Chapter 12 page 288
Answer to question on previous page: The circles are all the same size. It would be better if they were a variety of
sizes, so that students don’t get the mistaken idea that only circles of about this size have radii.
CHAPTER 12e
Teaching Complex Ideas
A. Activating Prior Knowledge
A powerful way to improve learning is simply to get students to activate their old knowledge before
they begin learning the new knowledge. Most of these studies have focused on learning from text. For
example, many studies of how students learn from text have showed that getting students to reflect on what
know about a topic before they starting reading new information about that topic helps them learn much
more than if they do not activate their old knowledge.
In classrooms, one effective way of activating old knowledge is to hold a class discussion in
which students share what they know about a topic before learning new information about that topic.
In some studies, teachers write down students ideas on the board in the form of a concept map (see a
later section of this supplementary reading for more information about concept maps). When
students’ ideas are expressed and written down in this way, they learn more from reading a text than
they do if they read the text without the discussion.
Other ways of activating prior knowledge include providing students advance outlines of the
idea they will be reading and learning about and providing written questions designed to get students
thinking about relevant knowledge that they already have.
There is one important caveat about activating old knowledge. When the new information contradicts
the old knowledge, it may be better not to activate prior knowledge. In a study by Donna Alvermann and
her colleagues, sixth graders read about a series of four scientific topics. Some topics were consistent with
their prior knowledge. For example, one passage provided information about rattlesnakes. Although the
information was new to most students, it did not conflict with any of their basic knowledge of reptiles,
snakes, or rattlesnakes. Other topics were inconsistent with students’ prior knowledge. For example, one
passage that discussed characteristics of light that were at odds with most students’ understanding of light.
The results were that on passages that were consistent with prior knowledge, activating knowledge
improved learning. However, on passages that were inconsistent with prior knowledge, activating
knowledge actually impeded learning.
B. Teaching Cognitive Strategies
A second set of techniques for improving learning focuses on cognitive strategies. If students use
effective learning strategies, they learn more.
You have already learned about several effective cognitive strategies for memory. These include
outlining, summarizing, classifying material, explaining ideas, elaborating ideas, comparing and
contrasting, using the keyword method, and so on. These are all the techniques for getting information from
STM to LTM.
You will learn about research that provides guidance on how to teach cognitive strategies in a later
chapter.