Schema Theory

Source: http://teorije-ucenja.zesoi.fer.hr/doku.php?id=learning_theories:assimilation_theory

Who are the representative theorists (individuals known to be associated with this theory)?

Sir Fredic Bartlett

R.C. Anderson David Rumelhart

Jean Piaget

From this theoretical perspective, what are the key factors that influence learning?

Prior Knowledge “What learners bring to the learning situation dictates to a large extent what they will take away from it in terms of new knowledge—concepts added to their cognitive structure or details elaborating the schema" (Driscoll, 2005, p 137). “Pre-existing schemata that can be modified or reconstructed by analogy to account for new knowledge" (Driscoll, 2005, p 151).

Content and Content Organization “Materials must be potentially meaningful to learners, organized so that connections are easily made between new information and that which is already known" (Driscoll, 2005, p 137). “Potentially meaningful materials, an orientation toward meaningful (as opposed to rote) learning, relevant prior knowledge" (Driscoll, 2005, p151).

What are some basic strategies used to exemplify this theory?

Activating Prior Knowledge

• Advance Organizers “Are relevant and inclusive to introductory materials, provided in advance of learning materials, that serve to ‘bridge the gap between what the learner already knows and what he needs to know before he can meaningfully learn the task at hand’" (Driscoll, 2005, p 138).

• Schema Signals “Instructors should alert students to the schematic structures of materials, problems and culture in order to facilitate learning, especially when the subject matter is unfamiliar" (Driscoll, 2005, p 141-143).

Making Instructional Materials Meaningful • Comparative Organizers & Elaboration

“Provide a means for systematically comparing and contrasting concepts. Providing organizers to learners (or having learners generate one themselves) is one means of facilitating learning of unfamiliar, and potentially confusable, information" (Driscoll, 2005, p 144).

• Conceptual & Pedagogical Models “Conceptual models are any of the models invented by teachers, designers, scientists or engineers to help make some target system understandable" (Driscoll, 2005, p 145). [see slide one]

Types of Learning Best Explained by This Theory Modification of or Building on Prior Knowledge “Incorporating new information into an existing cognitive structure by attaching it to anchoring ideas through processes of subsumption, superordinate and combinatorial learning.”

• Mathematical and scientific problem solving • Reading • Learning languages • Music • Ergonomics research • Motor Skills training • Cooking • Influencing consumer behavior • Almost any abstract concept built upon a framework of concrete and relevant information!

Role of the Instructor This is a teacher-centered approach to instruction. Content

• Make materials meaningful to the learner

• Activate existing schemata • Organizing and orchestrating content

Role of the Student Make Connections between prior knowledge and to-be learned information that results in an elaborated cognitive structure.

• Construct schemata and mental models • Use, modify, and automate schemata in

solving problems

Strengths Learners can comprehend and remember information better when they can relate it to a familiar theme, concept or previous experience. Learners will, by nature, apply their existing schemata to new situations. Can be used in a wide variety of applications. As long as there is a relationship to any previous knowledge, schemata are modified to include and categorize new information.

Weaknesses Will not work for rote learning. "Mental models are incomplete, unstable, do not have firm boundaries, unscientific and parsimonious. And people do not have control over them" (Driscoll, 2005, p 130). When learners apply their existing schemata to new situations, it can have two distinct negative effects: 1) causing stereotypes to distort perceptions, and 2) potentially reinforcing incorrect ideas. For example, if a schema is built around an errant result in a lab, the learner may have a difficult time "unlearning" that schema. It can be difficult to quantitatively measure learning through schemata as they are individual arrays of information.

What are some good references (articles/websites) pertaining to this theoretical perspective?

Anderson, R. C., & Tierney, R. J. (1984). Learning to read in american schools:basal readers and content contexts. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Chamberlin, C. J. & Magill, R. A. (1992). The Memory Representation of Motor Skills: A Test of Schema Theory, Journal of Motor Behavior, 24(4), 309-319. Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction. (3 ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Milligan, J. R. (1979). Schema learning theory: An approach to perceptual learning. Review of Educational

Research, 49(2), 197-207. Park, Y., Qu, H. & Lee, H. (2011). The Effects of the Image Differentiated Positioning Strategy on Airlines Consumer Behavior: An Application of the Schema Theory, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 28(5), 498-523. Plant, K. L. & Stanton, N. A. (2013). The explanatory power of Schema Theory: theoretical foundations and future applications in Ergonomics, Ergonomics, 56(1), 1-15.