EDUC 633 Canepa Blog

Summary: Chapter 5 of Clark and Mayer (2011) discusses the contiguity principle.  This principle involves the concept of presenting information to the recipient in a way that allows for continuous absorption.  It is easier to talk about what the contiguity principle is in terms of what it is not.  The authors go through several examples of common mistakes that break the contiguity principle.  For example, some online presentations or e-books displays a large amount of text as a description either before or after a figure.  This forces the reader to scroll back and forth trying to read and interpret the figure in a very choppy manner.  Problems can also arise when running text is displayed side by side with an animation.  This splits the observer's attention and detracts from their learning experience.  If one were to follow the contiguity principle, then presentations of text, figures, and animations should be closely integrated.  A figure ...

References Chertok, I. R., Barnes, E. R., & Gilleland, D. (2014). Academic integrity in the online learning environment for health sciences students. Nurse Education Today , 34 (10), 1324-1329. Clark, A., Francis, C., & Erskine, J. (2015). Academic integrity during online exams for distance learning. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics . 115 (9), A50. Milone, A. S., Cortese, A. M., Balestrieri, R. L., & Pittenger, A. L. (2017). The impact of proctored              online exams on the educational experience. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning , 9              (1), 108-114.

Cognitive learning theory views the mind of the learner like a computer.  The learner should receive a variety of sensory inputs while they experience, process, and catalog the information.  Students are repeatedly exposed to the material until they are able to permanently acquire the new knowledge.  One of the major strengths of cognitive learning theory is the efficiency with which material can be covered.  This is particularly important for courses in STEM fields where a large amount of critical information must be mastered.  The efficiency of cognitive learning is viewed by some as a negative due to the stifling of individual student creativity.  Opponents of cognitive learning theory argue that students are not computers to be programmed and that there should be more active engagement in the learning process.  However, this is an oversimplified criticism.  Under cognitive learning theory, students do not just memorize facts.  They take i...