers to thinking and the mental processes humans use to solve problems, make decisions, understand new information or experiences, and learn new things. Cognitive views of learning focus on cognitive variables affecting learning—what goes on in people's minds before, during, and after learning. For example, when students are preparing to read a textbook chapter, they might think about what types of learning strategies they want to use to learn the important material in the chapter. They might decide to take notes and organize the material as they are reading, or to paraphrase each section as they read to see if they understood the material. Thinking about what learning strategies to use before starting to read may help students to read and learn more effectively. During the time they are reading, students can use the learning strategies they picked and check to make sure their strategies are working and that they are learning the material. After reading the text, students could think about what they did and decide if this was a good way to learn the material in this textbook. If it was, they might decide to use these methods again. If not, they may want to try something new when they read another chapter in this text. This example captures the essence of the cognitive view of learning—the most important part of learning goes on in the learner's mind. Studying these cognitive processes and fostering their development in children and adults is a major focus of educational psychology.

Cognitive views of learning have expanded both the breadth and depth of how people understand learning and the interactions among learners, teachers, and instructors; the learning environment; and learning materials. Not all students learn the same way, use the same methods, or interpret the environment identically. These individual differences or preferences for ways of thinking and learning have led educators to modify their teaching methods so that they are better able to provide support for individual students. Research on individual differences has led to the development of models of learning that focus on different types of cognitive processes and how they interact to produce meaningful learning rather than simple memorization. The focus of meaningful learning is on understanding and creating relatively long-term clusters of related knowledge and skills.

Models of how students process new information and experiences have evolved over time into complex, interactive cognitive models of learning. These models focus on goal-directed learning that involves the intentional use of cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, emotional, and self-management strategies and methods to reach learning and achievement goals. Successful learners think about and set goals for what they want to achieve, which helps them target and direct their use of learning strategies and methods. Setting and thinking about goals can also enhance motivation and commitment to learning. Using cognitive learning strategies involves building bridges between what the student already knows or has experienced and what he or she is trying to learn. For example, comparing and contrasting the political and economic causes of the Vietnam war with the Iraqi war can help students understand the Iraqi war. Thinking about what they experienced when they flew on an airplane can help students understand the physics of flight.

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