Chapter 6, page 74
Problem 6.1: Understanding Students’ Thinking
Effects of Schemas on MemoryIn each of these scenarios, explain the source of the students’ errors. Think about the schemas
that students are activating and how they are using these schemas.
A. A high school teacher explains Marxist economic theory to his class. On a quick
formative posttest at the end of the class, the teacher finds that the students’ level of
understanding of four key questions is about 35%. Why did they do so poorly?
B. A mother asks her 5-year old daughter what she did in kindergarten that day. The
child talks about painting, going outside to the playground, story time, snack time, and taking
a nap. In fact, she did all of these things except painting that day. Why did she make this
memory error?
C. A third grader watches a video about China and its people. Included in the video is
a three-minute excerpt showing a Chinese wedding ceremony that is very different in format
from the traditional Western wedding ceremonies with which the children are familiar. Later
that night, the boy tries to tell his father what he had seen, but he discovers he remembers
very little of it. He can only say: “They had a long ceremony, and they got married.” Why does
he remember so little?
D. A fifth grader learning about Columbus and other early explorers has read this
statement in a trade book: “Millions of Native Americans died from smallpox and other
diseases brought by early explorers and settlers.” Later, the student writes on an essay
question on an exam, “Some Native Americans got sick from diseases that the early explorers
brought.” Why has the child made this memory error?Responses: A. There are at least two possibilities here. One is that students simply lack any
prior schemas which they could use to try to understand this new information. Another is that
their prior schemas conflict with Marxist ideas. Either situation could yield very poor
performance on a posttest.
B. The girl has recalled something that is part of her going-to-school schema that did
not actually occur that day. Because painting regularly occurs when she is at school, painting
has become part of the girl’s schema for the day’s events. As a result, she mistakenly inserts
this event into her recall of what happened that day.
C. Because the wedding ceremony is very dissimilar to what the student is used to, he
probably lacks any relevant schemas to connect to the unfamiliar events in a Chinese
wedding. In addition, there may be interference from his schemas for American weddings;
this may also make it difficult to recall the new ideas.
D. Because early instruction on Columbus and other earlier explorers is so positive, this
student may have developed schemas that depict Columbus and other explorers as heroes.
Causing such widespread death is inconsistent with the “hero” schema, so the student distorts
what was read to fit the hero schema.Consistent Prior Conceptions without Schemas
Students can have consistent prior conceptions that facilitate learning, even if they do not have
ready-made schemas. For example, consider a fourth grader who is watching a video in social studies