# Use a Learning Theory: Cognitivism

**Channel:** BlueSofaMedia
**Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gugvpoU2Ewo
**Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/gugvpoU2Ewo

## Chapters

- 0:06 — Teacher Tony's Long Division Problem
- 0:26 — Understanding Cognitivism in Teaching
- 1:59 — Applying Cognitivism to Long Division
- 3:14 — Results and Teaching Takeaways

## Transcript

**[0:06] Speaker A:** Meet Teacher Tony.

**[0:09] Speaker A:** Teacher Tony is concerned about teaching long division. Most of his students can't seem to understand the concept and how to do it. Teacher Tony needs help.

**[0:22] Speaker B:** I can't get my students to learn long division.

**[0:26] Speaker A:** Why don't you use cognitivism to help you teach a difficult subject like long division?

**[0:31] Speaker B:** What's cognitivism?

**[0:34] Speaker A:** Cognitivism is a learning theory that focuses on how information is received, organized, stored and retrieved by the mind.

**[0:46] Speaker B:** Um, what

**[0:50] Speaker A:** cognitivism views the mind as an information processor like a computer. For example, in the classroom, instruction should be organized, sequenced, and presented in a manner that is understandable and meaningful to the learner. Cognitivism emphasizes retention and recall through the use of quality teaching practices.

**[1:14] Speaker B:** Huh?

**[1:17] Speaker A:** You've probably seen cognitivism at work and didn't even know it. Cognitivism is often used in developing classroom lessons and and helping students learn higher order thinking skills. Common examples Starting a lesson with a hook to create interest. Activating prior knowledge by beginning a lesson with a review quiz.

**[1:41] Speaker A:** Chunking information into comprehensible and digestible parts.

**[1:48] Speaker A:** Using graphic organizers to help structure and relate content.

**[1:54] Speaker A:** These are all examples of cognitivism at work in a classroom.

**[1:59] Speaker A:** Now let's see if we can apply the principles of cognitivism to help solve Teacher Tony's problem. First, Teacher Tony needs to decide what skills students need in order to understand long division. After thinking, Teacher Tony found that in order to understand long division, students should know basic multiplication, basic division, and how to subtract numbers. Sequencing instruction by teaching prerequisite skills such as multiplication, simple division, and subtraction first will help students build upon prior knowledge to better learn how to do long division.

**[2:44] Speaker A:** Teacher Tony prepares two things to help his students. He creates the mnemonic device Dead Monkeys Smell Bad to help students remember the steps of long division. Divide, multiply, subtract, bring down. He also creates a color coded poster that walks students through the long division process step by step. If students get stuck, they can look at this poster to help cue their memory.

**[3:14] Speaker A:** After implementing these principles of cognitivism, Teacher Tony's students are doing a much better job of understanding, retaining and recalling the long division process.

**[3:28] Speaker B:** Using cognitivism really helped my students learn long division.

**[3:32] Speaker A:** If you are wanting to teach difficult concepts to your class, you can use cognitivism to help solve your problems. Just like Teacher Tony.