Ms. Pascal is teaching a lesson to her math class on the calculation of the area of triangles. She begins the class by reviewing methods for calculating
... [Show More] the area of squares and rectangles, which were covered in the previous lessons. She then announces that, "Today we will learn to calculate the area of triangles." She begins this topic by discussing situations were it is necessary to calculate the area of triangular shapes. This discussion includes several concrete and practical examples. She then asks the students, "How can we calculate the area in these situations?" After allowing the students to propose possible methods, she points out and demonstrates how squares and rectangles can be divided into two equal triangles. Using this information, she develops the formula for calculating the area of a right triangle. After demonstrating how the formula can be used to find the areas in the examples discussed earlier in the lesson, Ms. Pascal provides the students a work sheet that has the new formula at the top of the page and then several additional problems. The students work on the problems while Ms. Pascal walks around the room, providing encouragement and corrective feedback as necessary. Initially the students' performance is slow, and Ms. Pascal provides much corrective feedback, but by the end of the class, the students are able to quickly and accurately find the area of triangles, and the number of instances requiring corrections drops to zero. As homework Ms. Pascal assigns a series of word problems that require the method be applied in a variety of contexts. The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate your understanding of cognitive-leaming theory (i.e. information processing theory). Therefore, be sure that your response should include the appropriate terms from cognitive-learning theory, as define in course readings and class discussions.
1. Define the concept of meaningful leaming, and use this concept to justify Ms. Pascal's review of previously studied geometric shapes.
2. Define working memory, and discuss how Ms. Pascal's lesson takes the limits of working memory into account.
3. What type of knowledge representation is suggested by the students' problem-solving performance at the end of the lesson?
4. Define the concept of transfer and relate the how this concept can be used to justify various parts of Ms. Pascal's lesson.
5. What portions of Ms. Pascal's lesson are likely to enhance the students' elaboration of the lesson content? [Show Less]