Working in Computational Thinking (CT) and Computer Science for K-12 always made me appreciate cognitive skill development. Most of what we aim for in teaching CT is to allow our teachers to train students to actively use logical thinking and problem-solving. Learning about Cognitive Theory and its applications in learning fascinated me and helped me connect the ideas to CT.
In the book How People Learn, a whole chapter is dedicated to understanding how experts differ from novices. The authors of the book say that while we are trying to teach our students real-life skills, we should learn how experts use their skills to approach problems and utilize that with our students (Bransford et. al, 2000, p. 47). Therefore, I created an infographic that shows some of the practical ways of how educators can frame their content and teaching approaches to enhance teaching for adaptability. At the same time, I am grouping each set of ideas under a core concept in computational thinking, to keep in mind how CT actively enhances adaptive learning.
The schema theory in cognitive science describes how we humans learn by relating familiar concepts (or objects) to things they already know to make sense of the world (Cherry, K. 2019). In computer science, we have the concept of Pattern Matching, where it helps us group a set of similar characteristics to create a virtual object that can fit all those items in a way that makes it easy for us to interact with later on. Understanding pattern matching is a core concept in CT. It has a lot of applications in computer programming and in problem-solving. One example is being able to program large data of addresses and being able to extract emails, or phone numbers, as they all have a defined set of characteristics. More complex applications of pattern matching could be found in how computer scientists program and design machine learning or neural networks.
Bransford et. al. make an important note of how teachers and educators could benefit from understanding experts’ approaches to problem-solving. They state, “The idea of helping students organize their knowledge also suggests that novices might benefit from models of how experts approach problem solving especially if they then receive coaching in using similar strategies”. Therefore, problem-solving can also be formulated in a schema that we can train our students on. In CT, problem-solving is a crucial skill that we include in all our lessons. It can be broken down into several approaches, such as abstraction, decomposition, and induction. Nevertheless, knowing in each area how experts approach their problem is invaluable.
While in CT we train students to actively evaluate their work, it is more important to train students to evaluate their thinking. Cherry K. explains adaptation as the cognitive process of connecting new incidents to an existing schema, or releasing that a new schema is presented, and work towards learning it (Cherry K., 2020). Comparing this to what we know of experts, they are extremely good at recognizing the limitations of their thinking (Bransford et. al., 2000, p. 47).
Looking at those three connections between CT and cognitive theory helps us deeply understand how we can make effective use of the concepts we are teaching. Reflecting on education in general, a serious shift should be made to achieve adaptive learning for all our students.
Bibliography
Bransford, J. L., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. (Expanded Edition). National Academy Press.
Cherry, K. (2019, September 23). The role of a schema in psychology. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-schema-2795873
Cherry, K. (2020, April 11). The importance of assimilation in adaptation. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-assimilation-2794821
Hanan Alshikh 