EDUC8731: Study Guide/Workbook on Learning Theories and Processes

This assignment is a comprehensive study guide and workbook for the EDUC8731 course, focusing on motivation, cognition, and metacognition in learning. It covers various topics, including an introduction to cognitive psychology, self-beliefs, beliefs about intelligence, short-term and working memory, and long-term memory. The guide includes quizzes, text readings, and activities that prompt students to analyze their own learning processes, such as self-efficacy, goal setting, and memory strategies. Students are asked to define key terms, create diagrams, and reflect on their experiences to apply cognitive theories. The assignment also explores memory models, knowledge representation, and the application of these concepts in educational settings. The guide encourages students to develop their professional language in cognitive psychology and assess their understanding of the material through self-assessment quizzes.

MOTIVATION, COGNITION AND
METACOGNITION IN LEARNING
STUDY GUIDE/WORKBOOK

CONTENTS
QUIZ 1............................................................................................................................13
QUIZ 2 ...........................................................................................................................22
QUIZ 3 ...........................................................................................................................29
QUIZ 4 ...........................................................................................................................36

TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010) Chapter 1: Introduction
Read Chapter 1 of your text Bruning et al. (2010). Consider the overview of cognitive psychology and
whether you agree with the themes listed in this chapter
1. Write a paragraph about one part of your learning that might be affected by your participation in
EDUC8731.
2. What questions about your learning or your students’ learning would you like to see answered?

TOPIC 2: SELF-BELIEFS
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010); Chapter 6: Beliefs about self
1. Draw a diagram showing your own interpretation of Bandura’s model of Reciprocal determinisim.
2. Explain your model in words.

3. What is an example of an instance where you have vicariously learned to do something?
a. Describe the learning process that you went through in this instance.
4. What do you have high self-efficacy for?
a. What evidence do you have for this assessment of your self-efficacy?

5. What do you have low self-efficacy for?
a. What evidence do you have for this assessment of your self-efficacy?
6. Describe how a modeling process has been involved in either a teaching or learning activity that
you have undertaken.
a. In what ways did this help you or someone else to learn?

7. What are the main principles of self-regulated learning theory?
8. What are the main principles of an attributional theory of motivation?
9. In what ways can a topic such as EDUC8731 support student autonomy?

TOPIC 3: BELIEFS ABOUT INTELLIGENCE
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010); Chapter 7: Beliefs about Intelligence and
Knowledge
1. Do you think that you hold an ‘incremental’ or an ‘entity’ theory of your own intelligence?
a. What evidence do you have to support the above response about your theory of intelligence?
2. Which do you think are more important for successful learning—performance goals or mastery
goals? What evidence do you have for your view?

3. What is an example of an academic goal that you have set for yourself?
a. Would you classify it as a performance goal or a mastery goal?
b. What self-efficacy do you have for achieving this goal?
c. Have you succeeded or failed at a similar goal in the past?
i. To what did you attribute your success or failure on this past occasion?
ii. How would you classify your attribution in section (i) according to attributional theory?

4. On pages 140-141 in Bruning et al. is a list of guidelines for fostering adaptive goals. Translate
each of these guidelines into a specific strategy that you can use to guide your own learning in this
topic.
5. What is one strategy that you have used so far when reading the Bruning et al. text?
a. Would you describe your strategy as a dualist or a relativist strategy for constructing knowledge?
6. Do you think you are a quick learner? What evidence do you have for this self-assessment? How
important is this quickness for your achievement?
7. Do you think you are a persistent learner? What evidence do you have for this self-assessment?

a. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being quick and/or persistent?
8. Do you think you are a discovery, didactic, or conceptual change teacher? What evidence do you
have to support your answer?
9. What evidence do you have from observing one of your students (or your associates) about their
attributions for success or failure?

self-assessed grade [ ]
QUIZ 1
PLEASE SELF ASSESS YOUR QUIZ, AND GIVE YOURSELF A GRADE OUT OF 10
Treat this as a time where you do test your understanding, so do this first when you think that
you have a good understanding of these concepts and without making use of your readings as
you do it. If you assess yourself as having a poor understanding of a concept, go back and
read about that concept and then give the definition again. Just enter the second definition
under the first and then assess this second definition. Include both first and second self-
assessments.
1. From your reading, complete the following table.
Concept Definition
Attributions Explaining the reasons of a particular behavior
and events.
Autonomy & control Putting a proper control on a behavior
Entity and incremental theories of
intelligence
It favors to the concept that their existing
knowledge is malleable, can be enhanced
through extra efforts.
Epistemologies of knowledge historical study of efforts
Evaluation/assessment Checking the performed tasks to ensure its
authenticity and credibility.
Feedback/rewards Providing extra notes on deviations occurred in
performance to make improvements.
Intelligence Aptitude
Interest The urge of doing something.
Modeling Art of creating a presentation
Performance & mastery goals Goals that are focused on learning and self
improvement
Self-efficacy One’s strong belief to succeed in a particular
task.
Self-regulated learning The learning process which is developed by
oneself.
Social cognitive theory It entails that the knowledge can be acquired by
observing others.

2. Draw a diagram showing your current cognitive schema for what you know about student
motivation.

TOPIC 4: SHORT-TERM AND WORKING MEMORY
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010) Chapter 2: Sensory, Short Term and Working
Memory
1. What use are models, such as the modal model, for thinking and talking about memory?
2. What are the components of the modal model of memory?
3. What are the main assumptions of contemporary information processing theory?

4. What is required for perception to occur?
5. What is the estimated capacity of the visual sensory register?
6. What is the estimated capacity of the auditory register?
7. What are the implications of the limitations on the sensory registers for classroom teaching?

8. Context affects the allocation of meaning to a perceptual event. Describe an event where you and
another person interpreted the same information in different ways. What was the impact of your
different interpretations?
9. Think of one task that you have learnt to the stage of automaticity:
a. Try performing that task whilst speaking out loud each step of the process.
b. Did your performance get better or worse?
The reading habit. This habit got better with increased practice.
10. Think of how you go about reading the chapters in the text for this topic.
a. What attention focusing strategies do you use?
b. How do you go about activating your prior knowledge?
c. What strategies do you use to manage your essential processing of the text?
d. What strategies do you use to reduce cognitive overload?

TOPIC 5: LONG-TERM MEMORY
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010) Chapter 3: Long term memory: Structures &
models.
 Reading 5: Anderson, J. R. (1996). ACT: A simple theory of complex cognition.
American Psychologist, 51, 355-365. [Note: this is available on eReserve]
1. Develop your professional language in the field of cognitive psychology. Write in your own words
the meaning of each of these terms:
a. Declarative knowledge
Declarative knowledge has reserved more attention in cognitive research than can be justified on the
basis of the significant of procedure knowledge for behavior.
b. Procedural knowledge
It is also known as imperative knowledge which are done inn the performance of task. It is used to
solved the problems by using intellectual property of a company and it is transferred when the company
is purchased.
c. Conditional knowledge
It include all the knowledge which are require for conditional situation such as intelligence. It means
that knowledge about psychological feature, or more informally, thinking about thinking.
d. Episodic memory
It is known as such event which are related to the time, places, associated emotions etc. that can
explicit stated. It is a collection of past experience which are related to the particular time and place.
e. Semantic memory
Semantic memory is well-defined from episodic memory, which is our representation of experiences
and special case that happen during our lives, from which we can animate at any given point
f. Explicit memory
It is the one of the long-term human memory, which is conscious, intentional and based on past
experience and concepts. It is two type episodic memory and semantic memory.
g. Implicit memory
It is also a type of long-term human memory, which are received and used unconsciously and which
can affect the thoughts and behaviors of the person. It is the most common form of procedural memory
which help the people to perform a certain tasks.

h. Concepts
Cognitive psychology is the study of science of mental processes or thoughts and expressions. This
process includes that how the information is collected, presented and transform as a knowledge.
i. Attributes of memory
Retention is the ability of the mind by which subject matter is encrypt, mercantile establishment, and
find. Mental representation is critical to experiences and accompanying to limbic system, it is the
possession of subject matter all over case for the intent of causing forthcoming act.
j. Defining attributes
These are the feature of a stimulus that one must look for to decide iof that stimulus is a positive
instance of the concept.
k. Rule governed
Rule-governed activity has been outlined as activity dominated by base of spoken stimuli. Two
competitive medical institution conception have related to rule-governed behaviour and elation. An
secondary report posits that financial condition may event from immoderate rule-governed behaviour,
especially surplus pursuing convention that rule existential turning away.
l. Prototype governed
A prototype is used to measure a fresh plan to raise exactness by scheme expert and users. Epitome
answer to supply stipulate for a actual, on the job scheme instead of a theoretic one. In some design
advancement models, creating a prototype which is the step betwixt the systematization and the rating
of an idea.
m. Probabilistic
It is a situation or model where there are aggregate achievable result, each having different grade of
cognitive state or uncertainty of the results. It is often taken to as the idea which are actual, random
which is related to probabilistic.
n. Propositions
Propositions are used in contemporary philosophy. They are shareable objects of attitudes and the
primary bears of the truth and falsity.
o. Networks
"Network" refers to a group of objects, people, etc. which are affiliated to one another. A network,
hence, permit physical or incorporeal atmospheric condition to be go around among all of these
entities, basic on well-defined rules.
p. Schemata
A schema describes a design of thinking or doings that form assemblage of data and the kinship

among them.
q. Productions
To developing the goods or manufacturing the goods and services.
r. Scripts
A script is a system or series of direction that is taken or transfer out by some other program rather
than by the computing machine central processing unit.
s. Imaginal coding system
By using pictures, plotting the graphs coding can be done.
t. Verbal coding system
Such coding which can be in verbal manner or oral manner.
u. Dual coding theory
Dual-coding theory is a theory of cognition, which was hypothecate by Allan Paivo of the University
of Western Ontario in 1971.

v. Nodes
A carnal web node is an progressive natural philosophy evildoing that is connected to a web, and is
able of make over, acquiring or sending message over a field of study passage.
w. Relational links
Keys factors indicating feelings of closeness among group members, defined by group members’
attitudes and perceptions such as cohesiveness, perceptions of process, and satisfaction with group
outcomes.
x. Spreading activation
Spreading activation is a acting for Inquisition associate web, nervous networks, or semantic network.
y. Serial processing
Serial memory processing is the act of attendant to and activity one item at a time. .
z. Parallel processing
Parallel processing is the processing of program instructions by dividing them among multiple
processor with the objective of running a program in less time.
2. In either a diagram or in words describe what links you make between schemata and learning.
3. Why would it be the case that information coded in both the verbal and the imaginal coding
systems be more easily remembered?
4. How could we exploit the imaginal system in teaching?

self-assessed grade [ ]
QUIZ 2
PLEASE SELF ASSESS YOUR QUIZ, AND GIVE YOURSELF A GRADE OUT OF 10
In Bruning et al. (2010) Chapters 2 and 3 we have read about a number of different concepts
about sensory, working memory and long-term memory.
Treat this as a time where you do test your understanding, so do this first when you think that
you have a good understanding of these concepts and ideas and without making use of your
readings as you do it. If you assess yourself as having a poor understanding of a concept or
idea, go back and read about that concept or idea and then give the definition again. Just enter
the second definition under the first and then assess this second definition. Include both first
and second self-assessments.
1. Draw a diagram of the modal model of memory.
2. From your reading, complete the following table.
Concept Brief definition
Semantic memory Part of long term memory
Episodic memory Unique memory of particular events
Declarative knowledge Factual knowledge and information
Procedural knowledge Knowledge used for performing some task
Conditional knowledge Knowledge of applying the procedural knowledge
Schemata Pattern of thinking or behavior

3. What are three critical roles that schemata play?
4. How can you proceduralise your developing knowledge of cognitive psychology so that it is useful
for your own learning and teaching practice?

TOPIC 6: ENCODING
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010) Chapter 4: Encoding processes
1. What is the difference between maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal?
2. Describe two elaborative rehearsal techniques you use to remember key ideas in the Bruning et al.
text.
3. What imaginal techniques do you use to remember the Bruning et al. text?
4. How could you teach your students to use:
a. elaborative rehearsal techniques, and
b. imaginal techniques
to enhance their ability to remember lesson content?

5. Describe a mnemonic that you used when you were at school:
a. Did it work for you?
b. Why?
c. Do you teach it to your students?
6. What is the central concept underlying the need for schema activation in learning?
7. Identify two deep processing strategies do you use for understanding and remembering the
Bruning et al. text.
a. Are your strategies working for you?
Yes
b. What revisions/improvements could you make to your strategies?
8. What are examples of declarative, procedural and conditional metacognitive knowledge that you
have used whilst studying the Bruning et al. (and other) text?

9. What is an example of a metacognitive strategy that you have noticed one of your students
(friends) using?
10. Can you recall your school teachers explicitly teaching you any metacognitive strategies? If so,
what were the strategies?
11. Make a list of the five criteria of a good strategy user.
12. What is one relationship between strategy instruction and self-efficacy?

TOPIC 7: RETRIEVAL
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010) Chapter 5: Retrieval processes
1. Think about the open book quizzes. How could completing a quiz help your learning?
2. Why might do the quiz more than once be helpful to your learning? Would the same apply to your
students’ learning?
3. How do you think contextual cues work?
4. Why would we want to broaden the range of cues that will trigger knowledge to be remembered?
How could we do that?

5. When you are reading the Bruning et al. text, what generating activities do you use?
6. In what ways do we use schemata to guide retrieval of memories?
7. What is the difference between reconstructive memory and rote memory?
8. What links can you make between what researchers know about memory savings and the relative
benefits of distributed versus massed practice?
9. Do you think that all material to be learned is suitable for constructive learning and reconstructive
remembering?
10. Think about the mnemonic that you have described in the “Encoding’ section.
 If you found it helpful, what were you doing at the time of encoding that helped you at the time
of retrieval?
 If it was not very helpful, what could you do at the time of encoding to improve the
effectiveness of this mnemonic at the time of retrieval?

self-assessed grade [ ]
QUIZ 3
PLEASE SELF ASSESS YOUR QUIZ, AND GIVE YOURSELF A GRADE OUT OF 10
Treat this as a time where you do test your understanding, so do this first when you think that
you have a good understanding of these concepts and without making use of your readings as
you do it. If you assess yourself as having a poor understanding of a concept, go back and
read about that concept and then give the definition again. Just enter the second definition
under the first and then assess this second definition. Include both first and second self-
assessments.
1. Describe three types of teaching strategies can we use to encourage elaborative processing.
2. What metacognitive strategies do you think your students should use in their learning?
3. Bruning et al. write about the generation effect. What are two key reasons for the effectiveness of
the generation effect?
4. If context affects encoding and retrieval, in what ways can we improve the memory enhancing
contexts of learning for classroom students?
5. Do you think that your learning outcomes would be better if we had an exam at the end of this
topic? Consider the Bruning et al. discussion on recognition and recall, and justify your answer.

TOPIC 8: PROBLEM SOLVING AND CRITICAL THINKING
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010) Chapter 8: Problem solving & critical thinking
1. Think about a problem that you currently have. What is your current state? What is the goal state?
a. Is your problem an ill-defined or a well-defined problem?
b. Will trial and error be an appropriate strategy to solve your problem? Why or why not?
c. Will means-end analysis be an appropriate strategy to solve your problem? Why or why not?
2. Do you recall when you have used insight to solve a problem? Can you describe what went on in
your head when the insight occurred?

3. Think about functional fixedness. Provide an example where you have spent ages doing something
one way, and then suddenly realized a new and better way? What was the trigger to your new
understanding?
4. Bruning et al. note that good problem solvers are better than poor problem solvers at
distinguishing relevant from irrelevant constraints on problem solving. Describe an example of
this in yourself or your own students.
5. What do you think Bruning et al. mean by categorizing problems according to their deep
structure? Provide an example.
6. One problem that you have each week is to read and understand the Bruning et al. text.
a. Do you divide this problem into steps? If so, how do you do this?
b. How many steps do you use?
3 steps.

c. What happens at each step?
d. How do you know when you have reached your goal state?
7. What are the implications of Recht and Leslie’s 1988 study for the reading choices you give to
your students (or guide your students to select)?
8. How does the practice of teaching times-tables in primary school relate to the reading you are
doing about deep versus surface structures of problems?
9. In what ways do you think automaticity and practice are related? How much practice is too much?
What evidence can you provide to justify your thinking?

10. How can we encourage help-seeking, without stigma, in classrooms?
11. Describe an example of where you have transferred knowledge from our EDUC8731 topic to your
own teaching or learning. Would you describe it high-road or low road transfer? Would you
describe this instance as near or far transfer?

TOPIC 9: EXPERTISE
 Reading 9a: Anderson, J. R. (2010). Expertise. In Cognitive psychology and its
implications (6th ed., pp. 279-311). New York: Worth. [Note: this is available on eReserve]
1. What is the purpose of Anderson’s technique of inserting short summary sentences at the end of
each section? Do you think it works?
2. What does the power law of learning tell us about incorporating time for practice into our lessons?
3. What do you think is the relationship between tactical knowledge and students’ success or failure
at university entrance exams?
a. What do you think is the relationship between tactical knowledge and intelligence tests?

4. What is an example of strategic knowledge that experienced teachers apply?
5. Anderson discusses the ability of Chess masters to recognize familiar patterns. Outline your
understanding of the relationship between pattern recognition and chunking as a memory strategy.
6. In Bruning et al. (2010) you read about different kinds of feedback that teachers can provide to
students. What kind of feedback supports deliberate practice? Provide an example.
7. What does the example of the Brazilian school children tell us about the nature of the contexts that
support learning?
8. Do you think that componential analysis and mastery learning is appropriate for all kinds of
learning?

self-assessed grade [ ]
QUIZ 4
PLEASE SELF ASSESS YOUR QUIZ, AND GIVE YOURSELF A GRADE OUT OF 10
Treat this as a time where you do test your understanding, so do this first when you think that
you have a good understanding of these concepts and without making use of your readings as
you do it. If you assess yourself as having a poor understanding of a concept, go back and
read about that concept and then give the definition again. Just enter the second definition
under the first and then assess this second definition. Include both first and second self-
assessments
1. What are the three stages of skill acquisition?
2. Write out an if-then production rule for completing this quiz.
3. Outline the steps in any one of the problem-solving procedures that you have read about.
4. What is the difference between maintenance rehearsal and deliberate practice?
5. What kind of feedback to students supports deliberate practice?
6. List the metacognitive strategies that you know you use. Write one example for each of these
strategies of when/for what you use them?

TOPIC 10: CLASSROOM CONTEXTS
 Text Reading: Bruning et al. (2010) Chapter 9: “Classroom contexts for cognitive
growth”.
1. What social processes are involved in learning?
2. Outline your understanding of the phrase “children are active learners”.
3. Outline your understanding of the terms (a) “constructivist learner” and (b) “constructivist
teacher”.
4. In what way might discussions help you to construct your own knowledge in the domain of
educational psychology?
5. What might inhibit effective discussions? Why?

6. How will a dialectical constructivist perspective manifest itself in a classroom?
7. What are the roles of social processes in supporting learning within the ZPD?
8. In what ways can the apprenticeship model transfer to classroom teaching and learning?
9. Schön wrote about “knowing in action, knowledge in action and reflection in action”. What other
words do we have, from information processing theory, to describe these kinds of knowledge?
10. What features identify good quality classroom discourse that has the potential to promote
cognitive growth?

11. What strategies do you have for including “non-contributing” students into a class discussion?
12. If the students construct their own knowledge, what is the role of the teacher?

EXTENDED READINGS OF YOUR OWN CHOICE
Use the remaining weeks of this topic to search out literature to support and inform your study in this
topic.
Look back to your questions that you wrote in Topic 1.
 Are you able to answer them now?
 Do you need to search out additional readings in order to answer your questions?
 Do you need to design a research project in order to answer (at least) one of your questions?