Semester 96-1
EDUC 420 -
4 COGNITIVE STRATEGIES IN LEARNING
Section: E1.00
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Scheduled Final Exam: NO
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Instructor:
N. Perry
Office: 8642mpc
Tel:
291-4143
Fax: 291-3203
E-mail:
PREREQUISITE
Educ 220 & Educ 320
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Why a Course about Cognitive Strategies?
There are three main reasons why a course on cognitive strategies is one critical element in a really thorough education
about teaching and learning:
Reseach indicates that more effective learners know about and are effective users of cognitive and
metacognitive strategies that provide means for and guidance about learning.
Research also shows very clearly that teachers who command theoretical and practical knowledge
about cognitive and metacognitive strategies, and how to teach strategies, are more effective
teachers.
The Year 2000 curriculum in British Columbia advocates process-oriented instruction.
Process-oriented instruction means that, in addition to teaching school subjects, teachers are
charged with teaching methods for learning and solving problems--tactics and strategies-- that
support students in adopting an active, self-regulated approach to learning.
OBJECTIVES
We
have several goals for the students who take this course. One goal is that you learn about major, research-based
cognitive and metacognitive strategies. A second is that you learn about individual differences (such as motivation,
cognition, and metacognition) and instructional methods (such as direct explanation and scaffolded instruction)that
influence whether and how well students use strategies. Finally, we intend that you will begin to develop simple means
for assessing when and how well students use strategies, and for evaluation programs that claim to offer effective
instruction in strategies.
REQUIREMENTS
Grades for the course will be based on the following assignments:
a)
course journal (30%) - journal entries will be guided by exercises, assigned each week, designed
to foster understandings of information presented in the course. These will be collected
three times during the semester.
b)
term project (45%) - this assignment provides students with opportunities to synthesize and apply
information learned in the course by designing a unit of strategy instruction.
c)
final exam (25%) - this exam will survey key concepts presented in the course.
READINGS Cognitive Strategies in Learning: Course Reader. Available in the Bookstore.
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REQ R EC
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